Thread Number: 26676
The Design and Creation of the GE Roll-Easy Vacuum! |
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Post# 298608   9/17/2014 at 07:14 (3,479 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)   |   | |
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Under most circumstances I will try not to highlight the same brand two weeks in a row with my blog posts, but we just uncovered this wonderful article and wanted to share it right away.
The prototype pictures are simply amazing! Please feel free to post this article on Facebook, etc. or share this article with others who might enjoy it. Design and Creation of the General Electric Roll-Easy Vacuum Cleaner |
Post# 298610 , Reply# 1   9/17/2014 at 07:58 (3,479 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)   |   | |
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Great article, these are fascinating vacs . . . the photo above always makes me think of the Del Rubio Triplets, lol. |
Post# 298612 , Reply# 2   9/17/2014 at 08:43 (3,479 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 298635 , Reply# 3   9/17/2014 at 13:45 (3,479 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)   |   | |
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Post# 298636 , Reply# 4   9/17/2014 at 13:47 (3,479 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)   |   | |
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~
~ P.S.: I'd love to add this to my "Roll Easy web site but don't know who to ask about it. There's no author or ownership information on the page. CLICK HERE TO GO TO electrolux137's LINK |
Post# 298637 , Reply# 5   9/17/2014 at 14:08 (3,479 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)   |   | |
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Hi Charles, I am the creator/assembler of all of this fabulous history. The answer to your question is D. all of the above :-). Please message me privately for more information on that, as I don't want to hijack this thread.
The Roll-Easy pages on your website are done just beautifully, btw! Glad everyone is enjoying these. This post was last edited 09/17/2014 at 14:40 |
Post# 298643 , Reply# 6   9/17/2014 at 14:43 (3,479 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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This is very exciting and stimulatin', Robert. As you might know I am a HUGE fan of the Roll-Easy (and other unique vacuum designs). I have posted at length about my 3 Roll-Easys; it's all in the archives.
This article, that reads like it was transcribed from an internal employee magazine, informs and answers questions I had, why & how the refined 2nd generation Roll-Easy came to be and also illuminates the development process manufacturer's used to go through. 6 years planning from inception to realization and tantalizing continuing improvements that never came to be. (so that's what the odd back bracket on the Swivel-Top caster base is for! I did not know that.) Sadly the designer/home fashion consultant Miss Freda Diamond is not mentioned by name but perhaps that only illustrates her worthy but limited input. At least we can credit her for the championing for two-tone Turquoise & copper scheme. One wonders what other colour combos the engineers had cooked up...We have heard rumours of a Pink Roll-Easy and it stands to reason that is was a prototype that escaped the crusher. I can imagine it in yellow and green which are several of the colours that Cycolac vinyl plastic came in for GE. Thank you Charles for posting your link to your extraordinary Roll-Easy pages for we faithful oldsters and new ones who have not yet finished mining the huge archives on Vacuumland.
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Post# 298650 , Reply# 7   9/17/2014 at 15:35 (3,479 days old) by luxman107 (USA )   |   | |
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I absolutely love those machines. The roll away can be seen a few times in the early Donna Reed shows |
Post# 298651 , Reply# 8   9/17/2014 at 15:35 (3,479 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 298672 , Reply# 10   9/17/2014 at 21:12 (3,479 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)   |   | |
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Post# 298713 , Reply# 12   9/18/2014 at 09:26 (3,478 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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My only complaint about the Roll Easy, and it's only because the machine was so 'thoroughly tested', is that all the hoses broke. Surely, during the years of testing, some engineer would have looked at the angle at which the hose touches the floor and realized that it was detrimental to the life of the hose. In use, the machine coupling (which threads into the hose), is always touching the floor at the point of connection between the hose and machine coupling, and the hose is bent at a considerable angle upwards. The constant rubbing on the floor, along with the force used to pull the cleaner, resulted in all the hoses breaking at the machine coupling. The very first vacuum cleaner I ever brought home was a trash find GE Roll Easy, in 1968. The cleaner was about 12 years old. I knew the family that threw it away. The hose was shot, having been shortened so often (because it would go bad at the machine coupling end), it was about 2 feet long. I still have that cleaner today, in the Museum, but with a replacement turquoise vinyl hose on it that Alex Braun found for me.
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Post# 298715 , Reply# 13   9/18/2014 at 09:29 (3,478 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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Post# 298743 , Reply# 14   9/18/2014 at 15:50 (3,478 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)   |   | |
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Post# 298930 , Reply# 15   9/19/2014 at 19:29 (3,477 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Good one, Alex. Lay a glass disk on it and you have a Lazy Susan end table!
