Thread Number: 15912
Filter Queen and other vintage machinery |
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Post# 169636   2/15/2012 at 14:00 (4,450 days old) by reo580 (Holland, Michigan)   |   | |
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This week I bought a Filter Queen at a thrift shop. I found a rather shopworn Filter Queen model 33. The machine had several packages of cones, a newer brown replacement straight suction hose and the S-wands with a nozzle. I hesitated, then decided the the 15.00 price was a good deal considering that a pack of FQ cones cost more than that.
I cut the ends off the hose the 33 came with and spliced them on to an after market brown 15' FQ hose I bought last year. The 15' hose itself is perfect, the aftermarket ends were horrible. The machine end would pull off the inlet anytime I moved the vacuum no matter how I adjusted it. Now that I spliced the genuine FQ ends on to the 15'hose and cemented them in place, you couldn't tell that it is not an original. I matched this "new" 15' hose to my brown 1987 Filter Queen Model D31x that my grandparents bought new. On that note, I can still vividly recall when they traded their Kirby Omega in for the Filter Queen. I was 7 years old at the time. I remember finding the Filter Queen in the closet. My grandparents told me that they bought a new vacuum and I had to see for myself. I opened the closet door and there it was, the chrome gleaming, bright and shiny. It smelled like a brand new car, the new metal, rubber and plastic. It absolutely reeked of the new car scent. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I remember my grandparents asking me "How do you like our new vacuum?" I pulled it out of the closet. "It's beautiful!" I exclaimed. "I love it! A brand New Filter Queen! It's so beautiful!" I remember they thought it was funny that a 7 year old kid would be so excited over a vacuum cleaner.I remember taking the exhaust cap off and turning the motor on and off over and over listening to the motor wind-down. That sound has been permanently etched in my memory. In 2006 I overhauled it. At that time I worked at a vacuum cleaner repair center that used to be a Filter Queen Dealer. I raided the stock room and found NOS filter Queen ball bearings, the metal ones, not the plastic sealed drop bearings used today, the real ones. After I rebuilt the motor I turned it on and off a few times with the exhaust cap removed. My coworker looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked me if I was feeling alright today. I told him the story of when it was new and how I would turn it on and off. I wanted to make sure that it sounded exactly the same it did now as it did then. He rolled his eyes and went back to work. He laughed and told me that God broke the mold after I was made. I polished up all the chrome and built a new batting using the FQ batting and Panasonic HEPA strips. I placed the strips of the HEPA filter around the inside of the motor housing and then stuffed the batting inside. I then placed the cardboard support in the housing. This setup muffled the sound of the FQ and made it sound the way I remember when it was new. I replaced the rear ribbed chrome decal on the dirt container and did a few repairs and adjustments to make it just like new. I also took off the heat shield so that it had a shiny chrome top. Now I have the Filter Queen, the same Model D31x that I discovered in the back closet in 1987. This morning I used it to vacuum. I have to say that it still fascinates me. I have 3 Mieles, I like them but they do not have the chrome plated charm that my FQ does. The Mieles are easier to use and take down but I have to say: there is something about that Filter Queen that still fascinates me. Do you have the same fondness of a particular cleaner regardless of brand? A cleaner that while not as convenient as a modern machine, just has an appeal to it? An aesthetic appeal such as the silent operation, or a childhood memory or design characteristic? If you do comment. |
Post# 169653 , Reply# 1   2/15/2012 at 14:23 (4,450 days old) by reo580 (Holland, Michigan)   |   | |
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Post# 169666 , Reply# 2   2/15/2012 at 14:56 (4,450 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Plain old day to day use they are hard to beat! |
Post# 169691 , Reply# 4   2/15/2012 at 17:26 (4,450 days old) by djtaylor (Salt Lake City, Utah)   |   | |
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When I was little, age 4 or 5, my grandparents got the 'joy' of baby-sitting me very often. At that time they did not have many neighbors(now the farm house is surrounded by '80's built houses) and no kids at all. When grandpa was tired of playing with me he would get out the Kirby D50, put a shirt with wire hanger on it and I had an instant play-mate. Somewhere I have a picture of me, laying on the floor for a nap with my arm around the Kirby. It was soooo cute. Many years later grandpa gave me the Kirby... my best childhood friend. That Kirby was a great friend, it always let me have MY WAY, never had to go home for lunch and we never fought over things.
