The last kirby has left the building

[cheesewonton]

Westinghouse? I didn’t know they ever made vacs. I bought a Westinghouse power washer a year or so ago, must be the same brand.

Yes and no. Westinghouse Appliances was spun off and sold to the Electrolux Group of Sweden in the early 1970s. That was about the same time the Electrolux Group bought Eureka Company from William's Oil, their former parent and Frigidaire from GM. Most of the vintage Westinghouse vacuums you see in the US and Canada were made before the Electrolux Group bought them. However I have seen some modern Westinghouse branded vacuums sold abroad, particularly in Asia and as far as I know Electrolux Group of Sweden still owns the rights to the Westinghouse Appliances brand world wide. Keep in mind that the other branches of the Westinghouse family like nuclear reactors and jet engines are also separate companies. It gets confusing. Electrolux Group bought up some other US appliance makers like Tappan and Gibson.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s Westinghouse made a few canister vacuum models for the Kenmore brand.

 

[z67danco]

Yes and no. Westinghouse Appliances was spun off and sold to the Electrolux Group of Sweden in the early 1970s. That was about the same time the Electrolux Group bought Eureka Company from William's Oil, their former parent and Frigidaire from GM. Most of the vintage Westinghouse vacuums you see in the US and Canada were made before the Electrolux Group bought them. However I have seen some modern Westinghouse branded vacuums sold abroad, particularly in Asia and as far as I know Electrolux Group of Sweden still owns the rights to the Westinghouse Appliances brand world wide. Keep in mind that the other branches of the Westinghouse family like nuclear reactors and jet engines are also separate companies. It gets confusing. Electrolux Group bought up some other US appliance makers like Tappan and Gibson.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s Westinghouse made a few canister vacuum models for the Kenmore brand.

Oh I didn’t know that! Very interesting. So many brands existed before I was born, and many have gone away during my life. Especially auto brands.

 

[cheesewonton]

Oh I didn’t know that! Very interesting. So many brands existed before I was born, and many have gone away during my life. Especially auto brands.

Another one that surprised me was to see a modern cordless stick vac sold in Hong Kong with Whirlpool branding. Whirlpool hasn't sold a vacuum under its own brand name in the US and Canada since 1987-88, thereabouts and sold their Kenmore vacuum making business off to Panasonic in a 1990-95 joint venture. But in Asia you see some brands you haven't seen in the US in ages. Singer, the sewing machine company, used to be a big producer of vacuums including some designed by famous industrial designers. Singer had a factory in Anderson SC that made vacuums for Singer and Kenmore and Craftsman power tools. Sometime in the late 1980s Singer sold the plant to Ryobi but Ryobi continued to make vacuums for Singer and Kenmore there until TTI bought Ryobi. The last Singer branded vacuums sold in the US that I'm aware of were back in the late 1990s, a Samsung built canister and a cool upright made by Sharp both with the Quantum name. I have one of each. After that no more Singer vacuums in the US and Canada. But if you look at Singer websites in some Asian nations like Malaysia or Sri Lanka, and some EU nations you see Singer still sells some modern vacuums in other markets.