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I had a quiet Sunday afternoon today, so I decided to give my "new-to-me" Model 1205 a trip to the Sweeper Spa. This mostly involved just cleaning it up real good -- it didn't require any mechanical servicing at all.

A problem I ran into that I've run into with other 1205s is that the aluminum top trim piece and the power nozzle cover were very tarnished and discolored. I knew before I went in that there was only so much I was going to be able to. I gave these pieces a good what-for with Mother's Mag Polish and #0000 steel wool with some improvement but hardly showroom new.

As I said, the hose was shot so I went down to my workshop to see what I had. Well, Lordy Be! I had a beautiful, nearly mint original 1205 woven straight suction hose (that passed the Roger Proehl Hose Test with flying colors) AND a beautiful (granted, bojack) off-white electric hose that really looks great with the machine.

I retained the XXX upholstery nozzle that had come with it. I figured, if the nice lady kept and used it all these years it deserved to stay with the machine.

I'd forgotten how relatively quiet the 1205 is -- not the gentle purr of a Model G, but not the roaring jetlike sound of the Super J and later models.

(Funny, the first time I used a 1205, back in the day when it was the current model, I thought it sounded harsh and way too loud. It does kinda sound like a shop vac. I also thought it looked ugly, all squared off and boxy unlike the softer lines and forms of earlier models. It wasn't until many years later that I came to appreciate its sleek 1960s-era Swedish-inspired styling.)

A "Customer's Exclusive Serial Number" sticker remained on the bottom and I wanted to keep it. I placed a piece of clear adhesive laminating plastic over it and carefully lifted it off of the machine. Luckily it all came off one one piece. (Some of it had already been worn off.) I trimmed the laminated sheet around it and affixed it back to the motor housing with spray adhesive.

This is one of those rare finds that was well taken care of and lightly used. It runs beautifully and smoothly and with the new hoses has great suction. I vacuumed the entire apartment with it today and it was a real pleasure to use. It really is a gem!

Funny thing is ... I had been watching eBay for a 1205 for quite some time with which to surprize Arlee: As I said, that was the model that his parents used in their home in Palm Springs. His dad had bought it from a door-to-door Electrolux salesman. He did not get the power nozzle because their home didn't have any carpeting.

Some time after Arlee discovered I collect vintage vacuum cleaners, he mentioned that his dad had "an old Electrolux." I bugged him about it enough times that finally one time when he went out there to visit them he brought it back with him. We had it for a while but I don't remember what eventually happened to it. I think he might have given it to one of his other relatives.

And So It Goes.

Now the real question is do those "Gears" Require Grease, or Heavy Oil? Or perhaps they're the Maintenance free kind...