Thread Number: 23998
Was the Electrlux G really any good? 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 268647   2/20/2014 at 08:24 (3,711 days old) by williamr1248 (USA)        

This is a funny story about how your age can effect how you look at a new product and value it compared to an older machine.

When I was young our neighbor called us and told my mom to come RIGHT over for a cup of coffee as she had something to show her. We lived in the country so you had to drive to her house. For some reason, I went along too. When we walked down the hall and into the kitchen, out of corner of my eye I could see a brand new vacuum sitting in the bedroom.
It was the most beautiful vacuum I had ever seen. She had just bought a new Electrolux G with an optional new attachment to clean the rugs. I was stunned at how modern and quiet the new Electolux appeared.

My family were Electrolux users, so I was just SURE my grandparents would be buying one the next time the Electrolux man stopped by the house. Back in those days, the whole family lived in the country and they ALL had Electrolux's. It was nothing unusual for the Electrolx man to stop at least every 6 month.
A few month later, when I went in my grandparents house I noticed the carpets were fluffed up under the table. I KNEW the Elctrolux man had been at the house and must have demonstrated the new G. To my amazement they DID NOT buy one!
When I asked my grandfather (who was a farmer and very wise with finances) he started telling me all the things he DID NOT like about the machine.
Here were some of the points he made and I can still see him reading his paper as he told me point by point. I was so disappointed.
Compared to their XXX he felt:
(1) the new G has plastic wheels that would break, compared to the sturdy metal runners on the XXX
(2) the new G has a cheap,thin plastic step on switch that would break soon
(3) the new G had light weight aluminum wands compared to the heavy chrome plated wands of their XXX
(4) the new G had the cord winder instead of the easy to replace extension cord on the XXX
(5)the new G has plastic tools and their XXX had metal sofa and dusting brush
(6)the new G had the electric cord with plastic clips that would soon break off
(7) the new G had paper bags which required you to keep spending money where their XXX had the reuseable cloth bag (of course he was not the one that had the empty the bag).
(8) they had wool carpets and had no desire for the power nozzle that "messed up" the nap and left streaks on the rug. That was not a desirable look back in those days with nice wool carpets that had a very different cut to the pile than today's nylon carpets.


The point of this story is that when I read about a younger collector writing with excitment about some vacuum (that to me) seems like a worthless, cheap plastic vacuum , I try to HOLD BACK and remember when I was young the BIG difference in my view of the Electrolux G and how my grandfather saw it as a cheaper product and less quality than their XXX.
To me it was ONE beautiful machine and still love them today and they have stood the test of time like the Electrolux XXX,60 and G.


Post# 268681 , Reply# 1   2/20/2014 at 14:38 (3,710 days old) by kenkart ()        
I Think..

 The G has stood the test of time very well, I never looked at it this way though!!! The 30 and 60 ARE built better, in the same way a 50 Cadillac is built better than a 60...BUT the G is a better performer and more convienent just as the 60 Cadillac is, the 60 has power steering and brakes, air conditioning, electric windows and seat etc, the 50, while a wonderful car, did not offer many of these things, the Hydra Matic on the 50, while a wonderful high performance transmission,did not have park or an intermiediate range as the 60 version did, and shifted roughly...now personally I like the pre 56 Hydra Matic, but the average driver today would think it awful, especially when the stepped on it pulling onto the road and it barked the tires shifting from first to second !!LOL I said all that to say this,,,I guess its all in how you look at it, A new Miele looks like a lump of plastic to me compared to a G....but I was born in 1965, not 1995!!!

Post# 268700 , Reply# 2   2/20/2014 at 15:22 (3,710 days old) by williamr1248 (USA)        
Was the Electrlux G andy good?

 Hans-you got the point I was making. It is all in the eyes and age of the person looking at the equipment.
Just because of my age-It still bothers me that all the cars look alike and they have to TELL YOU it is a "Luxury" SUV. Still looks like an old truck to me, no matter how much electronic equipment they add.
I don't want to live in the past, but my grandfather sure saw their XXX and the new "G" in a quite different light than I did at a young age.



Post# 268715 , Reply# 3   2/20/2014 at 16:10 (3,710 days old) by kenkart ()        
I DO

Want to live in the past!!!!! I would be driving something with fins and pushbuttons!!!LOL

Post# 268719 , Reply# 4   2/20/2014 at 16:37 (3,710 days old) by electromatik (Taylorsville, North Carolina, U.S.A.)        

Cute story... It seems that generational gaps have always existed. The older people were no different than the future ones who couldn't believe that a "plastic" Lux could ever compare to the metal machines of the 1970's (even tho those had increasing amounts of plastic). Only when Electrolux authorized the salesmen to turn the machine over and stand on them did the public begin to believe it. I understand the allure of the past and the beauty of metal but I'm not particularly fond of metal. Metal rusts, metal dents, metal pits. I don't think metal ALWAYS looks "better" than plastic and I don't think plastic is always ugly.


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