The Electrolux "Casual Sweeper"

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I have always liked the Electrolux Casual Sweeper and always wanted one. It came out during the era of Models F and R (1957) and was sold through the early run of the turquoise Model G. I first learned of the Casual Sweeper when I received a copy of the Model R instruction booklet and saw it depicted in the manual.

I never actually saw one for many years until I met Alex Taber and visited him at his (then) home in San Diego, California. When I saw that he had one, I just plotzed. He noticed how excited I was by it and gave it to me!

It's basically just a Bissell with an Electrolux logo; in fact, I suspect that indeed Bissell made it for Electrolux. It has a very cool feature -- you adjust it for carpet pile thickness by turning the handle from one direction to the other. (This will make sense when you look at the photos.)

I had it from 1995 until 2010 when I moved from my former apartment of some 20 years and had to do some ridiculously severe downsizing because I just didn't have anywhere to keep everything. One of the things I gave away was the Casual Sweeper. I regretted letting it go because I liked it so much, but I just had to make some really painful sacrifices in moving from the hell-hole our old place became when new crooked and devious owners bought the building.

Aaaaaaaaaaanyway...

A couple of weeks ago, "what to wondering eyes should appear" on eBay but another one of the Casual Sweepers. It looked to be in really nice condition in the listing photos, so I kept my eye on it. I did place a bid and was the only bidder, which made me quite happy!

Well, it arrived today. Imagine the sick feeling in my stomach when I lifted the box from the front porch and heard a bunch of clanking and rattling inside. "Oh Dear God Please No......."

I unsealed and opened the box. My worst fears were confirmed -- the seller just dumped the dismantled sweeper into an empty box and tossed in a couple of plastic bags and a chunk of styrofoam, neither of which did anything to protect the contents from damage.

However, I was elated to discover that the sweeper was in fine condition. Somehow, amazingly, miraculously, I really dodged a bullet here in terms of it not sustaining any damage.

To say I was appalled at the lazy and careless manner in which the seller shipped it is an understatement. Couldn't he have taken 5 minutes to wrap the sweeper and the extension poles in some bubble wrap? I am absolutely stunned and astonished that he did not take more care with this 56-year-old vintage household equipment. You can be sure I gave him a big piece of my mind about it.

On the other hand, I really should not be shocked. This is far from the first time I've received an item from an eBay seller and found it packed like this, or worse, and have gotten stuff that was severely or totally damaged.

The icing on the cake: The seller's listing states, "your purchase will be carefully packaged..." What a laugh!

Here are some photos, a scan of the blurb about it from the Model R instruction manual, and then a link to my Model F page in which, thanks to the magic of Photoshop, you can see the Casual Sweeper in all its glory with my early and late Model Fs (by far the most complete set of any of my vacuum cleaners).

CLICK HERE TO GO TO electrolux137's LINK


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Post# 275400 4/10/2014 at 00:57 (3,667 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes 1 . . I have always liked the Electrolux Casual Sweeper and always wanted one. It came out during the era of Models F and R (1957) and was sold through the early run of the turquoise Model G. I first learned of the Casual Sweeper when I received a copy of the Model R instruction booklet and saw it depicted in the manual. I never actually saw one for many years until I met Alex Taber and visited him at his (then) home in San Diego, California. When I saw that he had one, I just plotzed. He noticed how excited I was by it and gave it to me! It's basically just a Bissell with an Electrolux logo; in fact, I suspect that indeed Bissell made it for Electrolux. It has a very cool feature -- you adjust it for carpet pile thickness by turning the handle from one direction to the other. (This will make sense when you look at the photos.) I had it from 1995 until 2010 when I moved from my former apartment of some 20 years and had to do some ridiculously severe downsizing because I just didn't have anywhere to keep everything. One of the things I gave away was the Casual Sweeper. I regretted letting it go because I liked it so much, but I just had to make some really painful sacrifices in moving from the hell-hole our old place became when new crooked and devious owners bought the building. Aaaaaaaaaaanyway... A couple of weeks ago, "what to wondering eyes should appear" on eBay but another one of the Casual Sweepers. It looked to be in really nice condition in the listing photos, so I kept my eye on it. I did place a bid and was the only bidder, which made me quite happy! Well, it arrived today. Imagine the sick feeling in my stomach when I lifted the box from the front porch and heard a bunch of clanking and rattling inside. "Oh Dear God Please No......." I unsealed and opened the box. My worst fears were confirmed -- the seller just dumped the dismantled sweeper into an empty box and tossed in a couple of plastic bags and a chunk of styrofoam, neither of which did anything to protect the contents from damage. However, I was elated to discover that the sweeper was in fine condition. Somehow, amazingly, miraculously, I really dodged a bullet here in terms of it not sustaining any damage. To say I was appalled at the lazy and careless manner in which the seller shipped it is an understatement. Couldn't he have taken 5 minutes to wrap the sweeper and the extension poles in some bubble wrap? I am absolutely stunned and astonished that he did not take more care with this 56-year-old vintage household equipment. You can be sure I gave him a big piece of my mind about it. On the other hand, I really should not be shocked. This is far from the first time I've received an item from an eBay seller and found it packed like this, or worse, and have gotten stuff that was severely or totally damaged. The icing on the cake: The seller's listing states, "your purchase will be carefully packaged..." What a laugh! Here are some photos, a scan of the blurb about it from the Model R instruction manual, and then a link to my Model F page in which, thanks to the magic of Photoshop, you can see the Casual Sweeper in all its glory with my early and late Model Fs (by far the most complete set of any of my vacuum cleaners). CLICK HERE TO GO TO electrolux137's LINK

Post# 275404 , Reply# 1 4/10/2014 at 01:41 (3,667 days old) by thevacuumman (Borger, TX)
Checkrate/Likes I've seen one of those before, It was in the closet of our old shop. I kinda wish I grabbed it before we moved out.

Post# 278131 , Reply# 2 4/24/2014 at 22:30 (3,652 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes . . I just found a Hoover-branded carpet sweeper on eBay that must have been made for them by the same company that made Electrolux's (presumably Bissel). The brush-and-wheel configurations are identical on both machines. CLICK HERE TO GO TO electrolux137's LINK on eBay

Post# 278135 , Reply# 3 4/24/2014 at 23:14 (3,652 days old) by ultralux88 (Denver, Colorado)
Checkrate/Likes I just find humor in calling it a casual sweeper for clean perfectionists, us clean freaks aren't too casual with our vacuuming! LOL

Post# 278177 , Reply# 4 4/25/2014 at 14:45 (3,652 days old) by luxman107 (USA )
Checkrate/Likes Wow, I never new Electrolux made one of these. Would love to get my hands on one.

Post# 278704 , Reply# 5 4/29/2014 at 20:53 (3,647 days old) by smow69 (Muskogee Oklahoma)
Checkrate/Likes *electrolux* there is one on ebay under used vintage vacuum cleaners it is with a model xxx buy it now for 110.00 seen it about 20 min ago it is the 29th at 9pm oklahoma time