Thread Number: 5223
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Post# 58156   1/14/2009 at 08:40 (5,553 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I have been enjoying your wonderful forum for about 2 years now, and finally got around to signing up to submit messages. I plan to become an official club member when my job situation improves. I have been fascinated by vacuums ever since I was a young kid growing up in Montreal (I'll be 50 in April). Thanks for allowing me to come out of the vacuum closet! Because I grew up with a turquoise Eureka Automatic upright (Model 250, I think), I for some crazy reason became an avid fan of anything made by Eureka Williams from 1960 to 1990. Hence the nickname! In Canada, I have had to "suffer" with department store versions of the American originals - Eaton's "Viking" brand and The Bay's "Baycrest" and "Beaumark" brands. Though specialty vacuum stores always carried original Eurekas made right here in Ontario by Kitchener's Onward Manufacturing Company. I used to love to see that the classic Eureka floor and wall brush had the words "Made in Canada" embossed inside! I used to love exploring the vac displays of original Eureka's set up in department stores whenever visiting the USA. I don't know what it is, but I have always found the designs of Eurekas from those years to have a quiet, understated elegance that is hard to describe. I would love to find out the names of the industrial designers working at Eureka during those years - love the Vanguards, the Empresses, the Crown Princesses, the "Sweet Sixteens", the Ultras and even the stick vacs. Unfortunately, I have never had the time or the room to collect and repair old vacs, so I have to live vicariously through you guys! So hello from freezing Toronto (minus 20 celsius today), and keep up the great work! Hope to meet you all one day at a convention..... Brian in Canada |
Post# 58160 , Reply# 2   1/14/2009 at 09:22 (5,553 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Thanks for the welcome, Pete! You know, the Bay had an amazing sale of new stainless steel Constellations last summer and I caved in and bought myself one! Though I know some club-members don't like Consumer Reports, I rely on their testing because I really could be sucked into buying anything by a good sales shpeel. Since I already have my trusty Eureka 1425 upright for the 3 square feet of carpeting I have in my tiny bachelor apartment, I only needed a good canister to clean everything else. My Mighty Mite II did not have good filtration, and so when I saw how great the Constellation did in the latest CR tests (for everything but carpets), I kept my eye out for a good deal on the unit. I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the Bay's website was selling the new silver Connie for CAD 165.00! With tax, it came to only CAD186.00! I bought two - one for me and one for my rabbi! But now, I see that the Bay does not carry them anymore - I guess they were clearing them out for some reason..... |
Post# 58170 , Reply# 5   1/14/2009 at 11:49 (5,552 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)   |   | |
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Hello Brian, Welcome from another vac collector from Ontario! I am from North Bay, ON. I looked at your profile and noticed we are only 4 days apart in age (I'm older LOL). It is freezing up here today even with the sun shining. It was -38 C this morning and we have reached our high for the day of -25 C. Gary |
Post# 58174 , Reply# 6   1/14/2009 at 12:41 (5,552 days old) by petek (Ontario)   |   | |
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More Aries to love.. are you both grumpy like me sometimes LOL the 15th here |
Post# 58177 , Reply# 7   1/14/2009 at 12:44 (5,552 days old) by luxg ()   |   | |
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Welcome Brian, I am glad that you joined us. You are really going to enjoy it. I hope that you decide to join the VCCC and are able to attend our convention in June. Terry |
Post# 58180 , Reply# 8   1/14/2009 at 13:33 (5,552 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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What a nice warm welcome! It's even melting the ice on my windows! Pete! I guess I'll have to try harder to squeeze in more machines....but I will have to be picky: only the Eurekas that I drool over (Empresses I and II, Ultras, Crown Princess, Upright models 250 and 2082), and maybe the GE cylinder Air-Flo that was in our house in the 1950's! Right now I can only see me collecting those little shelf tzatzkehs like the GE swivel top tape measure and the Tristart salt and pepper shakers! Ooooo, and maybe that famous Eureka toy truck I once saw on eBay.......I could also use a nice Hoover doormat...... Hey Gary! We'll have to celebrate birthdays together with Pete from Blue water land! Never been to North Bay.....but where is bluewaterland? Are there ever any Ontario mini-meets? I will try to stay away from the Consumer Reports topic. I know that this can be a sore spot. But I'm glad I won't be rejected here due to my subscription! |
