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Thread Number: 1169
Model 903 Electro-Hygeine |
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Post# 11821 4/2/2007 at 21:17 (6,226 days old) by vinvac  (Dubuque IA) |
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Post# 11823 , Reply# 1 4/2/2007 at 21:20 (6,226 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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more pics
The attachment set came to me only a couple of weeks ago from a man selling a Kirby Classic III on ebay complete with all tools.. only this was the tool set in the picture. I emailed him and told him the tools did not belong to the Kirby machine but rather to a Royal. He offered to sell them to me after the Kirby sale if the buyer did not want them...so now they have a home with the proper vacuum.
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Post# 11825 , Reply# 2 4/2/2007 at 21:27 (6,226 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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one last shot
A side view. I might add that this vacuum was one of my very first ebay purchases. It came from another club member Ken Smith. My good friend and fellow club member Louis Rescigno heard the machine run and said it did not sound correct, he thought the fan blade was broke. Well indeed it was. From the bottom of the fan blade, I ordered a new one and tried to replace it. In the process I damaged the motor and Mike Hayes who works for the Henry Company was able to repair the motor and replace the fan blade. Royals are very tricky as there is no way to hold the motor while removing the fan other than holding the armiture with a screwdriver...well lets just say...practice must make perfect...right Mike!!! LOL
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| Post# 11827 , Reply# 3 4/2/2007 at 21:36 (6,226 days old) by vacjwt () | ||
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cool its on my list of vacuums to get | ||
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Post# 11832 , Reply# 5 4/2/2007 at 21:48 (6,226 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Pete | ||
| Post# 11847 , Reply# 6 4/2/2007 at 23:42 (6,226 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
Beautiful 903, Morgan! | ||
| Post# 11880 , Reply# 8 4/3/2007 at 08:02 (6,226 days old) by luxg () | ||
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Morgan that is just a beautiful machine!! I love the curved wands on the Royal attachments. This will sure be a fun machine to use. | ||
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Post# 11912 , Reply# 10 4/3/2007 at 20:11 (6,225 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Charles,
I hope Jeff can answer that question for us. He made reference in the Model 401 thread that he sold this exact machine. If memory serves me correctly he thought mid to late 70's or early 80's. I do love the machine. It is so easy to use, much lighter than a Kirby, even the 500 series. Tool suction is not bad either. Morgan | ||
| Post# 11915 , Reply# 11 4/3/2007 at 21:34 (6,225 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Morgan, Charles, & Tom,
Best I can give is a ballpark figure on the date of the 903. As I said before in another post, the older 903's had a white (or off-white) bag with red printing like mine, and the later ones had a red bag with silver printing, like yours. They went to the red bag in the early 70's and pretty much stayed with that until they quit making Hygienes around 1980-1982. So, yours was probably built between 1970 and 1982. Mine, with the white bag, was pre-1970. But when I sold them in 1974 and again in 1976, they looked exactly like yours. And Charles, they DID make a floor polisher for the tank and cannister models, and I have actually seen one. For some unknown reason, our Electro-Hygiene branch never pushed them, or the extra accessories for the upright either, so I never demoed one, but we always kept a few on hand at the store, just in case someone ACTUALLY READ their instruction book and asked for one. The polisher, just like you thought, was similar to the Lux, but actually almost IDENTICAL to the Filter Queen polisher, even had the little wooden handle that screwed into the side so you could use it two handed to polish cars or furniture as well as floors. And Tom, if Morgan's Hygiene looks familiar, it's the same model (903) as the one I picked up when you, Joe, and me were thrifting last year, which I now have almost finished except for polishing. Also, I think the reason you see more Royals than Hygienes is that EH was mostly sold in homes, where Royals were sold in stores. Hope this has been helpful. Jeff | ||
| Post# 11949 , Reply# 14 4/4/2007 at 14:27 (6,225 days old) by timborow (Georgia) | ||
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Henry Company Does the Henry company restore any other types of vacuums, or is it just Royals? Tim | ||
| Post# 11991 , Reply# 15 4/4/2007 at 21:08 (6,224 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Charles,
