Thread Number: 25789
Alex Wenner Gren Research site 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 289345   7/18/2014 at 03:05 (3,570 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)        

While reading a 1941 Popular Science magazine-they had an article on the newly built(at that time)Wenner-Gren Areonautical reasearch center at the University of Kentucky.Didn't post a link-figure it would be easier for folks to "Google" it for themselves.The building was designed by Ernest Johnson-the place is famous for its "Streamline Moderne" design.The place sort of looks like an airplane.It was used for research and testing of airplane engines-in the test rooms in the building the air intakes and exhaust were designed to muffle the sounds of the engines.After the war and in the fifites the site was used for other space research projects.Now its used as a Biomedcial research.The Uk folks want to tear the building down and replace it with one of newer design.Other folks want the Wenner building preserved-agree with this.This could be of interest to us vac collectors esp Electrolux fans-Alex Wenner Gren was with Electrolux!And the place helpted out in the war and later with space and medical research!Please keep the site!!

Post# 289364 , Reply# 1   7/18/2014 at 07:25 (3,569 days old) by s31463221 (Frenchburg, KY)        
Rex

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Well, I feel really dumb here! Being from Kentucky and living not more than an hour away from Lexington, AND being a major Electrolux fan, you would think I would have known about the Axel Wenner-Gren Research Laboratory! Indeed, Axel Wenner-Gren was with Electrolux, in fact you could almost say he was the father of it! If interested, I have a link to the full history of Electrolux on Charles Richard Lester's website, an AMAZING read if you've never had an opportunity to go through it. Charlie and Alex Tabor are a wealth of knowledge on the company and are great resources for this organization! Anyway, thank you for posting this, I will have to research on this some more.....Here we have a unique connection to Electrolux right in our own back yard!!!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO s31463221's LINK
Post# 289370 , Reply# 2   7/18/2014 at 09:40 (3,569 days old) by ronni (USA)        

Thanks for sharing.

Here is the link to the site: ukcc.uky.edu/cgi-bin/dynamoQUESTI...

Post# 289374 , Reply# 3   7/18/2014 at 11:11 (3,569 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)        

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Post# 289400 , Reply# 4   7/18/2014 at 15:04 (3,569 days old) by ronni (USA)        

Although no one has complete accurate history of Aerus LLC Tom Gasko (dysonman1), Jimmy (rugsucker), Ray (BikerRay), John (tig21er), Dave (DJub85) and Tom (Gr8DaneDad) also have an ample amount of information about Aerus/Electrolux products. I only offer this as a point of reference but dislike the fact that other knowledgeable persons of Aerus/Electrolux product information and history have inadvertently been excluded; my apologies to them.

To illustrate the incompleteness of Aerus history some years are speculative due to lack of company records either as a result of inadequate keeping initially or purging information as company headquarters were relocated over the years. Indeed, in order for stock to be rotated, so older machines were sold before newer machines, lists of serial ids corresponding to dates of production were prepared and distributed to branch offices. However, none of these lists have been retained at Corporate, so Aerus is unable to give the exact year of production for machines older than sometime in the 1980s. Aerus has acknowledged that the serial prefixes and suffixes (a single letter prior to and after the 5-digit production number) are random--unlike some companies' serial ids in which letters or digits corresponded to months or years. In addition, some individuals at Corporate convey a disinterest in detailed company history.

Examples of debatable data can be seen in the claims of some that the Model XXX had a 17 year run (1937 to 1954) when in actuality its run was interrupted by WWII, and immediately afterward--in 1945 and 1946--machines were assembled (not newly-manufactured) from repair parts and were sold to those who had made down payments to be on a waiting list when machines were again available. Regular production was resumed in 1947 attested by the fact that there are no manuals copyrighted 1945 or 1946. Moreover, the Model XX had a brief run from late 1941 to 1942 in an unsuccessful attempt to replace the Model XXX.

Among other ambiguous data, there is also disagreement as to when the Model R and Model G were introduced. Manuals are copyrighted 1960 in both cases, but some persons say 1958 was the initial year for the Model R and some--including Electrolux's 50th Jubilee plate--say 1961 was the year Model Gs were first sold. Along with this is the fact that machine's designs--as with most companies--were altered at various times throughout the model runs which makes the years changes took place hard to pinpoint. Attachments, too, can be hard to trace to certain years--especially those of the Model XXX which had plain metal, metal with various colors of bumpers, black bakelite, blue-gray bakelite, and those painted in hammertone teal (during the simultaneous run of the Model LX whose color was teal).

Vacuumland exists, in part, to share information with one another and to help "clean out the cobwebs" of misinformation or missing information through discussion and debate. One would speculate that although complete accurate Aerus/Electrolux information is unavailable Axel Wenner-Gren would be pleased that his vacuum cleaner legacy has continued into the 21st century with the current worldwide manufacture of Electrolux, Lux, and Aerus products as well as collectors' conversations such as this one.

Eluxurious blog - featuring more recent Aerus history:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO ronni's LINK
Post# 289459 , Reply# 5   7/19/2014 at 04:15 (3,569 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)        

Robert:--I have that same magazine your link goes to.When I read that article while eating my breakfat-I thought--"Say wasn't that the guy with Electrolux?"So I mentioned the article and place here becuase I figured Electrolux fans especially would get a kick out of it.And thought--"that place relates to VACUUM CLEANERS in a way!"
Fred: Liked the link to Charles site--remember reading it several years ago.When I got interested in the sport of collecting vacuums.Also liked his Kirby info.
Steve: Glad I was able to mention something that is right next door to you.I so hope the place doesn't get torn down as the UK people want to.I feel the Alex Wenner Gren site has historical science and areonautical importance-think it should be preserved.Surely the UK can still use the site or build their new one somewhere elese on the campus.
Makes me think where will the things relating to vacuum and appliance collecting take us to next?Glad to have found the article on that place-its very good.Popular Science and Popular Mechanics are't ANYWHERE what they used to be.Read their new or try to they are pretty sad.Glad I was able to find That stack of older Popular Mechanics and Popular Science in that Chocowinity swap shop.And one of the issues of Popular Mechanics had the article on the air tool attachment for the Electrolux showing besides the floor polisher-it could be used as a drill,circular saw,and grinder.So,Electrolux had THEIR version of a Handi Butler!



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