Thread Number: 31554  /  Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
tank or canister
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Post# 348726   3/27/2016 at 06:42 (2,923 days old) by kenkart ()        

Lately I have seen more and more references to Electroluxes as canisters...Electrolux never made a canister, they made tanks, Filter Queens and GE swiveltops are canisters, When did the term canister take over???I never noticed this until lately...What do you all think, am I being picky;;LOL

Post# 348731 , Reply# 1   3/27/2016 at 08:38 (2,923 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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Hans, I wonder if it has anything to do with regional terms? Like sweeper and such? We always said canister! Never called one a tank that I can remember. Others may have more insight.

Post# 348737 , Reply# 2   3/27/2016 at 09:00 (2,923 days old) by blknblu (CT)        

try googling "Electrolux tank vacuum", I'm from the area where the original Electrolux vacuums were made.

It has always been known as an Electrolux canister vacuum. You say tank, and you will get a strange look.

 


Post# 348738 , Reply# 3   3/27/2016 at 09:03 (2,923 days old) by vacuumlad1650 (Wauponsee, IL)        

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I say canister when im being specific. I usually just say Electrolux Vacuum Sweeper

Post# 348741 , Reply# 4   3/27/2016 at 09:14 (2,923 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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My grandmother on my father's side would say Sweeper, I think she was from Tx.

Post# 348746 , Reply# 5   3/27/2016 at 10:01 (2,923 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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In the non-vacuum world, let's say in mechanical engineering, a canister and a tank seem to describe a container of the same shape - known in geometry as a "cylinder." To me the two types of cylinder (a circle of a certain radius times height) refer to the size: a canister of sugar or a tank of gasoline. Canisters are smaller and tanks seem to imply larger - like a tanker truck. I like the term canister because it seems to fit the compact size of most "cylindrical" vacs.

Post# 348753 , Reply# 6   3/27/2016 at 10:45 (2,923 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Andy...if you ever find yourself down in Bloomington-Normal, you should take some pictures of the old Eureka Williams factory there. I think the building was sold by Eureka's current parent company AB Electrolux. When Hoover and Eureka were competing against each other in the 1960's and 1970's, I always thought of Hoover as the "Ohio" vac maker and Eureka as the Illinois vac maker. In fact, I think Eureka was the only vacuum manufacturer in your state. Not sure if Birtland made their Kenmores in Chicago.

But would be interesting to see pics of the old Eureka factory here at VacuumLand! :-)


Post# 348760 , Reply# 7   3/27/2016 at 13:07 (2,923 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)        

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Amongst our Professional Collector selves, we call them Canisters, tanks, cylinders....

 

On Craigslist, and among the great, unwashed, vacuum cleaner ignorant Public, I've seen:

 

"pull-behind, flat, drag-behind, older flat style, box-type, hose kind, rides behind"...... (vs. "push kind, stand up type, and newer style" in reference to uprights).

 

Basically, it doesn't matter what continent or region one is from, it's a box with a motor in it, with a hose and cord.  

 

And it's amazing how many have similar or matching cords, switches, motors, hoses and parts, the likes of which even spans the decades.

 

So the real difference is the shape of said box. 

 

Even though I love my Electrolux's I never call them tanks.  That has a military reference which is pointless and not relevant.  If anything, they should be called the phallic vacuums, given their penis shape.  And who doesn't like playing with a beautiful penis. 

It appears, from Luxs, gray and dingy current selection, that even they don't use the tank name.

 

Canister and cylinder.   Accurate and a realistic name BUT, it's obviously too many syllables for the vacuum ignorant public to remember.  surprised

 

Most of the public can't even spell vacuum correctly.  How many times have I seen "vaccum, or vacumn, or vakkum, or vacc"?  Damn-it, that's disrespectful. yell

 

I'm hesitant though for us to come together on changing the name to something like BOX vacuum, as it may be overly simple.  If we start referring to canister/cylinders/tanks as BOX vacs, it may attract a buying public, the likes of which would vote for trump.   

That's dangerous territory, and I don't think any of us want to contemplate what the vacuum industry would look like under a trump presidency.

 

 

The name canister and cylinder is non-threatening.  It also gives us an easy leg up on those would chose to live a life, ignorant of the important contributions that vacuum cleaners have made to daily life in the last century.

We all need to step back, and be grateful for our vacuum cleaner intelligence and sophistication.

 

 

 

 

 


Post# 348774 , Reply# 8   3/27/2016 at 18:07 (2,923 days old) by compactc9guy (Bathurst NB)        
reply

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In my neck of the woods its always been a canister and an upright .Either Lux Compact Tristar Or Filter Queen . Canister vac meant either cylinder or tank like cleaner . Canister was for the , smaller more compact cleaner whit the motor separe from the cleaning tool. Upright are referred to as one piece unit or all in one . canister have more ability for bigger jobs id take a canister or tank type. i guess its just base on were your from but in my house its always been a canister or in french train-aux and vertical cleaner . my 2 cents .