The Electro-Hygienes were for the biggest part identical to the Royals, but the main difference was the crystal chamber, where crystals were placed to deodorize as you vacuumed. It was located under the headlight hood on the upright, and where the hose connects on the tank. The crystal chamber was originally a feature on the top of the line Royal straight suction upright, known as the Sanitizor, and was located where the nozzle connected to the fan housing. Art Frankenfeld, founder and president of Electro-Hygiene (whom I was lucky to meet at a sales convention in 1974) got his start selling Royals, and could sell the Sanitizor like no other. If I remember the story right, he was so impressed with the Sanitizor that he struck a deal with P.A. Geier Co. (makers of the Royal), where they would build the Sanitzor model exclusively for his company and no longer build a Royal with a crystal chamber. Thus, Electro-Hygiene was born. And from then until the very last Electro-Hygiene was made, it was an exclusive EH feature. That, and the Electro-Hygiene name, were about the only differences between the Royal and Electro-Hygiene. Also, the EH upright remained a straight suction machine well after Royal became available with a revolving brush, as they didn't know where to put the crystal chamber. The first EH with revolving brush came out in 1955, and they solved the crystal chamber problem by making one that would snap on in place of the front cover, a system that was used until the mid 60's, when they began using a hinged headlight hood and placed the chamber below it. Jeff | ||
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Post# 12013 , Reply# 17 4/5/2007 at 10:51 (6,224 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Correction!!! | ||
| Post# 12048 , Reply# 18 4/5/2007 at 22:11 (6,223 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Charles,
The Royal you describe sounds like the Royal Sanitizor, forerunner to the Electro-Hygiene. That little space was the "crystal chamber" I referred to. And the crystals themselves merit mention here. After the Electro-Hygiene Co. was formed, they developed their own crystals, which were referred to as "Sanitizing Crystals" or as it said on the label, "Electro-Hygiene Sanitizing Crystaline Preparation." These took the regular paradichlorobenzine moth crystals a step further, by adding 0.4% (4 tenths of 1 percent) formaldehyde. The purpose for this was to kill germs as well as deodorize as you vacuumed. Did it work?? Well, I'll just say that people either swore by it, or laughed at it!! Jeff | ||
| Post# 12055 , Reply# 20 4/5/2007 at 23:35 (6,223 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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That's it, | ||
| Post# 12059 , Reply# 21 4/6/2007 at 00:44 (6,223 days old) by scott55405 () | ||
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Very nice cleaner! I love my model 880 Royal which I'm sure is quite similar in operation and power to this one. I use it all the time! When were Electro Hygiene cleaners last made? | ||
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Post# 12170 , Reply# 23 4/7/2007 at 22:25 (6,221 days old) by dial-a-nap (Omaha - the home of the TV Dinner) |
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| Post# 12262 , Reply# 24 4/8/2007 at 20:17 (6,220 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Gregg,
I couldn't agree with you more. The Royal and Electro-Hygiene uprights are about the most powerful, durable, and maneuverable machines you'll find. And if you check the label on the back of the nozzle (or on the bottom of the machine) I'm sure you'll find it's a model 903, just like Morgan's and mine. Does yours have the red bag, or white? Did you get tools with it? Congratulations on acquiring a really fine machine! Jeff | ||
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Post# 12292 , Reply# 25 4/9/2007 at 08:13 (6,220 days old) by dial-a-nap (Omaha - the home of the TV Dinner) |
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Post# 12294 , Reply# 26 4/9/2007 at 08:45 (6,220 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Greg, | ||
| Post# 12299 , Reply# 27 4/9/2007 at 12:54 (6,220 days old) by charles~richard () | ||
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I'd like to see a photo of the 980 with the nozzle removed and the hose attached. I did not know Royal made any such machines, and it would be fun to see this! | ||
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Post# 12306 , Reply# 28 4/9/2007 at 15:12 (6,219 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Charlie, | ||
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Post# 12334 , Reply# 29 4/9/2007 at 22:07 (6,219 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Greg and Charlie, | ||
| Post# 12351 , Reply# 31 4/10/2007 at 04:49 (6,219 days old) by charles~richard () | ||
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Uncle Dick in 1940. See any family resemblance?! 
