Thread Number: 38748  /  Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Eureka Empress Line Up
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Post# 411678   7/18/2019 at 19:56 (1,714 days old) by Keither (California )        

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Thought I would display my current Eureka Empress Empire 🤙🏾

  Photos...       <              >      Photo 1 of 3         View Full Size
Post# 411681 , Reply# 1   7/18/2019 at 21:00 (1,714 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington, NC)        

STUNNING!

(Would love to see some tools and hoses!)


Post# 411682 , Reply# 2   7/18/2019 at 21:30 (1,714 days old) by keither (California )        

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Thanks Greg :-) I may include the full set up in a future picture. They can be seen on my other posts.

Post# 411722 , Reply# 3   7/19/2019 at 08:21 (1,713 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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LOVE

Post# 411733 , Reply# 4   7/19/2019 at 14:49 (1,713 days old) by kirbyklekter (Concord,Ca.)        
Very very nice Keither,

These vacuums never died, but they certainly went to heaven in your care.Kudos Keith!

Post# 411735 , Reply# 5   7/19/2019 at 15:59 (1,713 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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What a beautiful parade of Wards/ Eureka “Royalty”! And the next generation of canisters which followed the Empresses (Sweet Sixteens and Expresses) were Eureka’s “very best”!

The workers in Bloomington, Illinois must have been very proud of the fruits of their labour. I wonder if anyone in Vacuumland actually knows a veteran of the Eureka company or its factory.....


Post# 411738 , Reply# 6   7/19/2019 at 16:56 (1,713 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)        

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EMPRESSive

Post# 411746 , Reply# 7   7/19/2019 at 19:53 (1,713 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)        

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Great group of Eurekas!

Gary


Post# 411758 , Reply# 8   7/20/2019 at 03:23 (1,713 days old) by Lesinutah (Utah)        
Nice

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I noticed formations are probably by model and year. If not red with red.
But I seen one vacuum similar to these. Well it was more opposite of these. These are beautiies and display well.
Very nice.
Les


Post# 411996 , Reply# 9   7/24/2019 at 23:16 (1,708 days old) by keither (California )        

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Gentlemen thanks for your EMPRESS-ive feedback! As always I appreciate your kinds words and support. Thanks and will see you soon :-)

Post# 412030 , Reply# 10   7/26/2019 at 05:53 (1,707 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Keith - it would be fantastic if someone in Vacuumland could find the TV commercial Eureka had for these Empress II “FastVacs”. It may have been created by the big ad agency Young & Rubicam which I know did many of Eureka’s spots in the early 1970’s. Though I have found several early Eureka commercials on YouTube, I have yet to find the Empress II advertisement.

From my foggy memory, the commercial was very “fast paced” in order to emphasize the “FastVac” sports car theme - maybe with racing car engines revving up for sound effects. Images focused on the “racing car” elements of the design: powerful “engine” under the hood, racing stripes on the sides, big mag wheels to withstand “bumps in the road”, the big “accelerator” power pedal on the front, dashboard control panel on the top, etc.

And I will never forget the groovy, sexy female voice-over added to the male voice describing the features - she keeps whispering “Empress II” as a second audio track under the main voice: “Empress Two.....Empress Two.....Empress Two....”

The tv commercial matched the theme of the FastVac print ads showing a sexy, flower-power, groovy, female model in love with her new “sports car” “FastVac” cleaner!


Post# 412098 , Reply# 11   7/27/2019 at 16:13 (1,705 days old) by michaelwalter (christchurch, new zealand)        

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Hi Guys

In the 1950's in australia even GE used the Eureka rotomatic design under the name of hotpoint. see the GE symbol at the bottom of the AD 'Australian General Electric'.

Seems like eureka was everywhere in one form or another

Cheers

Mike


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Post# 412103 , Reply# 12   7/27/2019 at 21:05 (1,705 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Not to hijack this thread about Keith’s great Empress collection, but just to respond to Mike briefly: Pye’s use of a Eureka design was not the only unusual licensing of a Eureka: see below for a Mexican version of Eureka’s Princess canister, made for (or by) Koblenz!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO eurekaprince's LINK


Post# 412104 , Reply# 13   7/27/2019 at 21:06 (1,705 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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...sorry - meant to say “Hotpoint’s licensing of a Eureka design...”