Post# 348777 , Reply# 9   3/27/2016 at 19:20 (2,923 days old) by Streakers (Columbus Ohio)        
Back home

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They were referred to as a 'barrel' vacuum... Tank and canister are specifically American terms in my mind...

Post# 348779 , Reply# 10   3/27/2016 at 19:46 (2,923 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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Hmm, back home refers to where?

Post# 348784 , Reply# 11   3/27/2016 at 20:32 (2,923 days old) by sitop (Bradenton, FL)        
Interesting

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In my area it was either an Upright or a Canister. Tank almost always had something to do with either gasoline, oil, water or septic

Post# 348786 , Reply# 12   3/27/2016 at 20:47 (2,923 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)        

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I'm with sitop

Post# 348788 , Reply# 13   3/27/2016 at 20:56 (2,923 days old) by Streakers (Columbus Ohio)        
Sorry, Back home in

streakers's profile picture
Australia...

Post# 348800 , Reply# 14   3/27/2016 at 22:13 (2,922 days old) by speedqueen (Harrison Twp MI)        
The 1951 and 1954 Consumer Reports...

If I recall correctly, referred to the Electrolux style as a tank in 1951 and as a cylinder in 1954. They referred to the Filter Queen style as "pot, squat models" in '51 and as canisters in '54.

***I found some of the, since taken down, Consumer Reports using web.archive.org***


Post# 348824 , Reply# 15   3/27/2016 at 23:45 (2,922 days old) by delaneymeegan (Mary Richards lived here)        
lol

delaneymeegan's profile picture

 

 

 

A "pot" model !?   That's just so wrong.  lol


Post# 348831 , Reply# 16   3/28/2016 at 00:52 (2,922 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)        
we always said canister

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We had a tenant who had a Constellation. she called it her 'tank'.

 


Post# 348832 , Reply# 17   3/28/2016 at 00:53 (2,922 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)        
And, Hans,

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if you'd still care to,  it would be great to talk soon.

 John


Post# 348860 , Reply# 18   3/28/2016 at 12:05 (2,922 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)        
(fill in the blank) vac

I feel that tank(or cylinder) and canister are correct.It is interesting how many ways they are referred to that relate to common items.In addition to the'pot'type of the 50s there was the 'radio'style Jet 99 and the 'Hat Box'Hamilton Beach.Sears referred to their Deluxe 30s upright as having 'automotive type'headlights.And locomotive styling referred to many products including the Electrolux Mo XXX.

Post# 348865 , Reply# 19   3/28/2016 at 14:13 (2,922 days old) by Paul (USA)        

In another thread posted a year or more ago, someone had mentioned that the difference between a canister and a tank was not the size but the dimensions; according to that person a canister was wider than a tank (or cylinder). Using that criteria an Electrolux Model CB would be an example of a canister, and a Model G would be a tank (or cylinder).

I find it interesting that Electrolux and many other companies did not use the term 'vacuum' regularly until the late 1960s (for Electrolux it was when Consolidated Foods became the major stockholder; although the original 1965 Model CB manual used 'vacuum cleaner'). Electrolux manuals (worldwide) typically just referred to the 'cleaner', and in the early years 'air purifier & cleaner'. The term 'vacuum cleaner' had been used by consumers back in the day, but most companies resisted using the term probably because it is a misnomer; a 'vacuum', in in scientific jargon, is the absence of matter. The word likely entered the industry's lexicon as a reference to the removal of matter from rugs and carpets in its verb form, 'vacuuming'--possibly by companies to counter the term 'Hoovering'.


Post# 349034 , Reply# 20   3/29/2016 at 23:57 (2,920 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH)        
I Agree With Hans!

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Cylinder shaped vacs, such as an Electrolux, Kenmore Commander, Electro-Hygiene 966, Filtex, or the "I Love Lucy" Westinghouse are all tanks. Kettle or pot shaped vacs, such as Filter Queen, GE Swiveltop, Hoover Constellation, Eureka Rotomatic, and Rainbow are canisters.
Jeff


Post# 349038 , Reply# 21   3/30/2016 at 01:56 (2,920 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)        

Couldn't we call those horizontal "canister" "torpedo" vacs?

Post# 349041 , Reply# 22   3/30/2016 at 04:24 (2,920 days old) by pr-21 (Middletown, OH)        

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Tanks to me are like the original Luxes, while a round vacuum like a Eureka Rotomatic to me is a canister type vacuum.


PR-21


Post# 349067 , Reply# 23   3/30/2016 at 12:32 (2,920 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)        
I guess I never really thought about it.

We have always called the machines that stood with the handle upright, and Upright,   And the ones with a hose a canister.  The Hose on a Kirby is in "canister mode". 

 

I guess it was mostly from habit rather than correctness.

 



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