Thread Number: 34974  /  Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
My new U1124 Convertible! (Or Dial-a-Matic to you US members!)
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Post# 377199   8/23/2017 at 05:00 (2,409 days old) by beko1987 (Stokenchurch, United Kingdom)        

Every so often, the planets align and the world gives you a great big hug!

I'm a member of (too many) several facebook selling sites! Mainly to sell my refurbished dysons, don't really buy anything as most of it is modern tat that I wouldn't want if it was free. However, a fellow UK collector who lives a town over from me messaged me last night, asking if I had seen Chinnor Buy and Sell? There was a Dial-a-Matic!!!!111OMG as the kids say.

I dropped the child I was holding, and grabbed my phone and there is was! I had money too luckily thanks to a DC25 that went back after some work at the weekend, so I messaged the guy! He said he had been asked some questions, but it hadn't sold, it was at a pub called 'The Churchill Arms' in a village a mile from my house! I called to Amy to leave my dinner in the microwave as I ran out the door, and got to this pub in about 3 minutes, overtaking a tractor and ignoring speed bumps! As much as Amy sometimes thinks I have too many vacuums, I think even she saw the urgency in my eyes over this, and so far has not questioned it. I even told her how much I paid, which is rare... It's quite rare I drop everything and go straight away, I'm quite lazy so usually arrange a time when I can be bothered to go.

Parked up, walked in and started to look towards the bar, when a bloke in another room to my left called out "Are you here for the hoover?" Aha, yes!

And this is the bit I love, it has a back story! The bloke bought this pub about 6 weeks ago, and went into the loft 3 weeks ago and this Hoover was the only thing in the loft! He'd had it out next to the fireplace in the bar as a display piece, but it kept getting knocked, and he felt having a heavy moveable metal object was possibly not a smart move in a pub (quiet country pub aside), so popped it on facebook. And here I was!

He asked me about what it was, and I gave him my limited knowledge on it, dated it for him (May 1971) and told him all about my collection, and vacuum collecting in general. He did wonder why I was so keen to come, so I told him straight that in my experience, there's certain machines (especially in the UK where things like this are MUCH rarer than they are in the US) that if you have the money at the time they become available you don't question it, you go for it! Apparently 3 other people had tried to barter the price down, I had no qualms at all about handing over £45 on the spot and shaking his hand (and he poured me a pint which was ace as we chatted!)

Anyway, waffle over, here it is! The brown mark that I thought was a burn on the bag door isn't a burn thank god, it's scraping off so I'll leave that for now and sort it when I do the refurb. The grille is only slightly broken, handle is a bit loose, bag is split and missing the clamp, belt is snapped (or fallen off but I imagine snapped) and it's clogged, but the brushes are immaculate, paintwork is that fine 'patina' kind rather than 'ruined' and it's just plain up lovely!

I haven't turned it on yet. The guy said it runs, and I don't doubt that, although I imagine the old girl needs some love now. I'll find a random bag that will fit from my stash of random bags, and a belt that will fit from my random box of belts and shoot a first look video this week, but I'm so excited, I just had to share it!

I do admit to feeling a pang of guilt for it as I carried it out of the building it's probably spent it's whole life in as I opened the car door and put it on the back seat! Is that silly?


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Post# 377201 , Reply# 1   8/23/2017 at 08:24 (2,409 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

suckolux's profile picture
Have fun Sam!

Post# 377206 , Reply# 2   8/23/2017 at 10:37 (2,409 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)        
Great find!

gottahaveahoove's profile picture
That "Dial A Matic" in the U.S. saw a good time. After you're finished restoring it, I'm sure it will be fantastic once again.

Post# 377720 , Reply# 3   9/1/2017 at 23:37 (2,400 days old) by LillyLux (Oklahoma City)        

That is beautiful! I also have recently acquired a Hoover DAM as we call them in the US, and it was located at a thrift store for less than the cost of a pizza so I couldn't resist. Yours is a lovely blue whereas mine is a rather blunt shade of orange. (The sixties!) I now have a non propelled and a self propelled DAM. Yours is a great find and I bet it will be a great restoration.


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