Dear Santa, Better late than never!

'Twas the morning after Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except the pink aluminum West Bend percolator.

The coffee beans were ground by the KitchenAid A-9 with care,
In hopes that fresh coffee soon would be there;

When out in the living room there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.

As it turns out, it was just the bells on the Western Electric 202 telephone beginning to chatter.

The day after Christmas, I was lounging around in my pajamas, sipping on my coffee when the phone rang. The caller informed me that he had seen my wanted ad on Craigslist for vintage Kirby vacuums and said that had a nice Kirby G series he wanted to sell. I started reciting my usual spiel:

ME: "Thank you, but the G series is a bit newer than I usually buy, I only buy Kirbys manufactured prior to the 1960's"

GUY: "Ok, I also have a Kirby 505, is that something you'd be interested in?"

ME: "Sorry, did you say a 505?"

GUY: "That's what it says on the little tag on the bottom."

ME: "I might be interested, when can I come take a look?"

GUY: "I'm actually going to be driving by you in a little while, I can just drop it off"

ME: "That's perfect, see you soon!"

For the next hour, I was pacing back and forth (by now I decided to put a little "holiday cheer" in my coffee to calm my nerves). Finally the doorbell rang, and there it was. A Kirby 505.

ME: "So, how much do you want for it?

GUY: "I don't know, 10 bucks?"

ME: "Here's 20, Merry Christmas."

I brought it inside to inspect it, partially in disbelief that someone just delivered a Kirby 505 to my door. The handle grip is original and in excellent shape, as is the headlight and floor nozzle trim. The bag is an old replacement (though still a vintage Kirby bag, which I'll re-use on another machine). The belt lifter is also an old replacement, sadly. But hey, it's a $20 505! I look forward to getting it all taken apart for service and cleaning. Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring me a black belt lifter now...

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 4 View Full Size


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Post# 310411 12/31/2014 at 09:07 (3,395 days old) by HisMastersVoice (Ferndale, MI)
Checkrate/Likes 1 'Twas the morning after Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, except the pink aluminum West Bend percolator. The coffee beans were ground by the KitchenAid A-9 with care, In hopes that fresh coffee soon would be there; When out in the living room there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter. As it turns out, it was just the bells on the Western Electric 202 telephone beginning to chatter. The day after Christmas, I was lounging around in my pajamas, sipping on my coffee when the phone rang. The caller informed me that he had seen my wanted ad on Craigslist for vintage Kirby vacuums and said that had a nice Kirby G series he wanted to sell. I started reciting my usual spiel: ME: "Thank you, but the G series is a bit newer than I usually buy, I only buy Kirbys manufactured prior to the 1960's" GUY: "Ok, I also have a Kirby 505, is that something you'd be interested in?" ME: "Sorry, did you say a 505?" GUY: "That's what it says on the little tag on the bottom." ME: "I might be interested, when can I come take a look?" GUY: "I'm actually going to be driving by you in a little while, I can just drop it off" ME: "That's perfect, see you soon!" For the next hour, I was pacing back and forth (by now I decided to put a little "holiday cheer" in my coffee to calm my nerves). Finally the doorbell rang, and there it was. A Kirby 505. ME: "So, how much do you want for it? GUY: "I don't know, 10 bucks?" ME: "Here's 20, Merry Christmas." I brought it inside to inspect it, partially in disbelief that someone just delivered a Kirby 505 to my door. The handle grip is original and in excellent shape, as is the headlight and floor nozzle trim. The bag is an old replacement (though still a vintage Kirby bag, which I'll re-use on another machine). The belt lifter is also an old replacement, sadly. But hey, it's a $20 505! I look forward to getting it all taken apart for service and cleaning. Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring me a black belt lifter now... Photos... < > Photo 1 of 4 View Full Size

Post# 310413 , Reply# 1 12/31/2014 at 09:22 (3,395 days old) by danielsand ()
Checkrate/Likes 1 Great story! Funny, but I also have the same add on Craigs in my area (unbeknownst to my wife!). So far I got just one call for Heritage parts, which I didn't need at the time (it reminds me, now that I HAVE Heritage2, I need to call the guy back!). 505 for 10 bucks is a sweet deal (even double that LOL!). Since I love to restore things (and I love Kirbys), and since I'm bored (most of the time), I just might start the new business venture! I see them restored on the Bay for $250+, but I don't know how fast do they move. Sourcing them on the large scale might also prove to be a problem. Since I owned several businesses associated with polishing/buffing/restoring, I have contacts with some "polishing pros" looking for extra work all the time,......hmmmm.

Post# 310636 , Reply# 2 1/2/2015 at 07:54 (3,393 days old) by HisMastersVoice (Ferndale, MI)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks! Yes, I am pretty excited to get started on it soon....alas, tempus fugit. I think you are right about a steady supply, sometimes I find 10 of them in a week, and then nothing for months. You just never know.