Search results

A. C. Gilbert toy company, It was located in Hamden, Connecticut, and known for American Flyer wagons, and the Erector set. They also made household appliances. You can find the history of the company on Wikipedia.

Canisterman. About Craig Long, by the way no relation to John 'Gottahaveahoove' Long. He was one of the six I mentioned as the earliest members. He was from Buffalo, New York, and was the only one who did not write back when getting the introductory letter. He jumped the gun, called me with a...

Thank you Charles Richard. Many people, not only in clubs like ours but who were not around yet in the days before the internet, or Wikipedia have no idea how hard it was to get information on a given topic, not only vacuum cleaners. While, Air-Way, Electrolux, Kirby, and many others...

What James B. Kirby invented was the 'Domestic Cyclone.' It was a non-electric which used a pan of water instead of a dust bag. Jim Kirby was only 22 when he invented this but would go on to create some awesome things not only vacuum cleaners. In 1908 he redesigned it to be an electric, and...

Original club logo. Back in the earliest years the Vacuum Cleaner Collector's Club was an information center, designed to teach the history of the vacuum cleaner. We focused on really old stuff. The logo had to be something old and very interesting. It also had to be non-electric. What Liz...

John Lucia. Hi, my friend, glad to hear you are there to represent us. Can you believe it's 38 years? And it all started with the question "think we ought to form a club?" Also, if you recall, it was Mike Pupek who asked if there could be a gathering of the members. From that simple request...

Pictured above. What most of you probably don't know is this was the original club logo. It dates back to March of 1983, and is the artwork of Elizabeth Krammes, daughter of Stacy Krammes, director of the Hoover Historical Center.

Mr. Long. I'm in shock! You not being there, that's sacrilegious. I'm not there because I have an event in San Francisco next month, can't do both. Still, it's mind boggling that what began with six people in May of 1985 has grown into this. Amazing.

This is the inside of the cover of the instruction book for the Electrolux Model LX. Shown in back are the cans of floor cleaner, waxes and polishes for the Power Polisher, and moth crystals for the Vaporizer, Spray Gun, and Garment Aire bag pictured on the far right. As to the logo on the...

Great picture. Ah, Stark's in Portland, I know it well.

The following info might help. The 'Santo' was made by the Keller Manufacturing company, Philidelphia, Pennsylvania in 1910. This most likely is also the Santo Duntley. There's a picture of it at Christmas of that year on Ebay. Go to Wikipedia and type in 'Santo' it will take you there. Good...

Even rarer, are the two non-electrics. The brown thing that looks like a banjo on the left is called a 'Little Witch,' and dates to the late 1800's, I believe it was made in England. The other on the upper right is a 'Star' circa 1905 and was sold through the Sears & Robuck catalog. As for...

Seen one? I have one. It's somewhere in the back line-up of the Regina uprights. Unfortunately, the Kirby's overshadow the others. Presently the Crusader is in storage in Pennsylvania, however, it runs great as do all my Reginas.

This seems to have been the standard design from the beginning of the two-person pumpers. The first was called 'The Hercules' and was invented by a father and son known as 'Peck.' They were from Rochester, New York. The year was 1872, and prior to this were a few uprights. The very first for...

History on the music box found. ColoradoMarine: If you go to 'Regina music box' on Wikipedia you'll get the basic history, which did indeed start in 1889. Sadly, there is little on the early vacuum cleaners, which was what I focused on many years ago, and may be buried in the archives here at...

ColoradoMarine. If I'm correct the patent date of 1889 is not the vacuum cleaner but rather a music box, player piano or some other musical device, and most likely was in Germany. That's right the vacuum cleaner was a later sideline. The type you have, a long cylinder on wheels and pushed via...

First Newsletter sold. Very interesting. The date of that newsletter was January. 2, 1983. It was indeed the first issue of the Vacuum Cleaner Collector's Club. Published in Chesterton, Indiana. There were I believe a total of six members. This was before the club had a logo, letterhead...

Thanks again Rob. Wait till I take pictures, you won't even notice the deep stains in the metal. In fact, there are a few on the nozzle too. These simply make it what it is, a well-used Kirby. Too bad all my other Kirby's are in storage, but if you ever want to take on a big project, I have a...

G-4. Just read through these posts again. So glad this wonderful Kirby was saved from being scrapped. I can see many years of life in this G-4, and I have all the parts so it's complete, but as I said will treat it with kid gloves.

The massage cup. This is certainly not new; it goes back to the late 1940's. Nor is it exclusively Kirby. I know that Filter Queen also had one, and I think Air-Way. Don't think Electrolux had one, but I could be wrong. The part with the screen was exactly what I thought, the cap to turn the...