"Electroluxes Through the years"


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Thread Number: 1389
"Electroluxes Through the years"

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Post# 14283 5/22/2007 at 23:07 (6,183 days old) by charles~richard ()
Checkrate/Likes I often speculate about how many Electrolux models may have been used in a home when I see Electroluxes on eBay with a variety of attachments from different Electrolux models. I thought I was the only one who thought about this until I just got an email from another collector talking about how he does the same thing! I shouldda known better than to think I was the only one!! So I was inspired to write out the following scenario that is pure fantasy but COULD have actually happened! ------- Many times on eBay you'll see a newer machine with an assortment of older accessories, sometimes even an older hose on a newer machine. You can do a little detective work to figure out a household's history of vacuum cleaners. Something like this: Mr. and Mrs. Jones got a deluxe Model XXX in 1949 with all the accessories, as a wedding present from her husband's sister Sylvia, whose husband's lodge brother sold them. Mrs. Jones used the XXX box to store all the many linens and white goods that they received as wedding presents. They had gotten so many that they couldn't use them all. A few years later her church had a rummage sale. She took the XXX box full of linens (careful to pick out the ones that had been given by her lady friends at church!) and took it to the rummage sale. The linens were removed from the box and put on display, selling for 5¢ to 50¢. The XXX box was bought for a dollar by an Electrolux nut who couldn't believe his eyes upon seeing that mint XXX box under Mrs. Jones' sale table in the church social hall! Then Mrs. Jones got an AE in 1956 from her husband's brother-in law's son who followed in his father's footsteps and went to work for his dad who was now an Electrolux regional manager. She got a new AE hose for the XXX and took that machine to the lakefront summer cottage, stored in the AE box. The XXX hose was hung on a hook in the garage, kept on hand in case she needed a spare. In 1968, Mrs. Jones bought a white and turquoise power nozzle that the Electrolux man demonstrated. He was able to upgrade her AE with a port for the power nozzle. He also sold her a new turquoise hose, a new dusting brush, and a turbo rug shampooer outfit. The replaced AE hose was hung out in the garage with the XXX hose. She was delighted when the Electrolux man demonstrated the three-head floor polisher and rug shampooer, but Mr. Jones said she did not need it. Whenever they needed to do the floors, he would go to the local A&P Grocery Store and rent a Johnson Wax floor machine. Then Mrs. Jones got a Golden Jubilee and power nozzle in 1974 from her husband's brother-in law's grandson who also followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps and went to work for his dad who was now an Electrolux regional manager. (Grandpa retired after 35 years in the business and was given a gold watch with a Golden Jubilee on the face.) Mrs. Jones got a new gold Model L hose for the AE, and the AE and G power nozzle went out to the summer cottage, the AE stored in the Golden Jubilee box. The turquoise replacement hose was hung on the hook in the garage along with the XXX and AE hoses. The XXX in the AE box with the replacement AE hose went to the local Ladies Auxiliary thrift shop where an Electrolux collector was happy to pay $3.92 for it. She was delighted when the Electrolux man demonstrated the beautiful gold and white floor polisher and rug shampooer, but again Mr. Jones said she did not need it. When the A&P went out of business, he bought one of the Johnson Wax machines for $10 when the store had a furnishings liquidation sale. Then in 1982 Mr. Jones FINALLY weakened and bought Mrs. Jones a Silverado gray B8 rug shampooer and floor polisher because the belt in the Johnson Wax machine broke, and when he called the company to secure a replacement he was told parts for their polishers were no longer available. She also got a new Silverado hose for her Golden Jubilee. The Golden Jubilee hose was hung out in the garage with the XXX, AE, and the turquoise G hoses. Mr. Jones was adamant about not throwing out any perfectly good sweeper hoses! Along the way, Mrs. Jones saved favorite attachments and accessories - the various dusting brushes, maybe the bare floor brush because she liked it and "moved them up" with each new machine. She liked the XXX bare floor tool better than "the newfangled ones," and even used it with her Golden Jubilee. The polisher, sprayer and vaporizer from the XXX were kept in the polisher box on a shelf in her laundry room next to the box with the turbo rug shampooer. She used the polisher to wax her kitchen floor, but never used the sprayer, vaporizer or rug shampooer. Then Mr. and Mrs. Jones retired. The house and summer cottage were sold. The AE, Golden Jubilee, Silverado shampooer, XXX, AE hose, turquoise G replacement hose, Golden Jubilee hose, turbo shampooer, and the XXX accessories in the polisher box were sold at an "estate sale" where an Electrolux collector found them and paid $15 for the lot. I always like a happy ending.

Post# 14285 , Reply# 1 5/22/2007 at 23:51 (6,183 days old) by dial-a-nap (Omaha - the home of the TV Dinner)
Checkrate/Likes Great story, Charlie, but you forgot the almost never used Eureka upright found in the basement at the estate sale that was given to Mrs. Jones on her 40th wedding anniversary as a "gift" from her children so she wouldn't have to lug around that "heavy, old canister" anymore!

