Thread Number: 28890  /  Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Kirby 517 door prize at Vacuum Convention
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Post# 322916   4/22/2015 at 13:54 (3,263 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)        

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The 2nd weekend in June (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday), at the Vacuum Cleaner Museum in St. James, Missouri - we are hosting a convention of Vacuum Cleaner Collectors. I'm on a number of facebook groups with many collectors, and we have an annual meeting. The meeting is free to collectors, you pay only for your room at the Greenstay in St. James ($56 per night). We even have a free barbeque on Saturday. Have been doing this for years now.

We always have a door prize, usually a new Tacony-Built vacuum cleaner specially painted for the occasion.

This year, the door prize is a Kirby 517, fully restored. I was at a thrift shop at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri - and lo and behold I spotted a Kirby 517. With original bag (in excellent shape, no tears), original dual-colored cord, in amazing condition. Looks like an old lady only used it for her rugs once a month. Had all the tools, and floor polisher. I'm in the process of restoring it, and shining it up on the buffing wheel so it will sparkle like new. For $48, I couldn't pass it up.

Here's some pics from the Thrift Shop right before I bought it. Will put pics up of the restored machine as soon as its finished. I'm really getting into old Kirbys, and will enjoy restoring this one.

And one lucky winner in June will be going home with it.

I should note that this official Vacuum Collectors Group Convention is not in any way, shape, or form, associated with the VCCC and never has been. Just so no one confuses the two conventions, held one week apart. The VCCC is making a visit to the Museum optional before their convention starts. The Vacuum Collectors Group Convention focuses entirely on the Museum, the Museum's collection, the Tacony Factory, as well as local vacuum collector's homes and collections.

This is what I saw walking into the Thrift Store. Would you have paid $48 for an all original 517?????



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Post# 322917 , Reply# 1   4/22/2015 at 13:55 (3,263 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)        

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The original bag, no tears, no fading.

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Post# 322918 , Reply# 2   4/22/2015 at 13:55 (3,263 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)        

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The original dual-color cord. In amazing condition.

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Post# 322928 , Reply# 3   4/22/2015 at 15:09 (3,263 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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Great find! Those old ones are so stylish and cool looking, never mind nice sized. That will be beautiful.Really wanting to see the after pics!

Post# 322933 , Reply# 4   4/22/2015 at 15:33 (3,263 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)        

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That's a great consolation prize, Tom!

~Ben


Post# 322970 , Reply# 5   4/22/2015 at 17:22 (3,263 days old) by Jeschbac (Texas)        
Bag??

I think it's OEM bag. Also, I can't tell from the pictures if the trim is red or tan....

Post# 322982 , Reply# 6   4/22/2015 at 17:41 (3,263 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)        
Jeschbac

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Sadly, it isn't. The original one was actually a speckled gray cloth with a large Kirby logo on the front, same design as later 515s and all 516s but the finish of the bag is not as speckled as on models 518-561.

~Ben


Post# 323007 , Reply# 7   4/22/2015 at 20:42 (3,263 days old) by Jeschbac (Texas)        
That's what I thought

Thanks for confirming. Can you see if the trim is red or tan?

Post# 323009 , Reply# 8   4/22/2015 at 21:42 (3,263 days old) by BikerRay (Middle Earth)        

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The trim is red

The bag actually goes with the 562. If you have a copy of the 562 manual it shows a good shot of that bag on pages 6 and 10.


Post# 323010 , Reply# 9   4/22/2015 at 22:01 (3,263 days old) by ronni (USA)        

@BikerRay,

While the silkscreened image of the bag is identical to the 562 it is not in the correct colors. The 562/Sanitronic and Sanitronic VII had the same bags--tan with dark brown printing (to correspond with their trim). In addition, The 562's bag was the first to have the rubber cap on the top instead of the cuff that had been used since 1948 with the Model 508.

If the featured bag were used in an original run it would had to have been towards the end of the 561's run. Otherwise, it is an OEM replacement.



Post# 323014 , Reply# 10   4/22/2015 at 23:41 (3,263 days old) by Jeschbac (Texas)        
Ronni is right,,,,

I just got an original 562 off Ebay. As far as I can tell, the bag is absolutely original: tan ovals with the word Kirby inside, and tan bag cap with Sanitronic on it. I just checked my 562 manual on pp. 6 and 10, and the color of the bags shown in images cannot be determined since they are black and white shots.

I think this same bag was also used on the Dual Sanitronic 50. I've seen several originals, and they have all had the tan bag.


Post# 323015 , Reply# 11   4/22/2015 at 23:50 (3,263 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)        

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www.1377731.com/kirby/page3.html...

Here's what the 516-517 cloth bag looked like.

~Ben


Post# 323049 , Reply# 12   4/23/2015 at 10:07 (3,262 days old) by BikerRay (Middle Earth)        

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The 562 and Sanitronic VII bags had round circles with the name Kirby in them. The D50 had oval circles with the name Kirby in them.

The red circles with the open top would be from the time period of the 562 but would have been a replacement for the older machines.

I have a Kirby C from 1936 but the bag is a Kirby replacement from the mid 1950s. It looks like a 1950's bag but has the small opening for the smaller (1930s thru 1940s) emtors.

The first pic is of the 562/S7 design next to the D50 design. The second pic is of the 518 period design.


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