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Thread Number: 20976
PHOENIX SWIFT HOOVER |
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| Post# 234825 , Reply# 1 6/2/2013 at 03:57 (3,974 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield & London) | ||
Pheonix
Phoenix appear to have first manufactured vacuums in around the mid 1930s with two pretty standard cylinder cleaners, on the surface one more deluxe than the other although in fact apart from one being larger than the other, they were identical. These two models continued after WW2 pretty much unchanged. In the early 1950s they added a further model based on a US Universal design and they also manufactured models branded for various department store like Gamages.
They went out of business sometime around 1962 or early 1963 - towards the end of their life the drastically increased their range although these were still pretty much variations on a theme. Your cleaner comes from this period, or maybe slightly earlier. Phoenix always pitched their cleaners right at the bottom end of the market, they would have been around half the price or so of equivalent Hoover cylinder cleaners - and by the looks of yours (size etc) its would have been one of their cheaper models. Hope this helps Al | ||
| Post# 234896 , Reply# 3 6/2/2013 at 15:43 (3,974 days old) by anthony (leeds uk) | ||
i have this one 
hi colvan64 i am as much in the dark as you are . this machine belonged to my friends mum i first saw it way back in 1970 but i reckon it was a good fiew years old even then my friends mum moved into a bungalow about 10 years ago thats when i got it it has reasonable suction the motor housing is made of plastic there also apears to be an early atempt at double insulation [no earth ]quite dangerous considering the body is all metal the only thing separating the motor from the body is a thin bit of perished rubber that i replaced with some rubber carpet underlay needless to say its now earthed by the way there was a price tag on the handle when i got it 11 pounds 19 and eleven but no indication of its age .Thed hose is the same as yours although not in good condition it leaks like a sive it is what it is a cheap no frills vac that has stood the test of time
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| Post# 234898 , Reply# 4 6/2/2013 at 15:44 (3,974 days old) by anthony (leeds uk) | ||
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| Post# 234899 , Reply# 5 6/2/2013 at 15:45 (3,974 days old) by anthony (leeds uk) | ||
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| Post# 234900 , Reply# 6 6/2/2013 at 15:53 (3,974 days old) by anthony (leeds uk) | ||
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just a thought | ||
| Post# 234912 , Reply# 7 6/2/2013 at 17:09 (3,974 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield & London) | ||
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Ideal Home
The picture is from Ideal Home in 1961, as you can see there are a large number of Phoenix cleaners and their prices. As I said earlier almost thoughout their history they only ever seem to have made two models until the end.
When Which tested vacuum cleaners in 1963 no Phoenix modles appeared, indicating that the had gone out of business by then 
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| Post# 234914 , Reply# 8 6/2/2013 at 17:14 (3,974 days old) by squarehandle () | ||
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Nice Vintage Add Featuring some really odd cleaners! (at least for us on the other side of the pond!) Thanks. | ||
| Post# 234915 , Reply# 9 6/2/2013 at 17:17 (3,974 days old) by anthony (leeds uk) | ||
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thanks | ||
| Post# 234971 , Reply# 10 6/3/2013 at 08:17 (3,973 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield & London) | ||
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How it all ended
maybe ....
A big thank you to Anthony for photographing the ratings plate as that may give some insight into what happened - see the link. It appears that vacuum cleaners were just part of their operation (and there is a note about their trying to diversify which maybe accounts for the increase in models), but it appears they were taken over for their telephone operations. Given that two of the partners (AEI - aka Hotpoint UK and GEC) both had vacuum cleaner operations within their group it seems likely that the Phoenix vacuum range was simply dropped or perhaps sold off - I must have a look at a vary rare model I have, a Duco to see how it might compare with a Phoenix. Al CLICK HERE TO GO TO vacbear58's LINK | ||
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