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Catherine Here's a model 350 I just found listed on eBay for 174.99. It's the model that immediately preceded the 500, so it would be worth watching to see if it sells at this price. It's a very complete machine having all of its basic tools plus an optional tool or two, and the hose and wands...

Hi Catherine. That's a really easy question to answer. The Filter Queen Model 500 is a vacuum cleaner. ;-) Sorry, I couldn't resist. Now for the rest of the question, any vintage Filter Queen that's been well maintained and still has all of its standard accessories will have value. As for how...

Thanks for the responses guys! I figured someone here would know the answer. And Gregor, where did you find the model number on yours?

This little guy is currently for sale on eBay and has generated a fair amount of interest. The seller doesn't know what model it is and can't find any model number info at the exhaust port where it would normally be found. It's said to be new old stock still in its original box, so this is the...

I just checked out the thread as you suggested, and found an actual photo of a Penncrest model A-131 in the same color. The thread can be found in the 2007 archives and is loaded with information. The Penncrest photo's can be seen in reply numbers 97, 98, and 99, where a tag dating the machine...

I think this J.C.Penny "Penncrest" is a re-branded Hoover convertible U4001. When compared to photo's of a Hoover convertible U4001 here in the vintage section of vacuumland, it's nearly identical, other than badging, though it looks like the bumper strip on the Penncrest goes all the way around...

The machine that sparked my interest in Filter Queens! I took this photo of my parents model 31 while visiting today. This is the closet it's called home for thirty seven years, and as you can see, it's held up pretty well, though I did notice it has a replacement cord. I asked my dad about...

Hey Tyler, thanks for the kind words. I'm really happy with the way these two came out, and my sister loves hers. Regarding the sticky residue on the hoses, it is a well known trait of old vinyl. The thing that puzzles me is that the pink colored hoses on my machine and my parents machine don't...

Thanks for the compliment, Brian. But to be honest, for the most part these machines were just dirty and scuffed up from crashing into walls and such. So my restorations consisted of thorough cleaning, polishing, and tracking down a few missing parts. By the way, it’s good to know that I’m not...

For example Here's an old 509 in Mansfield Ohio for ten dollars. It looks a little rough, but bringing them back to life is half the fun of owning them. http://mansfield.craigslist.org/hsh/2897825584.html

eBay and Craigslist are your best bets. But stuff on eBay is often overpriced, sometimes way overpriced, and sellers on Craigslist sometimes refuse to ship. In the end, when it comes to tracking down a specific vintage machine, patience is your friend, and of course it helps if you're willing to...

Do a search through the vintage forum archives. There are a number of good photos of early Kirby's so you can see what they should look like like. Unfortunately, it may take awhile to find one that hasn't been through a factory rebuild and had all of its black and gray trim and wheels replaced...

Thanks for the response, Brian. And yes, I did mean the optional tools. Believe it or not, the floor polisher is one of the attachments that I thought might be useful, but I never would have purchased one without hearing that it actually works from someone who'd used it. So thanks for chiming...

This photo is of my sisters model 31 with its tan hose. The difference in hose color between the two machines is very clear in the two photos. Again, this hose has stiffened with age and had to be cleaned to remove the oily residue before it could be used. Has anyone else noticed this about...

I knew it was just a matter of time before the parts I needed to complete my machine turned up on eBay, and a couple of weeks ago they finally did. With the purchase of a NOS crevice tool and a NOS felt pad for the floor brush, my machine now has its full compliment of basic tools. But in the...

I've often wondered that myself. You'd think people would want to watch some similar items to see what they actually sell for, but in this case the seller says they don't even know what it is. So not knowing what it was would make it hard to find similar items. In that case some sellers will...

Hey Sandy I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate(and agree with)your rant about the loss of quality in modern consumer goods and products in general. I've been watching this descent into mediocrity for most of my adult life and had the same thought you had. It would seem like a natural...

This is an example of a typical bidding war where common sense goes out the window and the desire to win takes over. Look at the bidding history and you'll see it's the same two bidders battling it out against each other. I'd be very surprised if either of these two has any idea what a vintage...

In certain names, like Lisa, Tina and Gina, the i has typically been pronounced like a long e. Since the name Regina actually contains the complete name "Gina" I would imagine that's the source.

I'm happy to hear that cleaning the commutator did the trick. You wouldn't happen to have before and after pics, would you?