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| Post# 12352 , Reply# 32 4/10/2007 at 04:51 (6,219 days old) by charles~richard () | ||
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Uncle Dick in 1973, pretty much as I remember him. (He died in the mid 1980s from lung cancer - was a heavy smoker - note the cigarette in the pic...) 
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Post# 12404 , Reply# 35 4/10/2007 at 22:12 (6,218 days old) by rogera608s (Tucson, AZ) |
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Here is the machine with the attachments on it. 
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Post# 12406 , Reply# 36 4/10/2007 at 22:18 (6,218 days old) by rogera608s (Tucson, AZ) |
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Here is the connector that attaches to the machine. BTW.....there are no safety switches on this machine. It run with nothing on the front. 
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| Post# 12408 , Reply# 37 4/10/2007 at 22:26 (6,218 days old) by scott55405 () | ||
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Roger, is that one before my 880, even though it has a higher number? The bag design makes me think it is. I just polished the 880 the other day, and it looks great! :) Charles, in the 1940 photo your uncle is a dead ringer for you! | ||
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Post# 12410 , Reply# 38 4/10/2007 at 22:40 (6,218 days old) by rogera608s (Tucson, AZ) |
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Scott, I have never been able to figure out a date for this machine. | ||
| Post# 12462 , Reply# 40 4/11/2007 at 22:41 (6,217 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Gregg and Roger,
Both of your machines (Gregg's 980 Electro-Hygiene and Roger's 888 Royal) are mid 70's models. And although I used to sell Electro-Hygiene, Gregg's is the FIRST 980 I've ever seen! When I went back to work for Electro-Hygiene in 1976, we were selling a machine called the GALAXIE PRESTIGE model 990, which was a carbon copy of Roger's 888, except the blue bag had red printing instead of dark blue, and said Galaxie Prestige instead of Royal Prestige. It was a new model at the time. We didn't have the EH 980 at our store, but obviously they were available then, or maybe a year or 2 later. But all 3 were top of the line at the time, and if I remember right, the Galaxie, complete with attachments, sprayer, and accessories to convert it to a portable, went for $389.95. I wish I would have bought one back then, but I do have the sales manual for it. Jeff | ||
| Post# 12463 , Reply# 41 4/11/2007 at 23:11 (6,217 days old) by charles~richard () | ||
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Royal with blue rear end? No one answered my question about that... :( | ||
| Post# 12472 , Reply# 44 4/12/2007 at 00:36 (6,217 days old) by swingette () | ||
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ive seen that very model on eBay more than once, Charles. i have an Electro Hygiene model 603 and it too has a painted motor (hammertone grey). has the more rounded nozzle, which the Royals you talk about had as well. | ||
| Post# 12496 , Reply# 45 4/12/2007 at 22:55 (6,216 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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A 603 Electro-Hygiene?
