Thread Number: 43578
/ Tag: Pre-1950 Vacuum Cleaners
Thoughts on today's Vacuum of the Day |
[Down to Last] |
Post# 455093 , Reply# 1   7/22/2022 at 11:01 (643 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
3    
Electrolux was always a top seller. Hoover did have massive sales, too. I, and others, have the books stating how many of each model were made. It was staggering. Nobody threw those cleaners away then. Just look at how many are still out there working. How many we collectors have. My grandmother had a model 28. During the rough times, she would share it with her cousin (raised like sisters). They'd send it back and forth in a taxi. With the research I've done, it shows reports of sales going through the roof. Think of that massive plant, running 3 shifts constantly. It was amazing. |
Post# 455100 , Reply# 2   7/22/2022 at 15:23 (643 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
The ad was from the early 1940's during the war. Brush rolls were rebristled, bearings were lubricated, everything that could be fixed - was. Manufacturers were allowed to make repair parts only during the war, which is why Electrolux (first back in production after the war) used veterans and those repair parts to assemble new cleaners to fill the backlog.
Your model E was made at least 12 years after the ad for Hoover. Right after the war, the Electrolux became so popular (the model XXX) that it was true, they were America's largest selling cleaner. At that time. Things change. |
Post# 455116 , Reply# 3   7/22/2022 at 20:58 (643 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
|
Post# 455148 , Reply# 5   7/23/2022 at 16:41 (642 days old) by Vinvac (Dubuque IA)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
And we often forget about other brands out there. Here in Iowa, WI and Il, Eureka was more popular than Hoover. Sears was also very popular.
Later Sunbeam also made some great machines. Advertising gimmicks were no different then than now. Bag-less machines are toted as being so much better and clean so much better because you can see the dirt in the canister. Visual references that make you think it is better when in reality the filters clog quicker and are generally more expensive to replace than bags. Plus the machines require much more maintenance to run efficiently. Washing filters and cyclonic tubes is just gross. Visually seeing words like "two to one" or America's most popular canister may have been a milder form of persuasion but for the time worked well. Door to door salesmen of the Electrolux time period had an advantage of getting in the home and knowing where the dirt would be that a Hoover would miss. Edges, under sofa's couch cushions...you see my point. It is all relative to what the salesperson can make you believe. I don't ever remember Hoover or Eureka being a door to door sales, but Kirby, Electrolux, Filter Queen and Rainbow were sure popular here. And the little dirt pads to show just how much dirt your vacuum missed was all it took to convince the buyer that they had the best machine on the market. I almost forgot. Air- Way was a very strong competitor in the market as well. My grandmother told my mom she was taken by the Kirby salesman, her Air-Way was a much better vacuum...why you can even use it to defrost the refrigerator...try that with your Kirby! |
Post# 455149 , Reply# 6   7/23/2022 at 18:31 (642 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
|