Kirby Tradition White Plastic Attachment Case

I was in the Oak Park, Illinois office when the Tradition came out. I don't recall the usual cardboard attatchment box, but do remember that blue plastic thing. It was a witch to work with at first. In September of that year I was sent to San Diego to fill in for the training manager who took a stroke. The Distributor in San Diego knew my boss Will Hart, and a few days later I was off to sunny Califoria for three months. The best thing that ever happened to me. In fact I retired there in 1995.

What I remember of the Tradition was the floodlight hood from hell! For those who don't know, the salesman had to squeeze a bar, or something like that to lift the hood. It was a beast to operate and you couldn't get to the attatchment lever without it. Kirby lost hundreds of sales, and finally did away with the damned thing.

Personally I was not fond of the blue color, and neither were a lot of prospects. Fortunately our office still had a huge stock of the Classic 111's and they sold like hotcakes. We actually went into the house with both Classic 111, and Tradition giving the buyer their choice. The Classic 111 won hands down. The only other disaster was the D-80. A great machine, but most people didn't like the color. So why green?, the country was in a color craze back then it was harvest gold and avadago green. Most people love what we call Kirby red!

There was also the option of disposable filter bags, or the old stand by the Sani-Em-Tor. Back in Oak Park before I got the call to "go west young man" I went to all the people who'd said "if it only had paper bags--." I sold a Tradition to all but one of them.

Post Tradition they went back to the cardboard box, repackaged things in sections, like 'the Super Renovator group.' Then came the turbo tools instead of the Handi-Butler and that turbo hand tool I called 'the rug rat.'

Tomorrow I'll pick up on the Handi-Butler segment of the demo, took today off to post elsewhere.

Oh my God, I just thought of this, tomorrow's April Fool's Day. Hopefully the members of the club will behave.

Alex Taber.


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Post# 225863 3/31/2013 at 20:25 (4,037 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes Does anyone remember the mythical white plastic attachment case that appeared in the 1979 version of the Kirby Tradition Use and Care Book? It, to the best of my knowledge, never actually saw regular production because they instead used those old cardboard attachment boxes they'd used for decades. The housings for the Miracle Head and Rug Renovator are chrome-plated. With the 1980 changes (new Lexan fan, and the Classic Omega/III safety switch), the updating of these instructions for that year shows the same plastic attachment case, now colored blue, and it is that version that saw regular production. Unchanged in that photograph are the Miracle Head and Rug Renovator nozzle housings which are still chrome-plated (but were actually painted dark blue in person). ~Ben

Post# 225877 , Reply# 1 3/31/2013 at 23:17 (4,037 days old) by caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Hi Kirby Classic111* I was in the Oak Park, Illinois office when the Tradition came out. I don't recall the usual cardboard attatchment box, but do remember that blue plastic thing. It was a witch to work with at first. In September of that year I was sent to San Diego to fill in for the training manager who took a stroke. The Distributor in San Diego knew my boss Will Hart, and a few days later I was off to sunny Califoria for three months. The best thing that ever happened to me. In fact I retired there in 1995. What I remember of the Tradition was the floodlight hood from hell! For those who don't know, the salesman had to squeeze a bar, or something like that to lift the hood. It was a beast to operate and you couldn't get to the attatchment lever without it. Kirby lost hundreds of sales, and finally did away with the damned thing. Personally I was not fond of the blue color, and neither were a lot of prospects. Fortunately our office still had a huge stock of the Classic 111's and they sold like hotcakes. We actually went into the house with both Classic 111, and Tradition giving the buyer their choice. The Classic 111 won hands down. The only other disaster was the D-80. A great machine, but most people didn't like the color. So why green?, the country was in a color craze back then it was harvest gold and avadago green. Most people love what we call Kirby red! There was also the option of disposable filter bags, or the old stand by the Sani-Em-Tor. Back in Oak Park before I got the call to "go west young man" I went to all the people who'd said "if it only had paper bags--." I sold a Tradition to all but one of them. Post Tradition they went back to the cardboard box, repackaged things in sections, like 'the Super Renovator group.' Then came the turbo tools instead of the Handi-Butler and that turbo hand tool I called 'the rug rat.' Tomorrow I'll pick up on the Handi-Butler segment of the demo, took today off to post elsewhere. Oh my God, I just thought of this, tomorrow's April Fool's Day. Hopefully the members of the club will behave. Alex Taber.

Post# 225895 , Reply# 2 4/1/2013 at 05:15 (4,036 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes Alex, Back in 1967, when the D80 was originally introduced, it was still the era of psychedelia, hence the green hue... ~Ben

Post# 225925 , Reply# 3 4/1/2013 at 09:47 (4,036 days old) by caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Hi Ben.* True, but a number of appliances were avacado green. A lot of women had stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, and so on in that green, so Kirby followed the trend. My parents were divorced so my mom and I lived with her parents. We were the basic all white kitchen. I have a D-80, and actually like that shade of green. In fact, next Christmas I plan to combine the attatchments of the D-80 with the Classic 111. Something like red hose, green wands, red elbow on the green surface nozzle. Not exactly a franken Kirby, nor a monster vac, but a variation all my own. Alex Taber.

Post# 225932 , Reply# 4 4/1/2013 at 11:08 (4,036 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)
Checkrate/Likes *white att case* When I saw the Kirby instructions with the white case I asked someone who sold Kirby at that time as I had only seen blue and cardboard.I was told that the book was photographed ahead of introduction and the white case was never produced.

Post# 226355 , Reply# 5 4/3/2013 at 20:20 (4,034 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes The Crystalator, per the 1979 version of the Tradition instructions, still had all its functions. But with the 1980 updating to the Lexan fan, the Crystalator lost its titular function of turning moth crystals to gas, since the crystals could destroy the Lexan fan (you could still use the Suds-O-Gun and the Inflator/Deflator, though). That meant the Crystalator body was just a(n) air intake nozzle. ~Ben

Post# 226376 , Reply# 6 4/3/2013 at 22:28 (4,034 days old) by Vac_whisperer ()
Checkrate/Likes I've never saw a white attachment caddy for a trad. Maybe you could post a pic? :) I have the blue plastic attachment case for my Tradition.

Post# 226747 , Reply# 7 4/5/2013 at 12:31 (4,032 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes *1979 Kirby Tradition Inside Cover* Inside cover for 1979 Kirby Tradition. As I explored deeper in this early version of the instructions, there is no mention of "crystals" or "Crystalator" anywhere (ditto, of course, for the 1980 updated version), despite the fact the machine still had a metal fan. ~Ben