Canister vac curb finds?

At the risk of sounding snarky, my feeling about plasticrap bagless uprights is they ARE trash, and when I see one by the curb, that's exactly where I leave it. That said, I agree that the majority of my curb finds have been uprights, the best of which are a Kirby Gsix and an Electrolux Discovery II. The Kirby just needed the usual bag a belt, while the Electrolux needed nothing. It even had a brand new bag in it. Who puts a brand new bag in a vacuum and then tosses it? Of course, there was also the curbed Kirby, I think it was a Classic, that got away. I saw it on the curb one morning as I was driving to work. Traffic was too heavy for me to stop, and when I passed by there again in the afternoon, it was gone. I hope somebody snagged it and is enjoying it. You just can't save them all.

Canisters are definitely fewer and further between. The two that I have are an Electrolux Diplomat LX that I rescued from beside a dumpster at a friend's apartment, and an Electrolux 1205 that my dad nabbed from the curb in our neighborhood when I was in high school. The Diplomat needed a new cord and the automatic shutoff valve still needs replacing. I replaced the former and bypassed the latter, and it works great. The 1205 needed a new hose when we first got it, and a new top handle by the time I rescued it from my parents' attic in 2016, both of which it now has.

As I think about it, the lack of canisters by the curb may just be a function of canisters having almost totally lost popularity in the past 20-30 years. You just about can't find a new one in the store anymore, so there are fewer and fewer left to throw away. I seldom even see them in thrift stores anymore, and the ones I do see are plastic and totally beat to hell.


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Post# 472471 7/21/2024 at 11:51 by fan-of-fans (USA)
Checkrate/Likes I see bagless uprights in trash occasionally but have rarely found canisters. I remember as a kid I saw an avocado green and yellow Sears Best canister on the way home from school once (just the hose with it) but my mom wouldn’t pick it up for me as she was embarrassed. lol Then at another house once was a blue Hoover Celebrity and early 80s Kenmore canister at a house with no hoses or anything. After that, never remember seeing any canisters until few years ago I picked up a dark blue Kenmore Progressive all there in nearly new condition. Then that summer I picked up a mostly complete Rainbow SE Performance Edition with the electric hose, wands, PN and a few attachments. But yeah, I’ve definitely seen more uprights than canisters on the curb. Has anyone had any great canister curb finds? I’d like to find some old Hoover, Eureka, GE or Kenmore canisters but I don’t expect it after all these years.

Post# 472473 , Reply# 1 7/21/2024 at 13:04 by JustJunque (Western MA)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I believe I've only found two, and both were Electrolux. A dark grey Ambassador III that seemed to be in good shape, but needed a thorough cleaning; especially the PN. And, a 75th Anniversary Epic 6500 that was badly abused. I cleaned it up cosmetically, but I believe it needs a new motor. I saw a gold, metal bodied Electrolux once, while I was on the road for work, so I couldn't stop. When I went back later, it was gone. Like you, on the rare occasion that I see a curbed vacuum any more, it's usually an upright, and usually newer and bagless.

Post# 472474 , Reply# 2 7/21/2024 at 13:46 by Human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes 2 At the risk of sounding snarky, my feeling about plasticrap bagless uprights is they ARE trash, and when I see one by the curb, that's exactly where I leave it. That said, I agree that the majority of my curb finds have been uprights, the best of which are a Kirby Gsix and an Electrolux Discovery II. The Kirby just needed the usual bag a belt, while the Electrolux needed nothing. It even had a brand new bag in it. Who puts a brand new bag in a vacuum and then tosses it? Of course, there was also the curbed Kirby, I think it was a Classic, that got away. I saw it on the curb one morning as I was driving to work. Traffic was too heavy for me to stop, and when I passed by there again in the afternoon, it was gone. I hope somebody snagged it and is enjoying it. You just can't save them all. Canisters are definitely fewer and further between. The two that I have are an Electrolux Diplomat LX that I rescued from beside a dumpster at a friend's apartment, and an Electrolux 1205 that my dad nabbed from the curb in our neighborhood when I was in high school. The Diplomat needed a new cord and the automatic shutoff valve still needs replacing. I replaced the former and bypassed the latter, and it works great. The 1205 needed a new hose when we first got it, and a new top handle by the time I rescued it from my parents' attic in 2016, both of which it now has. As I think about it, the lack of canisters by the curb may just be a function of canisters having almost totally lost popularity in the past 20-30 years. You just about can't find a new one in the store anymore, so there are fewer and fewer left to throw away. I seldom even see them in thrift stores anymore, and the ones I do see are plastic and totally beat to hell.

Post# 472505 , Reply# 3 7/26/2024 at 17:28 by Tylerhawkins84 (Elkhart, IN)
Checkrate/Likes *Electrolux Olympia One* A few years ago I found a complete Electrolux Olympia One at the curb next door to my grandparents. At first when my grandpa told me about it I was just going to leave it figuring it didn’t work or was on its last leg. I decided to take it when I saw it had the power nozzle and everything. When I got it home I was shocked to find everything worked and it was in pretty good condition! I cleaned it up and sold it on eBay for over $200. Why on earth someone would throw away a perfectly good vacuum especially one as well made as a vintage Electrolux is beyond me. Whatever they replaced it with will likely be at the curb in 5 years. I won’t be picking that up LOL.

Post# 473491 , Reply# 4 10/1/2024 at 21:51 by Jo (Dallas,TX)
Checkrate/Likes *It could be a function of fit* Canister vacs will fit in a trash can while uprights are clunky to fit in a trash can and may be why we see so few canisters on the curbs side from their less popularity. Jon

Post# 473500 , Reply# 5 10/2/2024 at 16:01 by Human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes Tylerhawkins84 wrote: Why on earth someone would throw away a perfectly good vacuum especially one as well made as a vintage Electrolux is beyond me. I reply: They probably tossed it because it was "old", used filter bags, and didn't have onboard tool storage. The industry has pretty well convinced the buying public that any vacuum that doesn't have those latter two features is not worthy of consideration. That said, I agree they didn't know what they had. Looking back at my previous post in this thread, I forgot to mention that the 1205 had a leaky, non-powered hose, non-powered wands, and a flippy floor tool. After I saved it from my parents' attic, I put a powered vinyl replacement hose on it and hooked it to a power nozzle, probably for the first time in its existence, and unleashed its true power. The Diplomat LX had a generic powered hose, electrified wand, and a lighted power nozzle. It was worth grabbing just for the accessories. The dearth of canister vacs at the curb is also reflected in their absence from thrift stores. I almost never see them there either, but if it's something good like an Electrolux or vintage Eureka, I'll grab it. And they're usually less expensive than even a plasticrap bagless upright. One of my best thrift shop finds ever was an Electrolux Diamond J with a PN5 power nozzle in pristine condition for $10. Amusingly, it had a generic replacement hose with it that had a $75 price tag from a local vacuum shop. The cashier and I had a good laugh over that.