A great estate sale discovery!

Last week an estate sale was advertised that would take place here in Los Angeles in a house built in 1902.

According to the people holding the estate sale, "the final heir is older and lives in Florida. She kept what she wanted and allowed cousins to come in and take whatever they wanted. She was very happy to see the home set up and cleaned up one more time. There is still just so much!"

Although I didn't see any vacuum cleaners in any of the 600+ photos of the sale, that "Twingle Alarm" was blazing full-blast! I couldn't go to the sale yesterday, so I went today when everything was 50% off.

It's a wonderful old house with mazes of hallways, doorways and stairways. It needs a lot of work but I hope it won't be torn down.

As I walked into the back toward the two-car garage where there was a lot of dust-covered stuff, the Twingle Alarm got even stronger!

I saw two very familiar silver cartons on a shelf in the dark rear-corner of the garage! I hoped to myself that they weren't empty or full or random stuff. To my absolute delight, there was a complete attachment set for a 1953 Kirby! I could hardly believe my eyes!

The large carton was marked $6.00 which, on half-off day, meant I got it for $3.00!!

I also got a very early 8"-square Pyrex dish and an antique wooden-handle granny fork, which was kinda strange since some of us had just been talking about those forks.

I looked around the rest of the house, hoping the Kirby might turn up but it didn't.

Yes, I'm still pinching myself! I'm so glad that I came calling when the Twingle Alarm was ringing!!

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 11 View Full Size


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Post# 455321 7/30/2022 at 18:07 (635 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes 5 Last week an estate sale was advertised that would take place here in Los Angeles in a house built in 1902. According to the people holding the estate sale, "the final heir is older and lives in Florida. She kept what she wanted and allowed cousins to come in and take whatever they wanted. She was very happy to see the home set up and cleaned up one more time. There is still just so much!" Although I didn't see any vacuum cleaners in any of the 600+ photos of the sale, that "Twingle Alarm" was blazing full-blast! I couldn't go to the sale yesterday, so I went today when everything was 50% off. It's a wonderful old house with mazes of hallways, doorways and stairways. It needs a lot of work but I hope it won't be torn down. As I walked into the back toward the two-car garage where there was a lot of dust-covered stuff, the Twingle Alarm got even stronger! I saw two very familiar silver cartons on a shelf in the dark rear-corner of the garage! I hoped to myself that they weren't empty or full or random stuff. To my absolute delight, there was a complete attachment set for a 1953 Kirby! I could hardly believe my eyes! The large carton was marked $6.00 which, on half-off day, meant I got it for $3.00!! I also got a very early 8"-square Pyrex dish and an antique wooden-handle granny fork, which was kinda strange since some of us had just been talking about those forks. I looked around the rest of the house, hoping the Kirby might turn up but it didn't. Yes, I'm still pinching myself! I'm so glad that I came calling when the Twingle Alarm was ringing!! Photos... < > Photo 1 of 11 View Full Size

Post# 455323 , Reply# 1 7/30/2022 at 19:23 (635 days old) by kirby519 (Wisconsin)
Checkrate/Likes Nice score. That set would fit my 511. I have an original hose. However. the vacuum draws more air thru the length of the hose than the attachment end. But then what can you expect after 70 years.

Post# 455335 , Reply# 2 7/31/2022 at 06:53 (634 days old) by vap0rtranz (Wisconsin)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *$3 ?! lucky!* Wow, $3 find?! you lucky b ... :) Great to read a story like yours. Makes me wonder how / when / where the machine was separated from its attachments. I found Kirby Classic boxes in great shape but taped shut in a thrift store last week. The store chastised me last time I untapped a box before buying it :O I did see the dark brown floor attachment poking through the top of 1 box. So I took the risk, paid, got home, untaped, and everything was inside, including the 1970s manual and Kirby Suds bottle! Made me wonder ...: ... what happened to the machine? If the attachment boxes were kept in such great shape, who would have separated these attachments from their machine?! In your case, even the hose was separated from its machine. Umpf.

Post# 455336 , Reply# 3 7/31/2022 at 06:58 (634 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes 2 It's not uncommon to find vintage Kirby attachments in excellent condition. If you do find the machine as well, it usually shows signs of a very hard life. Connecting the hose can be tricky if for people if they don't use it frequently. Then getting the rug nozzle back on can be even trickier! So what tends to happen is that the attachments get stuck in the back of a closet and never used.

Post# 455345 , Reply# 4 7/31/2022 at 15:08 (634 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)
Checkrate/Likes Wow! Nice find! I would have spent all day in that house, and bought about half of everything. lol This is the kind of "old money" Victorian homes that hold gold mines of antiques from the 1800s to the turn of the 20th century.

Post# 455364 , Reply# 5 8/1/2022 at 02:52 (633 days old) by kirbyklekter (Concord,Ca.)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Nice old house!* 120 years of history and memories. I hope somebody can afford to buy it,we're talking Los Angeles,Calif. Maybe it qualifies as a historical landmark which could save it from being demolished hopefully. HGTV had a series called "If Walls Could Talk" covering homes like this and older. On more than one of these stories a family member or close friend/neighbor would stop by during the taping of the show, and bring photos or paperwork, newspaper clippings etc. or just share information with dates that really added to the whole story. I miss that show. I wonder if anyone stuck their head up in the attic? Might be a retired Kirby up there! There could be money stashed in the walls too! So for the price of a half gallon of gas in Ca. you got all those attachments. Sweet!