Thread Number: 25411
Kenmore Porn :-) |
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Post# 285620 , Reply# 1   6/20/2014 at 22:46 (3,569 days old) by Gr8DaneDad ()   |   | |
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Very, very nice! I love those US built Kenmore's. |
Post# 285630 , Reply# 2   6/21/2014 at 02:38 (3,569 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)   |   | |
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Post# 285633 , Reply# 3   6/21/2014 at 06:22 (3,569 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa)   |   | |
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Post# 285861 , Reply# 5   6/23/2014 at 01:56 (3,567 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)   |   | |
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Post# 285878 , Reply# 6   6/23/2014 at 08:36 (3,567 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Birtman thru mid 1957, Whirlpool thereafter. |
Post# 285951 , Reply# 10   6/23/2014 at 18:25 (3,566 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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If you do a search on the forum, there is a lot of info to support the earlier vacuums being made by Whirlpool. The Kenmores in the 1950s and 60s were Whirlpool designs, and Whirlpool had a very similar line of vacuums under their own name. In fact, they made the first power nozzle for Kenmore canisters. That division went to Panasonic in the early 90s and they inherited the Whirlpool designs like the Whispertone.
In fact, the 116 prefix is still being used on Kenmore vacuums. I have a 2012 Kenmore Progressive canister, the current top of line Progressive, and it has the 116 prefix. I think my bottom of the line lime green one does too but I haven't checked. There are a lot of old posts on these machines, very interesting reading. And there have been Sears vacuums made by other manufacturers such as Singer, Sanyo and Eureka. The vacuum you posted with the 175 model number is a Singer made machine. I have a Sanyo made Kenmore canister and the prefix is 346. However I believe, but am not certain, that all of the current Kenmore canister line is Panasonic made. The power nozzles are made by Cen-Tec and have been since the 90s at least. Not sure about the small power nozzle on the silver bagless canister though. It might by German but I have no idea. |
Post# 285953 , Reply# 11   6/23/2014 at 18:34 (3,566 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Just to clarify some history here: in June of 1990, Whirlpool entered into a joint venture with Japan's Matsushita Electric to produce vacuum cleaners for North America at Whirlpool's Danville, Kentucky plant. There was an option for Matsushita to buy out the plant completely 3 years later. Up until June of 1990, Matsushita sold Japanese-made vacs under the Panasonic name in North America. And up until June 1990, Whirlpool sold completely different vacs under the Whirlpool and Sears Kenmore name.
Part of the incentive for the deal was to have the Danville plant create Kenmore vacs under the design influence of Matsushita's engineers and designers. The reputation of their North American Panasonic vacs was very good by that time, and Sears saw the benefit of having Whirlpool work with Matsushita. Panasonic vacs were outdoing Kenmore vacs in Consumer Reports testing by that time. In fact, I think one of the Panasonic "Dial-a-Matic" clones actually was top rated at some point in the 1980's. See the link below for a news article about the joint venture agreement in 1990: CLICK HERE TO GO TO eurekaprince's LINK |
Post# 286199 , Reply# 14   6/25/2014 at 14:29 (3,564 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)   |   | |
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yes and ALL of the vacs you inquired about were made AFTER kenmore switched to panasonic in 1985. before 1985, ALL the powermates were whirlpool, and uprights were singer or whirlpool until you get to the old birtman era. i have seen 1960's kenmore's made and designed by whirlpool with a 116 serial code stamped on them. suggest you reseach more about pre 1985 machines. kenmore had no dealings with panasonic until 1985...
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Post# 286270 , Reply# 16   6/26/2014 at 12:31 (3,563 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 286346 , Reply# 18   6/26/2014 at 22:38 (3,563 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)   |   | |
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A Kenmore 4.1 in a thrift shop today! The graphics had that cool 80's touch to them! Didn't buy it, though. I've got Kenmores everywhere already! Plus it was $20! I don't know what you mean by "Hideous faux wood grain",My very own "Avocado Bomber" Is decked in it, And I couldn't be happier!
Let me know if you want that manual scanned,I have a-lot of paperwork to scan in for Automatic Ephemera! |
Post# 286435 , Reply# 21   6/27/2014 at 14:09 (3,562 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)   |   | |
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The 4.1 Was the "Whispertone" style of body, I have the older 4.1 Too!