Ahh, memories. Justin |
Post# 169694 , Reply# 5   2/15/2012 at 17:31 (4,450 days old) by beerad (Beautiful Vancouver BC)   |   | |
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That is a beautiful Filter Queen! Thank you for sharing your story,,I was very excited as I read on. My fav vac is a Filter Queen and as a child I was, and am still fascinated by these machines. I have an all chrome FQ from 1939.I could email you a few pics of it if you want. Brad. |
Post# 169754 , Reply# 8   2/16/2012 at 07:02 (4,450 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)   |   | |
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Growing up there were 2 Filter Queens in our family. The first was from the 50s and was still in the house in 2001 when we were cleaning out the house after my mom died. The 2nd one was purchased new in 1972 because we had just gotten wall to wall carpet and my mom wanted the power nozzle version. My sister has that vac now. unfortunately for me. I don't recall anyone else having a FQ...all my mom's friends had Lux, Rainbow, Hoover, GE, Lewyt and Sunbeam.
Gary |
Post# 169953 , Reply# 11   2/17/2012 at 23:57 (4,448 days old) by BrianKirbyClass (Eudora Kansas)   |   | |
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Ive noticed that people in rural areas tend to buy from the door to door salesmen more so than city people,,,they like the fact that you bothered to come all the way out to their place!,,and if you sold for a company like Electrolux, that came out to service the machine and/or sell bags, filters, ect. on a regular basis, That was a REALLY good deal! Most all rural/farm/country people know what good service is!
Comming from a rural farming community, We had an older guy that sold for Electrolux for MANY yrs that would come out to every farm and rural area. Some salesmen would have to drive a couple hundered miles out from the city, just to service and sell, but they did it,,they knew they would make money too! That old guy drove a station wagon with the Electrolux logo on the side,,and kept record of every address and farm he sold to,(which was most everybody),and would make the rounds every so often servicing the machines he had already sold, sell bags,shampoo,ect,,and of course the newest machines. I remember him stopping at my Grandparents a few times,but i was ordered to stay away while the grown ups talked,,kids were seen and not heard in those days when there was business to tend to! I remember He had a large tool set, and everything he needed to service a machine,all the tools, and replacement parts, ect, right there in the back of his station wagon. He could install a new motor, switch, anything that needed replaced or fixed. Of course many of the replacement parts were NOT the right color,,,but at least it was a new part. This is one of the reasons nowadays you will see a Model G (for instance) with 3 blue wheels and one brown!,,or a Golden J with a brown power nozzle. ect. He also had several of the new machines and polishers in their boxes, ready for delivery, cases of bags, filters, extra hoses, PNs, attachments,,ect. All in this station wagon. Of course, back in those days a station wagon was a HUGE car!,,not like the station wagons of today. I remember when the (GASP!) KIRBY man came calling in this same area one time, and talked a few of the farmers into trading their Electrolux in for a KIRBY,,the Electrolux guy was NOT exactly thrilled,,,,until the farmers wives all started belly aching about how HEAVY that Kirby was to push, hard to use, ect,,and they wanted their ELECTROLUX back! Every wife in the area agreed, and most all got NEW Electrolux's eventually. My Grandma was one of them,,,ill never forget the day she got her new Electrolux Golden Jubilee!,,,all the neighbors had to come and check it out! |
Post# 170291 , Reply# 15   2/20/2012 at 18:39 (4,445 days old) by kirbylux77 (London, Ontario, Canada)   |   | |
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