Picking out a vac!

In 2003, I wanted a real vacuum to play with so my mom took me to my old local vacuum store and was given a grey vintage Eureka ESP self propelled upright that I wanted cause it was broken from what I was told. Quickly grew annoyed that I couldn't use it so I wanted to exchange it for something else that did work. But my mom took me to Target and bought my first real working vacuum which is a blue Eureka Power Plus that I still have today. Not only I liked the looks of it but also it was the cheapest vacuum at the time from Target. I did got to keep the ESP eventually but shortly afterwards somebody threw it out. I later founded another one that did work.

In 2004, my grandparents came to town and took me back to the same Target. They were looking for something that was easier to use the hose because their Kirby G4 was rather too complicated for them. Originally we were going to buy a grey Eureka Contour but that one was out of stock. Then we looked at a red Dirt Devil Jaguar bagless cause I believe it was the cheapest vacuum they had at the time from Target. I did tried to convince them to get a blue Dirt Devil Vision Swivel Glide instead because I thought it looked like a better machine but ultimately we settled for the Jaguar. That thing only lasted for 10 years. But I do however have the blue Vision I founded many years later. Before we went to Target, I remember my grandparents had a Sears magazine with some vacuums in it that caught my grandparent's interest. The first one that they actually wanted was a Hoover Windtunnel V2 in a teal color. The next one was a dark blue Eureka Whirlwind Lite that I'm pretty sure was 13". Third was a Dirt Devil cruiser in a silver/light blue, I don't think it was the Platinum Force version. And the last one that I wanted my grandparents to get was a black Kenmore Progressive Dirt Drive which eventually I did founded them one and I still have it to this day.

That same year when my collection was starting to expand, my mom took me to Walmart and bought a blue Bissell 3 Way bagless stick vac. I remember I originally thought of getting a red Dirt Devil cordless sweeper but my mom suggested me to get the Bissell instead probably because the sweeper wouldn't last for very long. I don't have the Bissell anymore but many years later I bought another one.

After we bought ourselves a new camping trailer that same year again, we went to Costco and bought ourselves a green Eureka Optima as it was bigger than our old trailer vacuum but still compact enough to fit in the closet. I still have the Optima after I retired it when we bought another trailer in 2018 and now use a different vacuum.

In 2005, I went with my dad to get a green Bissell SpotBot from Lowe's after seeing advertisements online. We took it back the next day after he wasn't satisfied with the tracks it was leaving on the carpets and bought a blue Bisesll ProHeat 2X as our main carpet cleaner. It's now mine after retiring it in favor for hiring a professional to clean the carpets.

That same year, our black Black & Decker PowerPro had it's batteries failing so my dad took me to Target to buy another cordless handvac. I remember looking at another B&D that had a clear dust bin but then I saw a red Dirt Devil I believe was a Quick Power because it had a clear collapsible crevice tool, I convinced him to get that one instead which we did. Batteries of course failed eventually so we threw it out and went through a few more cordless hand vacs.

Towards the end of the year, I got a red Hoover Elite Rewind for Christmas. Rewind it back earlier that same year, originally we were looking to get another vacuum for our last cabin as we had no central vac inlets on the third floor up. I remember we used to get some Oreck catalogs in the mail and there were some vacuums they had that caught my interest for the place. A white XL2, a black/gold XL2 Ultra, a XL PRO 16", a yellow Oreck with a built in radio, and a black/brown XL21. Then I started looking back into getting another Panasonic since we had one from our first cabin that we should've brought with us in the first place when we sold the place. So I remember originally wanting a Power-On-Demand MC-V7720 since that was the first thing it popped up on Panasonic's vacuum page. Then I wanted to get a MC-V7314 that had a cord rewinder because our other Panasonic had one. Eventually we founded a way to clean the third floor up with the central vac so we didn't needed another vacuum anymore. I still wanted that Panasonic so I decided to get one of those for Christmas. I waited patiently for months until I had other opportunities pop up. A brand new Hoover Elite Rewind was just released on Amazon and already had solid five star reviews unlike the Panasonic which had four. During Christmas shopping at Kmart, there were two Kenmore Quick Cleans that also had cord rewinders. A blue bagged and a white bagless. Not as much favorable reviews as the Hoover. And I went to a Christmas charitable event and I had a chance to help clean up with the Lindhaus commercial uprights. None of them had cord rewinders but I really did liked the looks of some of them, I think one was a Dynamic and the other was a Activa. The rest were either CH Pros' or RXs' which at the time I didn't cared that much about looks wise. In the end, I settled for the Hoover. Almost went for a green Windtunnel 2 bagged that I also saw online and at Lowe's during Christmas shopping because that one had a cord rewinder too. But I chose the Elite Rewind because not only it had better reviews but also I thought at the time bagless was a new way to go. I no longer have that Hoover but I did eventually founded another one that was NOS. I also eventually founded a Panasonic MC-V7314 and a blue Kenmore Quick Clean bagged as well. And I have a couple of those Oreck XL21s'.

