Can anybody identify this mystery bagged central vac nozzle? I just found this on getty images. It was taken at the Astor Hotel in NYC sometime in the "mid-1900s". It looks like there are four hoses in use. The woman is using a classic carpet nozzle but the man has a completely different hose grip and an attachment I've never seen before. Maybe it's a motor from a portable vacuum to boost airflow? But then why would it need a dust bag? Then there's also a box (under the getty watermark) that's connected to a hose. Prehaps an early air purifier? Extremely interesting and something I've never seen before.
Unlikely but it reminds me of a compressed air/ venturi vacuum. That handle grip makes me think it may be a possibility perhaps utilizing the exhaust of the unit to clean in addition to the suction?
Post# 475670 , Reply# 2 2/21/2025 at 09:46 by kirbyman65(USA)
I remembered seeing in my copy of "Vacuum Cleaning Systems" a reference to a compressed-air carpet renovator with an external bag and thumbed through the book just now.
Lo and behold it mentions the Hotel Astor specifically as having had an installed compressed-air cleaning system! See above the drawing in the second photo.
The lady is clearly operating a suction nozzle, so somehow both suction and compressed-air devices seem to be in use here.
(Flagstaff, Arizona) 
Comes to the Rescue!
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}