I used to own many more vacuums but sadly, about 15 years ago, lost some of my most prized examples to mould and rust - due to damp storage. My oldest model is a late 1930s Hoover Junior, and I have a couple of nice Seniors from 40s and 60s respectively. My 'daily runner' is a 24 year-old Electrolux Contour.
What are your dream machines yet to be found?
I would LOVE to replace my Hoover Junior 1224. The example I had belonged to my grandparents, but was lost to the damp disaster.
What are your earliest and favorite vacuum memories?
My earliest memory of vacuums was of my grandparents' Junior 1224. I was seriously terrified of it - and it began a childhood phobia of upright vacuum cleaners. This became quite serious - they would have to be moved out of my sight in hotels, shops and such like. Once, at about the age of five, I ran out of a shop and almost into busy traffic because I spotted an upright lurking in a shop where my mother and I were browsing. In time fear turned to obsession and I would dream of the day that my grandparents would buy a new Hoover and give me their 1224 - which they did!
What is the history of vacuum you have owned?
The first was the 1224 mentioned above; then various trips to council tips, car-boots etc yielded many more good examples. As I've said, some of my better examples were lost to damage - a Constellation, a 30s Hoover 262 and other treasures.
Have you ever worked on, repaired and/or restored any vacuum cleaners?
Most of my vacuums came to me in working order, so a little light tidying and checking over was all that was needed. I recently replaced the dirtsearcher lights in three of my uprights (with pigmy bulbs -which will blow quickly but are cheaper than the proper ones at £15 a pop!)