If this one counts, in 2008 I went with my dad and my older brother to Lowe's to buy a Craftsman leaf mower vacuum. We just had it tuned up recently and still works great, though it does need a new hose.

And finally in 2010 before my 13th birthday, I wanted to get a cheap Panasonic or a Kenmore canister for my birthday. Originally I wanted a yellow Kenmore 721 bagless canister but it had negative reviews and I couldn't think of handling it as a bagless. So I looked into getting a Panasonic instead. There were three I believe that caught my interest. A grey MC-CG467 which was a bit pricey for me, a white MC-CL485 which I recall was cheaper but I didn't liked the idea of it being a bagless, and a blue MC-CG381 without a turbo brush which I ultimately settled for so my buddy ordered one for me and picked it up at the vacuum store. Still have it today.


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Post# 470065 3/11/2024 at 12:32 by Eureka1998 (New York )
Checkrate/Likes 1 How many have a fond memory of going to the store as a kid with mom or dad and picking out a brand new vacuum? I remember in the Summer of 2003 I went with dad to Kmart to pick out Hoovers latest, the Fold Away, which was a pretty cool unit at the time. How about the rest of you? View Full Size

Post# 470069 , Reply# 1 3/11/2024 at 17:01 by Kirbyg6 (York)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Yes we had an Electrolux the boss Electrolux is the uk version of eureka but unfortunately in 2001 it was time for an upgrade and in the uk they have a massive electrical store called curry�s and I just remember seeing at the time the brand new Dyson Dc07 range I was only 6 at the but I was amazed by all the different colours that�s what I loved about Dyson back then so many different colours so we came home with a dc07 full gear great machine View Full Size

Post# 470071 , Reply# 2 3/11/2024 at 22:48 by niclonnic (Bonney Lake, WA)
Checkrate/Likes *I remember...* Right at the end of 2007 (four days after Christmas), I went with my dad to Target to pick out a new vacuum to replace our well-worn Bissell CleanView. We came home with a Dyson DC07 Animal, which was the oldest Dyson model still on sale at the time. And the rest is history. View Full Size

Post# 470081 , Reply# 3 3/12/2024 at 15:45 by ilovehoovers (England)
Checkrate/Likes I forgot that they only started at the DC07 in the States! I was gonna say, the DC03 was still available on clearance in late '07. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 2 View Full Size

