Today was a particularly good day at the sales -- I couldn't even believe what I was standing in front of when I saw this Hoover Holiday model 415.  I'm still in a daze from finding it...

This is the only Hoover tank that I have been missing from my collection -- and I honestly never thought I would find one.  They're extremely rare; I only know of 3 others that are in people's collections.  What makes this particularly rare is that it was made in England and imported to the US.  I don't much other history on this, if these were sold through a particular channel -- department stores, door to door, or through Hoover stores.  There were only 185,000 or so made between 1953 and 1954.  The box has a manufacture date of 8/53.

It's definitely not a 10; but it came with its original hose, most of the tools, and an extremely tattered box.  The cord is original and it sounds just lovely when it runs.  The machine itself isn't in bad shape, not major dents or scratches -- so it will clean up rather nicely. The hose is original, but doesn't hold any air -- so I'll be on the lookout for a suitable replacement.

I'm off to tear it apart and give it a spa day -- but I wanted to post some before shots!  More to come...

The tank..

Data plate...

Thanks for the great information Tom and John!  Really neat to know that!  I hope you can find that article, John -- sounds absolutely fascinating! 

I started taking the Holiday apart and gave everything a bath.  This motor is essentially the same thing as what's in models 42, 50, 53, 55, and Constellations.  While it's sort-of the same, being British made, it's built slightly different.  Differences are subtle, however this motor doesn't quite look like a Constellation when comparing them side by side.  I'll take a picture of this next to a Constellation motor when I get it back together.  I did turn it on before taking it apart and even seeing the motor... It sounded just like a US built motor.  Without seeing the motor removed, I would have wagered that it was the same thing.  And I would have lost. 

Back end open...

Cool fiberglass filter that was at the very end of the cleaner.  Looks to have been pretty effective in catching the carbon dust.  I'll likely replace it with some HEPA bag material.

Here's one shot of the motor completely removed.  The field coil and rear motor housing are completely different than American built motor.

Another shot of the motor turned on its side. On second thought, it looks taller than the American counterpart.  I'll be curious to compare the two.

This is how the field coil is held in place.  Again, not at all what I'm used to when taking a Tank/Constellation motor apart.

That's all for tonight...

Yes Hans -- the shape and the way the field coil sits in there, is similar to how a field coil looks on say a Convertible when the motor is taken apart. 

I got the Holiday all taken apart, gave everything a bath and polished it up a bit.  I'm pleased with the final product!

Before I put the back cover on, I took some HEPA bag material and cut out a new filter for behind the motor.

Back end of the machine; sorry for the crappy picture.  Looked better on the screen of my phone.

I was really able to get the bare floor tool shined up nicely.  I gave it a good scrub with some Brasso, then polished it up with Armor-All.

I'm so giddy about the original cord.. It's nice and pliable -- I used a bunch of Armor-All on this as well. 

The original hose is shot.  It's really pretty, so that saddens me... I may try giving it a scrub with some upholstery shampoo to get some of the dirt off.  If I find a nice replacement hose in shades of red and white, I may consider cutting it up and transferring the ends to a different hose.  But for now I'll use one of the brown vinyl Veriflex hoses from one of my other Hoover tank cleaners and keep it for show.

This end had tape around it, presumably to keep the handle from swiveling.  It left a bunch of tape guck that may need some elbow grease to get off.

It came with two identical dusting brushes, which I find odd... the rubber is still pretty pliable on both, but one was in considerably better shape than the other.  So it has had a few treatments of Armor-All and is looking much better.  I still need to take soap and water to it, but I am hopeful. 

I think the Crevice tool is what was used most.. it's obviously the most tattered...

Here's the brush insert.  I'm hoping that a modern replacement from a fit-all brush will work.  This original horsehair one sheds bristles as soon as you touch it. 

Better picture of the dusting brushes.  Again, it's odd that there are two and that they are identical.  That's just going to be one of those questions that won't ever get answered.

There was not upholstery tool with it, and am pretty sure that it came with a real plain red no-frills upholstery tool.

Aaaand of course, I forgot to take a picture of the Holiday motor next to a Constellation motor. Oh well.

The motors in all of the tank cleaners are measured in watts.  I did a comparison of motor wattage among all 7 models of Hoover tank cleaners.. I then converted the watts to amps for a bit more relevancy.  It's interesting.  Certainly very powerful by today's standards!

Model 50:  415 Watts = 3.5 amps

Model 41:  445 Watts = 3.7 amps

Model 51:  445 Watts = 3.7 amps

Model 42:  620 Watts = 5.166 amps

Model 53:  620 Watts = 5.166 amps

Model 55:  620 Watts = 5.166 amps

Model 415:  500 Watts = 4.16 amps

Also for comparison - all Constellations were 750 Watts which is  equal to 6.25 amps

Regarding the attachments -- I have a feeling that the dusting brush and floor tools are original based on the color.. there were also no signs of any other vacuum at the estate sale house -- only a Lux 30 missing all of its tools.  There was a Holiday on eBay in September of 2011, I grabbed some of the pictures from the listing, and one of those pictures was of the owner's manual.  The drawing of the floor tool in the manual looks to be the same or a similar shape as what I have with this cleaner. 

Here's the rest of the machine from that auction... of course the bare floor tool is missing, and I can't really see the dusting brush up close.  You can see what the upholstery tool looks like -- very plain Jane..

One more...  What's also odd about the one from this auction is the rug nozzle has the Hoover emblem on it, mine does not.

Lastly -- this is another collector's machine; he brought it to the 2008 Convention in North Canton.  **drool**

Completely new in the box.  I could have died.  His does not have the Hoover emblem on the rug nozzle, and his bare floor tool is completely different... definitely Hoover made as it matches the other tank cleaner bare floor tools of this era.

John (portable) ~ thanks for looking for that Electrical Merchandising article; I appreciate you taking the time to do so.  I am very interested in learning more about this odd little cleaner.  I completely understand the "place from hell" thing -- I have many boxes and Rubbermaid bins full of stuff that I haven't seen in years... but I know it's there, somewhere!  :-)  Hopefully you'll be able to put your hands on it one of these days. 

John (gottahaveahoover) ~ I think the only other time(s) they did something funny with the Hoover medallion was on the model 53 and 42 tanks, the round medallion is brown on the 51 and blue on the 42.  That would have just been about the time they were introducing that logo -- early 50s.  I imagine they were still playing with it and hadn't made the decision to keep it "Hoover red" at that point.

Hi John- Wow! Thank you so much for unearthing and scanning that article! Very, very cool indeed! I'll now have to be sure to listen to the radio when I use the Holiday.