Post# 412105 , Reply# 14   7/27/2019 at 21:13 (1,705 days old) by Keither (California )        

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@ Mike

I can appreciate your share re Eureka’s history , but this is not an Empress related advertisement . Please refrain from adding any literature to my thread of anything other than a Eureka, Montgomery Ward Vibra-Beat and or Empress. I’ve had one of my threads hijacked before , so please create your own thread to reference this literature and it’s content for discussion.




This post was last edited 07/27/2019 at 23:42
Post# 412172 , Reply# 15   7/29/2019 at 01:07 (1,704 days old) by luxlife (Under a Pecan Tree)        
Are these considered Empress models, or something older?

They look like Mobilaires, but a few models newer.
I found this pic on a very old thread.


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Post# 412174 , Reply# 16   7/29/2019 at 01:16 (1,704 days old) by keither (California )        

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I believe these are the 1st generation Empress models BKA Vibra-Beat

Post# 412178 , Reply# 17   7/29/2019 at 09:25 (1,703 days old) by luxlife (Under a Pecan Tree)        
Thanks for pointing that out!

Empress 1st generation: I guess that would explain the large black dial in the middle for tightening the lid to the machine. It's the same placement as was on the old "canned ham" Mobilaires with the chrome latch.

For someone like myself who's not fully versed on the Empress models, it's difficult to keep up with the progression of newer models. The metallic color of one of these machines makes me wonder if there wasn't some possible overlap between this model and a newer one. What really throws me off is the one model in your pic of the "flat front" Empress with the orange tool caddy behind it. That one looks considerably older than your others. Did Eureka revert back to a previous design with the swivel hose after making the flat front model?


Post# 412179 , Reply# 18   7/29/2019 at 10:23 (1,703 days old) by keither (California )        

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@ John - Yes that would explain the large black dial on the top of the Vibra-Beat. The dial as I understand was used to secure the the lid to the bottom portion of the machine. The top lid could be removed to change the bag. When the Empress was introduced it was upgraded to include a hinged lid to the body of the machine.

The Empress ( machine in the middle ) was introduced in the mid 60's. I believe the other units came out between 1970-1982. These machines are still pretty new to me and there is quite a bit to be learned about them. Brian T from Canada is very well versed on the history on these particular models and I'm sure he would be able to answer any additional questions for us on the history.


Post# 412192 , Reply# 19   7/29/2019 at 18:38 (1,703 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Hi Keith and John,

I think technically, the name Empress was not used by Eureka until the model with the white braided hose came out in 1965. Anything with a competely removeable lid is not an Empress - it’s a MobileAire or Vibra-Beat. Most of the time, when vac-makers like Eureka introduced a brand new vacuum design, the older designs continued to be sold in the product line-up. These older designs would have a cheaper price tag than the newcomer, but might sport some new colours or better motors or newer graphics.

I’m not quite sure when the last Mobile-Aire style canister model was sold. It could be that Eureka kept producing them concurrently with the newer Empress Ones and Twos, all the way into the 1970’s. Eureka definitely kept producing the old style for private labels like Montgomery Wards and Eaton Viking for quite some time.

There are some very informative Eureka sales brochures available on Vacuumland’s site - look for the link on the main home page. Not sure if these are dated, but they might be!


Post# 412193 , Reply# 20   7/29/2019 at 18:58 (1,703 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Here’s a collection of Eureka spec sheets from 1966:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO eurekaprince's LINK


Post# 412209 , Reply# 21   7/30/2019 at 00:16 (1,703 days old) by keither (California )        

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@ Brian : I was hoping you would chime in to help us !!! Thanks Brian :-)

Post# 412213 , Reply# 22   7/30/2019 at 06:37 (1,703 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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You’re welcome Keith! Always glad to talk about Eurekas....”the very best in vacuum cleaners”.


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