The Sears manual is likely copyrighted, So it couldn't be posted to Automatic Ephemera (Is it,Robert?). You have to be an upgraded member to private message people on Vacuumland, but you can E-Mail me from the address in my profile! |
Post# 286459 , Reply# 22   6/27/2014 at 15:58 (3,562 days old) by DesertTortoise ()   |   | |
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E-mail sent. Thanks. |
Post# 286946 , Reply# 23   7/2/2014 at 17:50 (3,557 days old) by alexb1186 (Ferguson/St. Louis, MO)   |   | |
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"yes and ALL of the vacs you inquired about were made AFTER kenmore switched to panasonic in 1985. before 1985, ALL the powermates were whirlpool, and uprights were singer or whirlpool until you get to the old birtman era. i have seen 1960's kenmore's made and designed by whirlpool with a 116 serial code stamped on them. suggest you reseach more about pre 1985 machines. kenmore had no dealings with panasonic until 1985.."
Will, Kenmore had no dealings with Panasonic until the joint venture with Whirlpool in the summer of 1990. Before then, the Kenmore canisters with the 5055/5045/5023/5033 bags were 100% Whirlpool made. Part of the deal in most joint ventures is sharing of intellectual property, so in this case Panasonic was able to use Whirlpool's designs, patents, technology, etc. and market their own branded machines as well as fulfill the Kenmore obligations. Dirick, your 116.2041080 is a 1990 model and depending on the serial number is either an all WP or WP/PAN combo. Recoding of the model numbers didn't change until 1984 when the 5055 canisters debuted |
Post# 286956 , Reply# 25   7/2/2014 at 18:52 (3,557 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Dircik...the best way for me to judge whether a Kenmore was made by Matsushita is to see a picture of the vac...preferably from a Sears catalogue with a year on the catalogue. The Panasonic vacuums sold in North America before 1990 had a very distinct Japanese look to them, and were similar to the National vacs sold in Japan and other parts of the world.
If you could post a scan of a Sears Catalogue page showing the pre-1990 Kenmore you think was made by Matsushita, we might be able to get to the bottom of this mystery. :-) One of my theories is that before 1990, all Panasonic vacs sold in North America were made in Japan. If any Vacuumlander can show me a pic of a pre-1990 Panasonic vac that says Made in USA, I'd love to see a pic of that vac. :-) |
Post# 286963 , Reply# 26   7/2/2014 at 19:30 (3,557 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 286965 , Reply# 27   7/2/2014 at 19:44 (3,557 days old) by alexb1186 (Ferguson/St. Louis, MO)   |   | |
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Post# 286967 , Reply# 29   7/2/2014 at 19:58 (3,557 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 286989 , Reply# 30   7/2/2014 at 21:30 (3,557 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Came out in...1961...Along with the first pistol grip hose and L shaped powerhead!!And it was all Whirlpool!!I have a 62, but not the powerhead. |
Post# 286990 , Reply# 31   7/2/2014 at 21:31 (3,557 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Heavy too...Here it is beside a Model G, |
Post# 287034 , Reply# 32   7/3/2014 at 09:57 (3,556 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)   |   | |
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The Birtman/Whirlpool article was in a Fortune of 57. Also a very good Hoover article in a fall 64 Fortune magazine. |
Post# 287069 , Reply# 33   7/3/2014 at 12:45 (3,556 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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I remember reading it, but didnt remember which magazine it was!!! |
Post# 287070 , Reply# 34   7/3/2014 at 12:52 (3,556 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)   |   | |
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Post# 287132 , Reply# 36   7/3/2014 at 20:25 (3,556 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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One of my favorite brands....Here are a few ..All Birtman or Whirlpool built...all with 116 prefix.. |
Post# 287146 , Reply# 37   7/3/2014 at 22:16 (3,556 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Dircik....I still maintain that your cream-coloured 1980 Kenmore canister was made by Whirlpool and has no connection to Matsushita. If it was made by Matsushita in 1980, it would say Made in Japan on the Model Plate. Around the same time, Sears was selling a cute little Kenmore compact bagless canister imported vac called the "Let's Clean". It was made by Sanyo for Sears, and it explicitly said Made in Japan.
Matsushita did not have a vacuum factory in the USA before getting involved with the Danville plant in 1990, as far as I know. If you can find a website which describes a Matsushita vacuum cleaner factory located in the USA in 1980, I would love to see that. :-) |