So many of you, as so for my self, some of our greatest memories from our childhood when visiting family members is of their vacuum cleaners. If they were a favorite Aunt or Uncle, or they just had a machine that you found fascinating, or both, it always leaves a impression on your memory. That is the very thing that our childhood vacuum cleaners are made of, and that brings me to my latest find.
In and around 1992, 1993, my family always made a yearly trip to Michigan. For my fathers family lived there. Well there I had PLENTY of vacuum cleaner memories. One of which is attached to my Aunt Wendy. Aunt Wendy (married to my fathers younger brother), had a vacuum cleaner that at the time, I was only so so intrigued by, but later became most fascinated by. She had a all white Kenmore, twin motor ProFormance upright. It was a middle of the range model, and I know that she paid a fair price for this thing. It always lived in her pantry section of her kitchen (it was a big carpeted kitchen from the early 60's, with a double pantry closet behind two wood vented louvers doors). She always said he didn't really like it very much ( I really think it was just because it needed a belt), so in 1997 it was traded in on a new metal Royal when they moved into their newly built home. So I never saw the white ProFormance ever again.
When I started collecting I started seeing the twin motor Whispertone uprights, and it rekindled my memories of Aunt Wendy's ProFormance. But I had also realized I had never seen another in the past 20 years. So then I did manage to come across one, but it was absolutely trashed, and so faded that it was gold rather then white, so that one ended up getting parted.
until now.....I have one! One in fairly nice condition! It had already been serviced and is VERY clean so I can just plug it in and play! This one is dated 1992 in the bag cover so it is one of the first. I know most of you know that the ProFormance was the first generation of this twin motor clean air upright, the name was then changed to Whispertone after just a year or two. Then the ProFormance name was used on some of the hard body PowerCenter machines. Obviously to keep copyright active. I love the look of this machine, I have two Whispertone's too, but the all white, with the grey trim, mixed with the name and the overall look just make me think so much of that time in my life.
I am so proud to say that this is the last machine of my past that was brought back to me. Quite a auspicious moment for me indeed!
I think I have the catalog that those were in, 1993? I never see these versions either, not sure I ever saw any around, some of the cheaper single motor ones that are basically Panasonics with the Kenmore name turn up now and then, but never the Proformance series.
I have an Emerson fan like yours in the background, great fan, moves lots of air and silent.