Something Worth Waiting For...

I’m sure a lot, if not most of you saw the post with this picture in it (photo credit to HardlyFlick). Like many of you, I saw many amazing things in that post and as tempting as some of them seemed, one stood out to me more than any of them. When I heard that they had all been sold to Mr. Kyle Krichbaum, I had to see if there was any way that I could possibly purchase the legend that I’ve searched for since joining on here. Thankfully, he was kind enough to sell it to me as-is, which was awesome because I wanted to do the restoration myself. Then a few short weeks later it made it here safe and sound!

The vacuum that I am referencing is of course the 1936 Kenmore Imperial “Bugeye”! This elusive machine has appeared on Vacuumland several times over the years and always garners plenty of attention due to its striking design aspects. This particular Imperial is a bit of a celebrity (at least in my opinion because all of the machines in the collection that Kyle bought were all owned by the family who founded ESSCO (the popular parts resource for vacuum cleaner shops as well as us collectors). The collection was on display at their headquarters as sort of a show and tell type museum. As time progressed, the collection was moved to the family estate and there they sat until they were sold to Kyle. Well, during their time on display, ESSCO used some of the machines in their ads that they’d put in their parts catalogs. And, loe and behold, they used the Imperial in one!

So this is a very special vacuum in my collection. Not only because they are considered of the rare variety, but because it marks a very special place in my collection. It may not be 100% original, but the story means more to me. For a long time, I was told that I would never find one or I’d have to sell a kidney to pay for it. Thankfully, with the help of Kyle (Myvacsrock), I was able to make a dream come true. And another thank you to Kyle for telling me the story of the collection. Enjoy!

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Post# 439323 3/1/2021 at 16:53 (1,151 days old) by Opelgtkarl (Puyallup, Washington)
Checkrate/Likes 3 I’m sure a lot, if not most of you saw the post with this picture in it (photo credit to HardlyFlick). Like many of you, I saw many amazing things in that post and as tempting as some of them seemed, one stood out to me more than any of them. When I heard that they had all been sold to Mr. Kyle Krichbaum, I had to see if there was any way that I could possibly purchase the legend that I’ve searched for since joining on here. Thankfully, he was kind enough to sell it to me as-is, which was awesome because I wanted to do the restoration myself. Then a few short weeks later it made it here safe and sound! The vacuum that I am referencing is of course the 1936 Kenmore Imperial “Bugeye”! This elusive machine has appeared on Vacuumland several times over the years and always garners plenty of attention due to its striking design aspects. This particular Imperial is a bit of a celebrity (at least in my opinion because all of the machines in the collection that Kyle bought were all owned by the family who founded ESSCO (the popular parts resource for vacuum cleaner shops as well as us collectors). The collection was on display at their headquarters as sort of a show and tell type museum. As time progressed, the collection was moved to the family estate and there they sat until they were sold to Kyle. Well, during their time on display, ESSCO used some of the machines in their ads that they’d put in their parts catalogs. And, loe and behold, they used the Imperial in one! So this is a very special vacuum in my collection. Not only because they are considered of the rare variety, but because it marks a very special place in my collection. It may not be 100% original, but the story means more to me. For a long time, I was told that I would never find one or I’d have to sell a kidney to pay for it. Thankfully, with the help of Kyle (Myvacsrock), I was able to make a dream come true. And another thank you to Kyle for telling me the story of the collection. Enjoy! View Full Size

Post# 439324 , Reply# 1 3/1/2021 at 16:56 (1,151 days old) by Opelgtkarl (Puyallup, Washington)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *And here it is!* It was a bit dirty and dusty when I got it, but it was a complete machine. Unfortunately the cord that was on it was completely dried up and falling apart, so this was right after I put a newer safe cord on it. View Full Size

Post# 439325 , Reply# 2 3/1/2021 at 16:58 (1,151 days old) by Opelgtkarl (Puyallup, Washington)
Checkrate/Likes 5 *The Bug Eyes!* Here it is following 2 days of polishing and a couple new lightbulbs to get the headlights working! View Full Size

Post# 439326 , Reply# 3 3/1/2021 at 17:00 (1,151 days old) by Opelgtkarl (Puyallup, Washington)
Checkrate/Likes 5 *And the finishing touch!* Unfortunately the bumper was missing, but thanks to some research and some ideas from other collectors, I was able to make a new bumper out of a rubber tie down and it looks great! View Full Size

Post# 439327 , Reply# 4 3/1/2021 at 17:03 (1,151 days old) by Opelgtkarl (Puyallup, Washington)
Checkrate/Likes 3 *The ESSCO Ad* Here is the ad in question that used the Imperial as well as others from the collection. If you look closely, you can see that it’s still missing the bumper and that they unraveled the cord for the picture (most likely because it was falling apart even then). I’m sure that the cord hasn’t been unraveled since the ad photo. View Full Size

Post# 439331 , Reply# 5 3/1/2021 at 22:25 (1,151 days old) by Brando_husky (Las Vegas Nevada)
Checkrate/Likes What an amazing addition. Truly spectacular machines. Wondering if you or Kyle knows what happened to that big hoover commercial vacuum on the far right? Those are quite rare as well!

Post# 439333 , Reply# 6 3/1/2021 at 22:54 (1,151 days old) by Hoover300 (Kentucky)
Checkrate/Likes That is a Premier Grand, still quite a rare machine.

Post# 439334 , Reply# 7 3/1/2021 at 22:54 (1,151 days old) by Hoover300 (Kentucky)
Checkrate/Likes Beautiful work on the Kenmore!

Post# 439339 , Reply# 8 3/2/2021 at 08:51 (1,150 days old) by VacMadMan (Pueblo Co.)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Nice job* Karl, You did a wonderful job, that old girl looks great. That's a great addition to any collection and one to be proud of. Jim This post was last edited 03/02/2021 at 12:58

Post# 439344 , Reply# 10 3/2/2021 at 10:34 (1,150 days old) by myvacsrock (USA)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Stunning!* Glad the machine landed in a good home. You did wonderful work! I’d love to hear how it runs! Many more projects to come. Thanks for taking one off my hands :)

Post# 439377 , Reply# 11 3/3/2021 at 22:48 (1,149 days old) by kirbyklekter (Concord,Ca.)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Boogie-Woogie Bugeye Boy of co.B* Karl, well I tried a little humor. I'm so glad you finally got your machine and the history behind it makes it all the more special. Can you tell me how long of a run the Bugeye had? I've seen them before but didn't know they were so hard to come by. Great job on the shine, enjoy. I guess that's one you can scratch off the bucket list! Billy

Post# 439340 , Reply# 9 3/2/2021 at 09:17 (1,150 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)
Checkrate/Likes Kyle is a great guy. So glad he was able to help you out.

Post# 439419 , Reply# 12 3/5/2021 at 09:20 (1,147 days old) by OpelGTKarl (Puyallup, Washington)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Thank you all for the kind words! I really did try hard to make this one nice. The Kenmore Imperial "Bugeye" ran for about 2 to 3 years until the Deluxe came out in 1940. However, this as well as the later Deluxe, were the top of the line and cost about as much as a house payment back then, so people tended to not buy the higher-priced uprights.