Post# 58185 , Reply# 9   1/14/2009 at 14:25 (5,552 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)   |   | |
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I don't think that there have been any Ontario mini meets. Unfortunately distance is always the problem, especially in the winter time! Petek, yes I can be very grumpy! LOL It is a running joke between a colleague and myself. When someone wants a 'yes' answer they go to my colleague; when they want a 'no' answer they come to me :-) Gary |
Post# 58192 , Reply# 10   1/14/2009 at 15:15 (5,552 days old) by petek (Ontario)   |   | |
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I'm in Sarnia to be precise. Definitely a mini meet once the weather clears up plus we've got Chad and Rusty and who knows else in close proximity on the Michigan side. |
Post# 58217 , Reply# 12   1/14/2009 at 18:48 (5,552 days old) by shag (Ontario, Canada)   |   | |
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Hi Brian. I too bought the Hoover Constellation this past summer.I would have liked the stainless, but Home Hardware just had the white.I love it.Great suction,tons of attachments and I love how long the cord is.I can do almost half the house without changing outlets.Did Eureke make all the vacuums for Eatons? I can imagine how cold it is in Toronto. I worked for 2 years on Bloor Street.That wind tunnel effect with that cold damp air.It would chill you to the bone at 7 am.And yet you would see the window washer people whistling while they worked. Hope to talk to you soon. The other Brian in Ontario |
Post# 58219 , Reply# 13   1/14/2009 at 19:32 (5,552 days old) by compactelectra (Palm Springs)   |   | |
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Post# 58220 , Reply# 14   1/14/2009 at 19:34 (5,552 days old) by petek (Ontario)   |   | |
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Speaking of Eaton Viking (eurekas) here's my orange one |
Post# 58225 , Reply# 16   1/14/2009 at 19:45 (5,552 days old) by funvacfan (Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 58262 , Reply# 19   1/15/2009 at 00:20 (5,552 days old) by rugmaster37 ()   |   | |
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2. |
Post# 58263 , Reply# 20   1/15/2009 at 00:21 (5,552 days old) by rugmaster37 ()   |   | |
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3. |
Post# 58264 , Reply# 21   1/15/2009 at 00:22 (5,552 days old) by rugmaster37 ()   |   | |
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4. Pushbutton dream.... |
Post# 58265 , Reply# 22   1/15/2009 at 00:24 (5,552 days old) by rugmaster37 ()   |   | |
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5. Eureka's EXCELLENT Roto-Matic PowerHead. Right from the start, many people used it besides Eureka... |
Post# 58270 , Reply# 24   1/15/2009 at 07:10 (5,552 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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OMG! You guys are great! Norm...I hear Columbus is really beautiful. I'll wait until summer before letting my little Corolla back on the highways though! Thanks for the invite. If you ever think of getting rid of Eureka catalogue duplicates, I am your man! Hey there "the other Ontario Brian" (TOOB?)...Yonge Street in winter is how the Hoover company got the idea for the Windtunnel! I wonder if I line up a bunch of Hoover Windtunnels at the bottom of the street near Lake Ontario, and turn them all on, could I reverse the wind effect? I really love the new Constellation too. My only complaints: a. whoever is packing the hoses for these in China is doing a horrible job - I had to return two boxes before I found two in which the hoses arrived without serious kinks in them. b. I don't know what kind of horses they have at TTI, but the supposed horsehair bristles on the dusting brush are really wonky and ugly and harsh and brittle and so I refuse to use it on anything that may scratch (prefer a softer Eureka dusting brush). c. The tool carrier is poorly placed. I don't use it because I found that whenever the Connie went happily floating into a wall, 9 times out of 10 the tools hit the wall first and scratched the wall. I also dislike having a gang of tools hanging on for dear life on a wand - can't get into the side of my stove or under the bed with these there. So all the tools are now resting nicely in a Rubbermaid file box until I find a cool central vac tool holder for the wall for them. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think Eureka was the exclusive producer of Eaton Viking vacs. Wait...my memory just kicked in....I think Regina made the Eaton Viking Electrikbrooms, but that's the only exception I can think of. Would be REALLY interesting to hear if other Canadians can remember other exceptions. I know that Hoover made some Baycrest vacs for the Bay at some point.... Hey Pete - that's a beautiful "Sweet Sixteen" power team you have! With a "Made in Canada" sticker to boot! I have to come over and fix your tools though - what's sticking out of the tuches? I have to find that Japanese electronics store on Yonge Street - if the Sanyo vacs were pink, they might be the toy Hello Kitty vacs Sanyo has been making. I want to get one for me - I actually once worked as a designer on a Hello Kitty theme park for Japan, so this would be a great buy for me.... Greg -thanks so much for the Empress II photos. Glad I am not alone in my Eureka-mania. There's that famous Eureka deluxe upholstery nozzle - this must be the longest running tool design on the planet - Electrolux used the mold for the first tool sets of the Oxygen power team. Didn't Eureka call the colour (Canadian spelling) of your unit Harvest Gold? What did they call that colour? Finally after years in the dark, I can ask this Empress II question: Does the hose swivel 360 degrees? If yes, doesn't that pull out the power nozzle plug from the main unit? And doesn't it snag on the Tool Pak? That close-up of the "Control Panel" is great! I guess they had to abbreviate "UPHOLST" otherwise the button would have been twice as fat! Gotta run to work everyone (hey, that rhymes...) Thanks so much for your greetings. Now where did I put my fluffy ear-muffs? I guess I could use two floor polisher pads...... Brian, Prince of Eurekaland |
Post# 58281 , Reply# 25   1/15/2009 at 12:37 (5,551 days old) by vinvac (Dubuque IA)   |   | |
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Brian, Welcome! I am sorry I did not respond sooner. We are glad to have you onboard. I really hope you will consider becoming a member of this wonderful club. Lifelong friends are made here! The vast knowledge of vacuum history, repair, supplies and parts is amazing. Our conventions are great fun as well. This past year was truly an amazing event. Helping Hoover celebrate 100 years...WOW. Kirby is looking for us to join them in just a few years when they celebrate 100 years. Welcome aboard, have fun and hope to get to meet you at our next convention. Morgan / VCCC President |
Post# 58297 , Reply# 27   1/15/2009 at 18:14 (5,551 days old) by ge1969 (Jefferson, GA)   |   | |
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Hi Brian! Just wanted to add my welcome to everyone elses, and give you a Eureka pic or two. First, is this what you meant by the Crown Princess? |
Post# 58301 , Reply# 29   1/15/2009 at 19:08 (5,551 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Thanks for the warm welcome, Morgan......it's hard to believe that I thought I was the only one fascinated by vacs since I was a kid! Sorry about that Chad, it will take me a while to get all the names correct. Thank you for your answers.....I would give anything to live in a suburban home again - my basement would house the entire Eureka "royal" family! That sounds like a great gift - I remember seeing wonderful versions of the Empress II with pn in the 1980's which were branded for Canada's Eaton's and JCPenney and Wards south of the border. That wine-coloured version must have been designed to match the wine-coloured ESP uprights. Yes GE1969 - that's the Crown Princess! Just love the idea of designing a storage place for the hose like that. Of the scores of weird vac memories I have from childhood, one involves this model: We used to travel as a family from Montreal to New York at least once a year as I had aunts and uncles there. One year, in the late 1960's, I remember seeing an entire display of Crown Princesses slowly revolving on a turntable in the lobby of a Chase Manhattan bank. To this day, I could not figure out why they were there. I guess the bank was giving these away as a promotion - maybe for house mortgages. I think that the Empress is one of the sharpest designs I have ever seen with such great understated "kewl" colouring. I'd love to see pics of your suction only Empress II, GE1969. I will never forget the cool TV commercial Eureka put out for the early versions of this machine - the female voice-over kept seductively whispering "Empress II.......Empress II......" I don't remember what colours those early EII's came in, so seeing some shots would be great. And yes.....I have already enjoyed that "Garage full of vacs" thread. Someone really needs to fund a national vacuum cleaner museum for all of those beauties! Have a great weekend everyone.....I'll see you in other threads from now on... Brian |
Post# 58303 , Reply# 30   1/15/2009 at 20:31 (5,551 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 58315 , Reply# 31   1/16/2009 at 01:55 (5,551 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
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Post# 58344 , Reply# 33   1/16/2009 at 14:15 (5,550 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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How do the attachments for the Empress stay in place when you close the briefcase and turn it upright? I mean, that carpet nozzle must be heavy and I can't imagine how a cut-out in cardboard keeps it in place. Do you have to lay the hose on top of the tools to keep everything in place? Does everything eventually fall out of place and you basically have a case full of loose tools?
