Hoover Special....

The Hoover Special rebuilds usually had the month and year they were rebuilt stamped on the bottom. For example, I have a Hoover Special model 700. It has 2-52 stamped on the bottom, indicating that it was rebuilt in Feb. 1952.
I don't know if you've heard the story on the Hoover Special rebuilds, but after Hoover had been in business for a while they began to accumulate trade-ins from people who bought the latest model, and they came up with an excellent idea of what to do with them. They set up a rebuild department where these vacs were completely refurbished with all worn parts replaced, painted them in the color scheme of the current models, and replaced the bag and nameplate giving them the "Special" designation. Then they sold them at a price below their lowest priced model at the time so that folks who couldn't otherwise afford a vacuum would be able to buy one. The Special program was especially popular during WWII, because even though regular production was switched over to war materials, they were still able to rebuild and sell the Specials, thus making vacuums available to those who needed them. The program was discontinued in the early 50's.
Jeff


Forum Topics & Rules Manuals & Literature	New users Click-here to sign-up

Post# 71194 6/4/2009 at 19:06 (5,429 days old) by funvacfan (Canada)
Checkrate/Likes I picked this up today, how does one find out when it is made. It does say that Hoover rebuilt it on the black medalion. I also picked up a General Electric swivel top with cord rewind and powerhead. Lucky day! Guy

Post# 71199 , Reply# 1 6/4/2009 at 20:30 (5,429 days old) by airway88 ()
Checkrate/Likes it Will say the model on the bottom. If we can get that we can tell you a rough date when the actual thing was built. I dont know how rebuilds dates are found. What color is the bag?

Post# 71224 , Reply# 2 6/5/2009 at 01:39 (5,429 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH)
Checkrate/Likes *Hoover Special* The Hoover Special rebuilds usually had the month and year they were rebuilt stamped on the bottom. For example, I have a Hoover Special model 700. It has 2-52 stamped on the bottom, indicating that it was rebuilt in Feb. 1952. I don't know if you've heard the story on the Hoover Special rebuilds, but after Hoover had been in business for a while they began to accumulate trade-ins from people who bought the latest model, and they came up with an excellent idea of what to do with them. They set up a rebuild department where these vacs were completely refurbished with all worn parts replaced, painted them in the color scheme of the current models, and replaced the bag and nameplate giving them the "Special" designation. Then they sold them at a price below their lowest priced model at the time so that folks who couldn't otherwise afford a vacuum would be able to buy one. The Special program was especially popular during WWII, because even though regular production was switched over to war materials, they were still able to rebuild and sell the Specials, thus making vacuums available to those who needed them. The program was discontinued in the early 50's. Jeff

Post# 71229 , Reply# 3 6/5/2009 at 06:08 (5,429 days old) by funvacfan (Canada)
Checkrate/Likes *Very interesting!* I will look later for a stamp. Since the nameplate looks like a 571, would that mean it was originally a 571? The bag is clearly an ugly replacement! Thanks!

Post# 71230 , Reply# 4 6/5/2009 at 06:13 (5,429 days old) by funvacfan (Canada)
Checkrate/Likes *Not a 571...* a 541! Oooops!

Post# 71246 , Reply# 5 6/5/2009 at 08:44 (5,429 days old) by tristar ()
Checkrate/Likes I was thinking it looked kind of like a 105/541 machine... I have a 105 Special that looks like it was rebuilt in the early-mid 30's. It doesn't have the stamped rebuild date on it, so there's no telling when it was actually done. Interestingly it was polished to a high shine when it was rebuilt, so it doesn't have it's satiny appearance anymore... Makes it really pretty! I know it's missing the bumper btw...

Post# 71284 , Reply# 6 6/5/2009 at 15:47 (5,429 days old) by airway88 ()
Checkrate/Likes Wow. Now there is an oldy. Looks great. Why were some hoovers chrome while some where painted?

Post# 71574 , Reply# 7 6/8/2009 at 01:52 (5,426 days old) by hygiene903 (Galion, OH)
Checkrate/Likes *Oops, Wrong Special!* I'm sorry, disregard my previous post. Now that I see the nameplate, I realized that this is a Special model 105, which was called Special long before Hoover's rebuild program started. This is actually an original machine, with the name special on it, and was built in the late teens or early 20's. And what a fine specimen it is!! Congratulations, Jeff