Post# 470082 , Reply# 4 3/12/2024 at 16:23 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah)
Checkrate/Likes In 2003, I wanted a real vacuum to play with so my mom took me to my old local vacuum store and was given a grey vintage Eureka ESP self propelled upright that I wanted cause it was broken from what I was told. Quickly grew annoyed that I couldn't use it so I wanted to exchange it for something else that did work. But my mom took me to Target and bought my first real working vacuum which is a blue Eureka Power Plus that I still have today. Not only I liked the looks of it but also it was the cheapest vacuum at the time from Target. I did got to keep the ESP eventually but shortly afterwards somebody threw it out. I later founded another one that did work. In 2004, my grandparents came to town and took me back to the same Target. They were looking for something that was easier to use the hose because their Kirby G4 was rather too complicated for them. Originally we were going to buy a grey Eureka Contour but that one was out of stock. Then we looked at a red Dirt Devil Jaguar bagless cause I believe it was the cheapest vacuum they had at the time from Target. I did tried to convince them to get a blue Dirt Devil Vision Swivel Glide instead because I thought it looked like a better machine but ultimately we settled for the Jaguar. That thing only lasted for 10 years. But I do however have the blue Vision I founded many years later. Before we went to Target, I remember my grandparents had a Sears magazine with some vacuums in it that caught my grandparent's interest. The first one that they actually wanted was a Hoover Windtunnel V2 in a teal color. The next one was a dark blue Eureka Whirlwind Lite that I'm pretty sure was 13". Third was a Dirt Devil cruiser in a silver/light blue, I don't think it was the Platinum Force version. And the last one that I wanted my grandparents to get was a black Kenmore Progressive Dirt Drive which eventually I did founded them one and I still have it to this day. That same year when my collection was starting to expand, my mom took me to Walmart and bought a blue Bissell 3 Way bagless stick vac. I remember I originally thought of getting a red Dirt Devil cordless sweeper but my mom suggested me to get the Bissell instead probably because the sweeper wouldn't last for very long. I don't have the Bissell anymore but many years later I bought another one. After we bought ourselves a new camping trailer that same year again, we went to Costco and bought ourselves a green Eureka Optima as it was bigger than our old trailer vacuum but still compact enough to fit in the closet. I still have the Optima after I retired it when we bought another trailer in 2018 and now use a different vacuum. In 2005, I went with my dad to get a green Bissell SpotBot from Lowe's after seeing advertisements online. We took it back the next day after he wasn't satisfied with the tracks it was leaving on the carpets and bought a blue Bisesll ProHeat 2X as our main carpet cleaner. It's now mine after retiring it in favor for hiring a professional to clean the carpets. That same year, our black Black & Decker PowerPro had it's batteries failing so my dad took me to Target to buy another cordless handvac. I remember looking at another B&D that had a clear dust bin but then I saw a red Dirt Devil I believe was a Quick Power because it had a clear collapsible crevice tool, I convinced him to get that one instead which we did. Batteries of course failed eventually so we threw it out and went through a few more cordless hand vacs. Towards the end of the year, I got a red Hoover Elite Rewind for Christmas. Rewind it back earlier that same year, originally we were looking to get another vacuum for our last cabin as we had no central vac inlets on the third floor up. I remember we used to get some Oreck catalogs in the mail and there were some vacuums they had that caught my interest for the place. A white XL2, a black/gold XL2 Ultra, a XL PRO 16", a yellow Oreck with a built in radio, and a black/brown XL21. Then I started looking back into getting another Panasonic since we had one from our first cabin that we should've brought with us in the first place when we sold the place. So I remember originally wanting a Power-On-Demand MC-V7720 since that was the first thing it popped up on Panasonic's vacuum page. Then I wanted to get a MC-V7314 that had a cord rewinder because our other Panasonic had one. Eventually we founded a way to clean the third floor up with the central vac so we didn't needed another vacuum anymore. I still wanted that Panasonic so I decided to get one of those for Christmas. I waited patiently for months until I had other opportunities pop up. A brand new Hoover Elite Rewind was just released on Amazon and already had solid five star reviews unlike the Panasonic which had four. During Christmas shopping at Kmart, there were two Kenmore Quick Cleans that also had cord rewinders. A blue bagged and a white bagless. Not as much favorable reviews as the Hoover. And I went to a Christmas charitable event and I had a chance to help clean up with the Lindhaus commercial uprights. None of them had cord rewinders but I really did liked the looks of some of them, I think one was a Dynamic and the other was a Activa. The rest were either CH Pros' or RXs' which at the time I didn't cared that much about looks wise. In the end, I settled for the Hoover. Almost went for a green Windtunnel 2 bagged that I also saw online and at Lowe's during Christmas shopping because that one had a cord rewinder too. But I chose the Elite Rewind because not only it had better reviews but also I thought at the time bagless was a new way to go. I no longer have that Hoover but I did eventually founded another one that was NOS. I also eventually founded a Panasonic MC-V7314 and a blue Kenmore Quick Clean bagged as well. And I have a couple of those Oreck XL21s'. If this one counts, in 2008 I went with my dad and my older brother to Lowe's to buy a Craftsman leaf mower vacuum. We just had it tuned up recently and still works great, though it does need a new hose. And finally in 2010 before my 13th birthday, I wanted to get a cheap Panasonic or a Kenmore canister for my birthday. Originally I wanted a yellow Kenmore 721 bagless canister but it had negative reviews and I couldn't think of handling it as a bagless. So I looked into getting a Panasonic instead. There were three I believe that caught my interest. A grey MC-CG467 which was a bit pricey for me, a white MC-CL485 which I recall was cheaper but I didn't liked the idea of it being a bagless, and a blue MC-CG381 without a turbo brush which I ultimately settled for so my buddy ordered one for me and picked it up at the vacuum store. Still have it today.

Post# 470083 , Reply# 5 3/12/2024 at 20:03 by Human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes I never got to do anything like that. When I was growing up, Dad traveled for a living, and for entertainment in the evenings, he would shop for stuff like that at places like Sears Outlet that offered cheaper prices on open-box items, so I seldom even got to help unbox it when he got it home. The first new vacuum I went shopping for was in my 30s with then-fiance, about six months before we got married. At her insistence, we bought an over-priced plasticrap Kenmore canister. It was a pretty burgundy color, but that's where my love for it ended. It was a flimsy piece of junk, and I gladly left it behind when I left her three years later. It all just reinforced my appreciation for old-school metal vacuums.

Post# 470125 , Reply# 6 3/14/2024 at 14:45 by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)
Checkrate/Likes As I'm older, the only memories I have of going to the store to pick out a vacuum was for myself! The compact was here in 59 and I'm a 56 model so I don't really remember much before that.