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Post# 58345 , Reply# 34   1/16/2009 at 15:31 (5,550 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)   |   | |
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Hi Brian: Welcome from another part of Canada (Saskatchewan). Re: Eatons - the Viking line, while predominantly made by Eureka also had machines made by Switson Manufactuing (who made the Regina machines as well) and even a machine made in Japan (By Hitachi I believe) in the 1960's. Their other house brands (Gleneaton, Eatonia, Huron, Torwin etc) also included machines made by Siroma Mfg of England, Phoenix Mfg of England, Royal, Universal, Vactric and several others that I cant think of off the top of my head. There were also a fair number of Singer machines made by Eureka. I love the look of the Crown Princess as well - I have the singer version of that machine but I need to find a replacement handle / switch for it Doug in Moose Jaw |
Post# 58384 , Reply# 35   1/16/2009 at 19:41 (5,550 days old) by ge1969 (Jefferson, GA)   |   | |
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Hi Brian!! To answer your question about the Empress tools, There's another piece of cardboard that goes over the top of the tools to help hold them in place. They're still a little loose though, even with that. BTW, here's a couple of pics of the Empress 2 you wanted. 2 |
Post# 58385 , Reply# 36   1/16/2009 at 19:42 (5,550 days old) by ge1969 (Jefferson, GA)   |   | |
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Here's another. |
Post# 58386 , Reply# 37   1/16/2009 at 19:45 (5,550 days old) by ge1969 (Jefferson, GA)   |   | |
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Lastly, here's another one of my favorite machines. A Eureka Roto-Matic Swivel-Top with all tools and the storage box. |
Post# 58400 , Reply# 38   1/17/2009 at 05:15 (5,550 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH)   |   | |
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Glad you are here! I'm in Ohio, about an hour from Norm. I have about 50 machines in my collection with a variety of makes and models. Would like to hear about your collection when you have time. From what you said earlier in this thread I see you have at least three but be careful, as they multiply quickly! Again, welcome! Jeff |
Post# 58511 , Reply# 39   1/18/2009 at 09:35 (5,549 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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That first generation Empress II is just beautiful - that avocado green was used on a great series of Eureka's in the late 1960's. Thanks for the answer on the Empress I tools. I hear that these machines were not the greatest performers and leaked dust a lot - too bad. I'd give anything to see that Empress II commercial once again - or maybe even get the commercial on DVD or download it from the internet. I bet you the ad agency has them digitized for their archives....if I could remember the ad agency now (Young and Rubicam?) Hello Doug on the Canadian prairies! Thanks for the detailed information. I actually think your website is great - especially for those great shots of Eureka and Viking vacs. Thanks for all the work you do for that website - I have it as a "Favourite." Thank you Jeff for the warm welcome. Until I get a home of my own, my collection will have to be limited to photos and shelf nic-nacs. I think I will start a collection from eBay - you know, promotional stuff like salt and pepper shakers, measuring tapes and ashtrays. I may decide to buy some vintage Eureka ads too, and frame those for my apartment walls. For the real stuff, I'll have to live vicariously through you guys! |
Post# 58874 , Reply# 40   1/22/2009 at 18:55 (5,544 days old) by ge1969 (Jefferson, GA)   |   | |
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Hey Brian!! Here's another interesting Eureka from my collection. A model 700 with all original tools, instruction book, and a funky little A-frame holder for the tools. Enjoy! Later, Trg |
Post# 58875 , Reply# 41   1/22/2009 at 18:56 (5,544 days old) by ge1969 (Jefferson, GA)   |   | |
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Opps!! Almost forgot, here's the nameplate. Trg |
Post# 58898 , Reply# 42   1/22/2009 at 21:53 (5,544 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)   |   | |
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