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Thread Number: 38085
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
A Lewyt by any other name is a Shetland |
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| Post# 405793 2/22/2019 at 08:43 (1,883 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
Just because a vacuum is vintage, and it was made in the USA back in the 'good old days' doesn't mean the machine was any good.
The SCM/Shetland company got hold of the Lewyt after Lewyt went out of business because of the problems from the "Zapper" big wheel canisters. They kept cheapening the design until there was no where left to go. This Shetland/Lewyt sold for $29.99 in 1968. The motor was the cheapest they could make it, with a plastic fan shroud and fan, sleeve bearings, and a very tiny commutator on the armature. Motor failure was at an all time high, with most of these examples not surviving more than a couple of years (the first 'sharks'). Still, they were light in weight and had a cord rewinder. All the plastic feels very cheap. I'm lucky to have this example in my home collection. I don't think it was used more than 3 or 4 times.
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| Post# 405794 , Reply# 1 2/22/2019 at 08:44 (1,883 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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Plastic fan case, with a plastic fan underneath. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
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| Post# 405795 , Reply# 2 2/22/2019 at 08:44 (1,883 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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Not a bad looking machine, with its tool garden and all metal construction.
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| Post# 405796 , Reply# 3 2/22/2019 at 08:46 (1,883 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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The logo was a lady with one leg up in the air, vacuuming.
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| Post# 405797 , Reply# 4 2/22/2019 at 08:46 (1,883 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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The tool garden of cheap plastic tools.
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| Post# 405798 , Reply# 5 2/22/2019 at 08:47 (1,883 days old) by dysonman1 (the county) | ||
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The famous Lewyt "Power Dial" which controlled the suction.
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| Post# 405808 , Reply# 6 2/22/2019 at 13:23 (1,883 days old) by completenutt (West Hollywood, California) | ||
Super interesting, as usual!! | ||
| Post# 405809 , Reply# 7 2/22/2019 at 13:31 (1,883 days old) by broomvac (N/A) | ||
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| Post# 405814 , Reply# 8 2/22/2019 at 16:04 (1,883 days old) by compactc9guy (Bathurst NB) | ||
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| Post# 405816 , Reply# 9 2/22/2019 at 16:22 (1,883 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana) | ||
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| Post# 405910 , Reply# 10 2/24/2019 at 01:56 (1,881 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH) | ||
Shetland Lewyt | ||
| Post# 405914 , Reply# 11 2/24/2019 at 07:46 (1,881 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
Back in the 1960’s when I saw these cleaners for the first time, I remember thinking how similar they looked to Eureka Princess canisters at the time. Someone recently posted an advertisement or dealer spec sheet showing the full line up of these Shetland Lewyt vacuums. The line-up featured various colour schemes (blue, green, light brown) and each design had it’s own “groovy” 1960’s “flower power” decal decorations.
Can’t remember exactly, but I think in Canada these were sold in hardware stores and discount catalogue stores like Consumers Distributing. The brown colour of the one posted here reminds me of the exact brown colour of my SCM cartridge electric typewriter of the era. | ||
| Post# 405921 , Reply# 12 2/24/2019 at 12:21 (1,881 days old) by crazykirbydude (Lexington, KY) | ||
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