First VCCC convention for me

The backstory on Craig is quite interesting.

It was early September of 1982 when John Lucia and I decided to see if people were interested in us forming a club. A few days later I sent out about fifteen form letters, and all but one wrote back with 'yes,' start the club. The one who didn't was Craig. Upon getting the letter, he phoned me, thus jumping the gun. That was Craig, and we talked for three hours.

Sadly, he couldn't make our first meeting which was in Chesterton, Indiana, the first weekend in May of 1985, but he made the second, which was in my new house in Naperville, Illinois. Craig flew from Buffalo with a vacuum cleaner in his lap, not letting the flight attendant put in the overhead bin. For that meeting Craig made us a fantastic lasagna, and he was the only member who ever stayed in my house. I put him in the display room. He was on another planet.

Craig, like Clay Floyd, Roger Proehl, and Dave Watters passed away many years ago, but he provided our club with a wealth of information both verbal and written. He was a great friend.

Pictured below is Craig sitting next to the Air-Way he hand delivered, personally.

View Full Size


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Post# 456229 8/27/2022 at 11:17 (607 days old) by Dysonman1 (the county)
Checkrate/Likes 4 As Adele sings “when we were young“. This photograph was taken on Alex Taber‘s porch. It was the very first VCCC meeting I ever attended. Decades ago. My friend, the late Clay Floyd and I are holding one of the very first Rexair cleaners ever made. Sadly, a number of the guys in this photograph are no longer with us. There was no Internet, and we all thought we were the only ones in the entire world who collected vacuum cleaners. I wonder if one of the guys in this picture just bought a $3500 Whirlpool canister vacuum from eBay? View Full Size

Post# 456233 , Reply# 1 8/27/2022 at 12:19 (607 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *How time fly's.* Hi Tom: Do you happen to recall the names of everybody? Here's a look at the part of the meeting room. And do you perhaps have the picture of my cat in the picture window? I know it was in the newsletter a few months later. Thanks for sharing. Alex T. View Full Size

Post# 456235 , Reply# 2 8/27/2022 at 13:31 (607 days old) by vacuumdevil (Vacuum Hell )
Checkrate/Likes 1 Even though some of those people are gone David Waters and Clay Floyd RIP. I feel like the spirit of that picture could been taken today some of those old timers remind me of some of the modern collectors. Thanks for sharing Tom!

Post# 456239 , Reply# 3 8/27/2022 at 14:20 (607 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes 1 "Even though some of those people are gone David Waters and Clay Floyd RIP." and Roger Proehl.

Post# 456246 , Reply# 4 8/27/2022 at 18:58 (606 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Gathering of the clan.* While there were a few members who did not attend our early gatherings, this was basically the nucleus of the Vacuum Cleaner Collector's Club. And it was at club headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. And while I can't give the exact date, it was the first Saturday in May, of 1993. Those pictured here are. Top row. David Watters, Clay Floyd, Tom Gasko, Billy Lipman, Peter Frye, and Mike Pupek. Roger Proehl is in the center. Bottom row is Charles Richard Lester, me, and John Lucia. While Tom refers to this as a convention, they were actually little more than meetings at this point, as I think there were about fifteen members in total at this time. The only original member in attendance, other than John and me, was Mike Pupek. The other original member was Craig Long who was back in Buffalo, New York. Pictured below was the original club museum which was in the main house. In time it outgrew that room, so I converted a three-car garage into the V.C.C.C. clubhouse. View Full Size

Post# 456247 , Reply# 5 8/27/2022 at 19:33 (606 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *The late Craig Long..* The backstory on Craig is quite interesting. It was early September of 1982 when John Lucia and I decided to see if people were interested in us forming a club. A few days later I sent out about fifteen form letters, and all but one wrote back with 'yes,' start the club. The one who didn't was Craig. Upon getting the letter, he phoned me, thus jumping the gun. That was Craig, and we talked for three hours. Sadly, he couldn't make our first meeting which was in Chesterton, Indiana, the first weekend in May of 1985, but he made the second, which was in my new house in Naperville, Illinois. Craig flew from Buffalo with a vacuum cleaner in his lap, not letting the flight attendant put in the overhead bin. For that meeting Craig made us a fantastic lasagna, and he was the only member who ever stayed in my house. I put him in the display room. He was on another planet. Craig, like Clay Floyd, Roger Proehl, and Dave Watters passed away many years ago, but he provided our club with a wealth of information both verbal and written. He was a great friend. Pictured below is Craig sitting next to the Air-Way he hand delivered, personally. View Full Size

Post# 456248 , Reply# 6 8/27/2022 at 19:43 (606 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Second meeting of the V.C.C.C.* Just a quick look at the meeting room, May of 1987. Me giving a talk on the early non electrics, in this case the Whirlwind made in Chicago, 1869, With John Lucia looking on. View Full Size This post was last edited 08/27/2022 at 20:54

Post# 456249 , Reply# 7 8/27/2022 at 19:46 (606 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Here's another picture of the Air-Way Craig gave me, View Full Size