Post# 14286 , Reply# 2 5/23/2007 at 02:36 (6,183 days old) by swingette ()
Checkrate/Likes *so she wouldn't have to lug around that "heavy, old* ...and get some dirt out of her carpets for once! (duckz and runz)

Post# 14287 , Reply# 3 5/23/2007 at 15:02 (6,182 days old) by earlieone (San Mateo, CA)
Checkrate/Likes Wow - I have always done the same thing except with hoovers. I look at my collection and think about how I could have all those vac's. Starting with a model 28, then upgrading to a convertable in the early 60's and putting the 28 in the basement for a back up. then the DAM, Then the power drive dam, then the concept and finally the windtunnel. Sometime I throw various Kirby's and elux's into the scenerio because I imagine not being able to turn away the door to door salesman. but always went back to a hoover. yeah I am crazy robb

Post# 14289 , Reply# 4 5/23/2007 at 15:38 (6,182 days old) by frkirby511 ()
Checkrate/Likes *Or a complete Kirby -Lux-Hoover- Electro-Hygene scenerio...* First Kirby is a 509 complete with floor buffer. Josephine uses the Kirby till oldest son get's married in 1957. She gives the 509 to son and daughter-in-law and buys a KIrby 517; but with only basic attachments, no buffer and no Handi Butler. Son and daughter-in-law use the 509 till, having developed a very fine medical practice, they must, by all means, step up a notch and they buy a flashy 561 with every attachment possible. Son even shows off to his cousin that he used the Handi Butler to finish off the basement in the new, shoreline Connecticut home. Meanwhile, Josephine used up the 517 till it's last breath and, is talked into an Electro Hygene by the Vac Shop where she first purchased her Kirby because, "they don't sell them like that anymore." She doesn't really like the Electro-Hygene...but....it will do. Then she moves in with her sister Irene who owned a Kirby 516 and, later a Hoover Model 70:keeping both [the Kirby for attachments; the Hoover for the rugs] They survive happily on these vacs until the nephew comes along, now selling Electrolux and gets them to trade the whole bunch in on a Model L [because it's not as heavy as the 1205] with cord winder, power nozzle and rug washer! The L carries them for quite a while. Josephine rarely uses it as she does most of the cooking; but Irene has it out all the time and thinks it's just great [mostly because her nephew sold it to her] When the L gives way, [nephew no longer in the vac business] they are counseled by the local Electrolux agent to purchase the upright with attachments instead of a Silverado tank. They like that ok...but then, eventually that gives way and they tell the nephew one day that they really miss having the Kirby. Nephew...feeling generous and it being so close to Christmas, goes out and gets them a Legend II Kirby for Christmas. And now...at 96 and 99 respecively...and neither of them able to vacuum the house anymore, they both watch as a cleaning crew comes in with back pack vacuums to tidy up their little cottage on the Connecticut shore, Kirby Legend II shiny as ever, still in the hall closet with all the attachments neatly placed in the holder, hung on the wall inside.

Post# 14292 , Reply# 5 5/23/2007 at 21:17 (6,182 days old) by normvac (COLUMBUS, OHIO)
Checkrate/Likes Yes, guys I would agree with both cases of history!! Norm

Post# 14294 , Reply# 6 5/23/2007 at 21:43 (6,182 days old) by luxg ()
Checkrate/Likes Guys this is so much fun! I can't tell you how many times I have wondered the very same thing. Thanks for starting this great thread Charles.

Post# 14295 , Reply# 7 5/23/2007 at 22:08 (6,182 days old) by dial-a-nap (Omaha - the home of the TV Dinner)
Checkrate/Likes My model 28 and 61 Hoovers were found in near-mint condition with the original boxes, books, tools, etc. at local estate sales. Estate sales are usually quite impersonal, run by an outside company to liquidate what the family does not want of relative's belongings. I would love to hear the story about some of the vacs, appliances and furnishings that I've found that were either never used and kept new in the boxes or apparently used very little. Even the things that are beat to heck, it would be nice to hear how much the owner liked them and why. I guess this is part of the mystery and fun of collecting these treasures.

Post# 14299 , Reply# 8 5/24/2007 at 09:09 (6,181 days old) by portable (Corvallis, OR)
Checkrate/Likes *A real story* When I moved into my tiny first house in Portland, I had a wonderful neighbor. She was about 89 at the time. She was an old-world Italian lady. In the summer, she moved down to the basement and did her canning and sauce cooking down there in a complete kitchen she had set up. Fast forward to 7 years later to just after Filomena's death. I knew she had had a Hoover gold Hoover Anniversary Convertible that she used all the time. She also had a NEVER USED Kirby (I think it was a 509) with all the attachments, stashed in her basement closet. She showed it to me one day and complained that her husband had proudly brought it home and presented it to her. She hated it. When her daughter had an estate sale, the Kirby was nowhere in sight. I didn't have the nerve to ask about it, figuring the family had decided to keep it. The next (and last) day - Sunday - I saw a man come down the driveway (it took him two trips) with the Kirby and all the attachments. He said the family had saved the "good stuff" for Sunday. I was just sick! The Anniversary Hoover was so beat up that I would have never considered it, but that Kirby was gorgeous. I still often wonder if that man has that beautiful Kirby. Sigh...

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