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Thread Number: 46002
/ Tag: Pre-1950 Vacuum Cleaners
very old possiblely 1909 whole house Vac system |
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Post# 474777 , Reply# 1 12/22/2024 at 14:49 by Caligula  (Wallingford, Connecticut) |
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| Post# 474778 , Reply# 2 12/22/2024 at 16:57 by kwalsh97214 (Portland) | ||
Your photos of this early home central vacuum system are appealing on several levels.
It looks like a Rube Goldberg contraption / invention. If I had a machine like that I would try to get some of the missing pieces (or reasonable facsimiles) to make the old vacuum look quasi functional and have the whole thing steam cleaned and polished. What a conversation piece. I am a fan of vintage steam radiators (and all the plumbing elbows, nipples, valves and flanges that make the radiators work). According to Google, the American Radiator Company also operated the American Vacuum Company in the early 1900s and made central vacs. | ||
| Post# 474781 , Reply# 3 12/22/2024 at 17:50 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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| Post# 474788 , Reply# 4 12/23/2024 at 09:52 by MTSINTRA (Philadelphia and Maine) | ||
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Thanks I appreciate the replies. If I can get an idea of the construction I will make the missing parts. More to follow Thank you all | ||
| Post# 474792 , Reply# 5 12/23/2024 at 16:42 by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, IN) | ||
 Killer find! Incredible piece of machinery. Make sure nothing happens to it. If it has to be removed, you can put it on one of those old fashioned railroad luggage trolleys and it can live on there. It looks like a pneumatic vacuum more than a suction vacuum. They would generate pressure and blow air down at the floor which the nozzle would then pick up. That might be what that huge cylinder is. It reminds me of those old horse drawn vacuum cleaners. | ||
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Post# 474800 , Reply# 6 12/24/2024 at 08:32 by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut) |
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Actually the machine pictured above is one of the first pneumatic vacuum cleaners, but the term 'Worlds Oldest' is incorrect as the the first vacuum cleaner was invented in Chicago, Illinois in 1869. Inventor was Ives W. McGaffy, and called the Whirlwind.
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| Post# 474801 , Reply# 7 12/24/2024 at 09:10 by Kirbyman65 (USA) | ||
There are many  | ||
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Post# 474806 , Reply# 8 12/24/2024 at 17:19 by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut) |
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Hi Kirbyman65.
The Whirlwind was a non-electric, hand crank device, but as you see, had all the components of traditional uprights that were to follow. Without doubt the Electric Suction Sweeper, which became the Hoover model O was the first practical machine. However, James B. Kirby also had his hand in the cookie jar with his Domestic Cyclone in 1906, a non-electric, revised with a motor in 1907. On a personal note, the Whirlwind was not a great design, but it was the first mass produced, made in Boston by The American Carpet Cleaning Company. Sadly, most of the Whirlwinds were lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was outfitted with a motor in 1905. | ||
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