That's yet another model I've never seen. I'd like to see a picture of that one. By description it sounds similar to the model 285 from the late 50's or early 60's. Did it also have the fixed headlight hood? Toss-out bags, or shakeout, and what color was the outer bag? I'm assuming either light or dark blue with red & gold printing, or possibly white cloth with red and silver printing. I'm also assuming this one is from mid 60's, after the 285 but before the 903. And Charles, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you on the Royal with the blue motor housing. I have seen them before, but not many. There was one on ebay not too long ago and it was about a half hour away from me in Ashland, OH, and if I remember right it went fairly cheap. Think I was either away from home orsomeone else was on the computer when the auction closed, or I might have bought it myself. Jeff | ||
| Post# 12498 , Reply# 46 4/12/2007 at 23:04 (6,216 days old) by scott55405 () | ||
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Hygiene903, you mentioned that you worked for Electro-Hygiene in 1976. I didn't realize they were still around even then. Do you know how long they ultimately were around? | ||
| Post# 12501 , Reply# 47 4/12/2007 at 23:47 (6,216 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Scott,
I believe it was about 1981 or 1982 when they bit the dust. And if I'm not mistaken, they ran into some trouble with the government about some of their business practices, including banning them from doing their own financing. Also under attack was their method of getting the machines into the potential customer's home, which was similar to "bait & switch, but differed in the respect that we actually HAD the advertised merchandise (or as we called it, the "leader vac"), and it WAS for sale--I know this for a fact as I sold SEVERAL of the "leader vacs," much to my boss's dissapointment! After being told they could no longer do "business as usual," they soon reached a point where they could not do business at all, and went out of business, and that was about 1981 or 82. However, to this day there is still a store in Indiana and one in Ohio with Electro-Hygiene as part of the name, even though Electro-Hygiene is no longer made. I'd like to find out if they still honor the EH guarantee, as I'd like to get my 966 tank rebuilt!! Jeff | ||
| Post# 12693 , Reply# 49 4/17/2007 at 00:31 (6,212 days old) by scott55405 () | ||
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Thank you Jeff! On a side note, vacuums and sewing machines often seem to be close relatives, at least from a sales standpoint. Did you know of the product in this link? CLICK HERE TO GO TO scott55405's LINK on eBay | ||
| Post# 12753 , Reply# 50 4/17/2007 at 23:56 (6,211 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
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Sure did!!
I never sold sewing machines when I worked for EH, but when I didn't have sales appointments I used to help out in the back room--er, I mean service department, and probably worked on as many sewing machines as vacs. The machine in the link was our cheaper model. The top of the line model had design cams that dropped in the top, automatic buttonholer, automatic knot tyer, automatic zigzag, the whole 9 yards that was available on sewing machines at the time. And yes, I noticed that too, about the connection between sewing machines and vacuum cleaners. Quite a few stores sold both, and Singer was especially noted for it. Some stores even had sew and vac or vac and sew as part of their name. I don't think you see it as much now as back in the day. Did you also notice that in the old catalogs (Sears, Wards, Spiegel, etc.) they even had the vacs and sewing machines on the next pages to each other? I tried to get a thread going on this subject a while back, but I think I only got 4 or 5 replys on it. Jeff | ||
| Post# 12760 , Reply# 51 4/18/2007 at 00:52 (6,211 days old) by portable (Corvallis, OR) | ||
Charles - Your Uncle's picture... | ||
| Post# 13023 , Reply# 52 4/25/2007 at 00:23 (6,204 days old) by scott55405 () | ||
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another EH sewing machine The more deluxe model with cams, it would appear! Never knew they existed til recently, now I see two in as many weeks! CLICK HERE TO GO TO scott55405's LINK on eBay | ||
| Post# 13025 , Reply# 54 4/25/2007 at 03:15 (6,204 days old) by buffster () | ||
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hygiene903 Jeff, thank you for your email and advising me on my Royal purchase. I'm sure by now you've read my reply. Very disappointing about the Vita-Vac. :( | ||
| Post# 13035 , Reply# 56 4/25/2007 at 06:46 (6,204 days old) by seamusuk (Dover Kent UK) | ||
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Air freshners in Mieles.... Mike Unless you are just using the Super Airclean filter(the one that comes with the bags) dont bother- both the Active Airclean and Hepa filters have a charcoal element so you wont be able to smell it ! Seamus | ||
| Post# 13078 , Reply# 60 4/26/2007 at 07:18 (6,203 days old) by ian88 () | ||
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I remember a lad I knew saying Kirbys were REALLY loud...I never understood what he mean't, my Heritage 2 (albeit a lot more modern than the ones mentioned in this thread) makes a lovely purring drone (admittedly its a bit different if the bag falls off ;) ) Ian | ||
| Post# 13079 , Reply# 61 4/26/2007 at 07:38 (6,203 days old) by thunderhexed (Edmond, OK) | ||
since we are on the subject of Kirby's...