Having printed and absorbed the article in detail I am struck by a few things... "We planned a heavy schedule of television advertising, because you can grasp the advantages of the new cleaner best when you actually see them demonstrated. The advent of widespread television viewing had occurred at just the right time for our vacuum-cleaner business. Now we could use television to bring actual cleaner demonstrations into millions of American homes." Then these commercials should still exist in the digital aether, YouTube etc. The Roll-Easy did appear in Dennis The Menace, I Dream Of Jeanie and The Donna Reed tv shows. The search begins... Tom, your analysis of the hose problem is spot on. The cleaner always comes to rest on the hose coupler. Explains why every original hose I have inspected seems too short. More often a found Roll-Easy has a substitute cloth braided GE hose from a Swiveltop. Or, as you say a plastic hose screwed in to the ends. It was a day of extreme happiness when I spotted a 14 VDC Dog Clipper at a junk store...in vivid Turquoise. This gives me a 11 foot length on my first generation R1. The author of this 1957 report has a delightful sense of humour, too: "In the stairway test, crudest of all, a husky man walked up and down a flight of stairs 100 times, pulling or pushing the cleaner. This test provided important conclusions: It taught us much about human endurance values — it also indicated that the cleaner was too heavy! Because this test proved too much for our test man, we replaced him with a suitable testing machine." This image of the husky man is indelibly imprinted in my imagination. No doubt a burly hairy bear shedding even his wife-beater during his perspiring 100 flight exertions. Never mind - it's my fantasy and I'll grin if I want to...Maybe even reproduce it one day.
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Post# 298933 , Reply# 16   9/19/2014 at 19:38 (3,477 days old) by kenkart ()   |   | |
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Solved the problem on their big wheel cleaner, and GE could have by placing some sort of wheel or roller above and below the handle/hose inlet, so when you were using it the hose wouldnt hit the floor.. |
Post# 299076 , Reply# 19   9/20/2014 at 19:41 (3,476 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)   |   | |
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Hi William1248:
I really like the Roll-Easy, so I find this information very interesting. However, your comment of the early American furniture made me think. As it was sold in the mid to late 1950's, this was also the updated version of 'I love Lucy,' which was set in a Conecticut home. The decore was exactly like that in the Roll Easy add shown here. Just a thought. |
Post# 448157 , Reply# 20   11/26/2021 at 23:19 (852 days old) by pcasa (Dallas TX)   |   | |
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Post# 448163 , Reply# 21   11/27/2021 at 16:05 (851 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)   |   | |
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Post# 448170 , Reply# 22   11/28/2021 at 10:17 (850 days old) by Centralvacs1928 (Chicagoland)   |   | |
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This is really cool! I love "inside info" like this. So much more interesting than the consumer advertisements and owner's manuals are to me. Thank you for sharing, Robert! |
Post# 448174 , Reply# 23   11/28/2021 at 14:51 (850 days old) by texaskirbyguy (Plano, TX)   |   | |
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Wonderful, well-written article and a great vacuum design as well! Real thought went into making household products back then. Thanks Robert for posting these here for us all to enjoy. Nice to meet another Dallas area local as well - Howdy Paula! |
Post# 448185 , Reply# 24   11/29/2021 at 08:20 (849 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)   |   | |
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Post# 448186 , Reply# 25   11/29/2021 at 08:56 (849 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)   |   | |
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There was a booklet from GE showing dept stores how they could place a Roll Easy in EVERY department at introduction to create traffic to the vacuum department. Has anyone found TV ads?!? |
Post# 448188 , Reply# 26   11/29/2021 at 10:22 (849 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)   |   | |
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Post# 448201 , Reply# 27   11/29/2021 at 18:53 (849 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)   |   | |
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That she doesn't mind waiting for her husband to explain why there is no suction
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Post# 448211 , Reply# 28   11/30/2021 at 09:52 (848 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Post# 448219 , Reply# 29   11/30/2021 at 10:37 (848 days old) by luxlife (Under a Pecan Tree)   |   | |
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Didn’t Westinghouse make a 2-wheeler similar to the Roll Easy? Seems like I remember one in beige and it almost looked like it had fins. |
Post# 448227 , Reply# 30   11/30/2021 at 15:21 (848 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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Post# 448233 , Reply# 31   11/30/2021 at 20:05 (848 days old) by pcasa (Dallas TX)   |   | |
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Thanks so much for posting the product development info - super cool! One question, I just un-boxed my "new" baby - incredibly good condition - but when I unlatch the canister I'm having difficulty latching the handle back down. I see the two pins and understand the closure concept - but mine is not smooth and I feel like I would have to force it to close it securely. What am I doing wrong??? Thanks guys! paula
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Post# 448237 , Reply# 32   12/1/2021 at 08:38 (847 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)   |   | |
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Post# 448245 , Reply# 34   12/1/2021 at 12:10 (847 days old) by pcasa (Dallas TX)   |   | |
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Yes, I carefully pushed it closed - just wanted to be sure I wasn't forcing it. I'll add some oil. I purchased on ebay - attaching the seller's photos. It's a beautiful Roll Easy. I'm missing the small suction tool and the crevice tool is in rough safe - it appears to be made from a composition material instead of plastic. Proud new mama!
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Post# 448246 , Reply# 35   12/1/2021 at 12:25 (847 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
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Post# 448250 , Reply# 37   12/1/2021 at 15:08 (847 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
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You have the second incarnation of the Roll Easy, like mine. Be sure not to get any oil on the black foam rubber ring that you can see when the wheel is off. It will disintegrate.
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Post# 448252 , Reply# 38   12/1/2021 at 17:03 (847 days old) by Opelgtkarl (Puyallup, Washington)   |   | |
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Here’s the Roll Easy’s competitor, the Westinghouse MC-1. I also figured I’d get a photo of it with Roll Easy, which is the 3rd iteration of the machine.
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Post# 468011 , Reply# 40   12/11/2023 at 13:05 by pcasa (Dallas TX)   |   | |
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