I am torn between three loves... Recently my significant other has moved in with me, he freaked out when he saw all of the vacs in my closet but thought it was so cute and just another thing to make him fall in love with me even more, anyways, because we are now cramped for space, all but one of my units will need to go into storage. I can't decide which one I want to part with though! I am torn between my Kirby Classic I or my Dual Sanitronic 50. Any suggestions? Is it weird that this is bothering me so much? I love using them both, but I really only have room for one. HELP! I'm kinda leaning towards the DS 50 due to size, but I guess I just want some reassurance that it will clean as well as my Classic I. Lets take a vote!... | ||
| Post# 13080 , Reply# 62 4/26/2007 at 08:04 (6,203 days old) by luxg () | ||
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My vote goes for the Dual 50 such an easy machine to use and you have to love the lighted Kirby logo. | ||
| Post# 13083 , Reply# 63 4/26/2007 at 11:20 (6,203 days old) by kirbyvacuum (Long Island New York) | ||
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Kirby PICK Hi Cory My vote is for Dual 50 I love that Kirby .Next best the Dual 80 i love the pea soup GREEN. Good luck Doug | ||
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Post# 13084 , Reply# 64 4/26/2007 at 11:56 (6,203 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA) |
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Dual 50
The Dual 50 would win hands down for me. I am not at home now, but I think the motor is the same in both. The lightness of the Dual 50 and the smaller head make it the better cleaner. If you get tired of it, just head back to storage and trade them out for a while. Mine get rotated on a regular basis.. I have line that is my daily driver line up.... every once in while when I see a post on here it make me move one out of the line and back to the shelves... Morgan | ||
| Post# 13097 , Reply# 65 4/26/2007 at 15:46 (6,202 days old) by charles~richard () | ||
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Dual 50 would be my vote too, between the machines mentioned. It's one of my favorite Kirbys. CLICK HERE TO GO TO charles~richard's LINK | ||
| Post# 13104 , Reply# 66 4/26/2007 at 17:12 (6,202 days old) by ian88 () | ||
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Classic 1, we must preserve the underdogs too. | ||
| Post# 13133 , Reply# 67 4/27/2007 at 07:46 (6,202 days old) by thunderhexed (Edmond, OK) | ||
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My decision :)
I'm going to be a sneaky one here and see how long it takes my partner to figure this one out :, I have a large hutch that sits in a corner and I discovered just yesterday that is has AMPLE room for hiding, er, I mean, storing a Kirby behind it:) I will just switch them out from time to time cuz I can't bear to part with either of them! I will see if he even notices me switching them out(let's consider this a sort of science project) , to him they are just another appliance but to me, growing up around these machines, they are in a way, like family to me, but at the smae time, he realizes it and apprciates it in his own way. Sound strange, I know, but who cares right? In regards to the Royal machines mentioned in the earlier threads, those have to be my second favorite brnad of vacs. I find it very hard to locate one in decent shape though. I was at a garage sale once that a lady my granny went to church with was having. She called my granny to specifically tell her that she had an old kirby for sale that she though I may be interested in. It was kinda of run down, a 511 or 516, can't remember, but she only wanted like 10.00 for it, it ran perfectly fine, just needed a face lift. Well, when i got there, she also had a vintage royal upright with all attachments for only 15.00, it was light blue in color. Again, torn.. but I was faithful and bought the Kirby, which now sits in storage as well. Looking back, i wish i would have bought the Royal, they seem alot harder to come by than Kirbys. Every time I bid on one on ebay, the price gets higher than I'm willing to pay, oh well.. such is life.
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Post# 281382 , Reply# 68 5/21/2014 at 23:14 (3,620 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon) |
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My 1988 Stark Deluxe 5000NA | ||
| Post# 281711 , Reply# 69 5/24/2014 at 20:40 (3,617 days old) by Loganvac (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania) | ||
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