1919 Premier Duodrive

[hoover300]

Anyone ever see one?!? A roller brush by a Hoover competitor in 1919, and with RUBBER fingers as bristles?? Wow!!! Guess its now on my list lol https://www.ebay.com/itm/304570347347?hash=item46e9ceaf53:g:T68AAOSwh85i2JDW

 

[caligula]

I have a copy of the patent of that one.

It's in my folder of Kirby patents. These are copies from the assorted Official Gazettes published every year by the U.S. Patent office. These were for public use at the Chicago Public Library. I compiled these on Air-Way, Electrolux, Hoover, Health-Mor (Filter Queen,) and of course Kirby. My Kirby patents go back to his first, The Domestic Cyclone of 1906, a myriad of prototypes on the uprights with the Franz brothers, which became the Franz Premier, and so on. Most of these were prior to his association with Scot and Fetzer.

These 'Patent books,' predate the Vacuum Cleaner Collector's Club (correct spelling!) by about five years, 1978, and were the source material for the first newsletters. James B. Kirby started at age 22 with the Domestic Cyclone which was non electric, and used water instead of a cloth bag. The following year he used both the bag, and an electric motor.

This patent was quite interesting, and there were close to 50 prototypes before he was pleased enough to put it into production.

 

[huskyvacs]

Rubber bristles?????? In 1919??????? Man we literally just got those just a few years ago!

 

[dysonman1]

In 1918 Clarence Franz sold his company which was making vacuums under Kirby‘s patents. He sold it to General Electric, the manufacturer of the motors. That same here he launched a company and a product called Apex. Any Premier machine made from 1919 on, was really a General Electric. The rubber fingers on the motor driven “brush“ when designed to get around Hoover‘s patents.

 

[caligula]

huskyvacs

What I said was I have a copy of the patent. This is not to say it was put into production. James B. Kirby patented thousands of machines, but a good number never made it through the prototype stage. Also, my patent books are in Pennsylvania, and I'm in Arizona, so I can't tell you what year the patent was filed, though most likely 1919, and that would be patent pending, with the patent granted anywhere from days to years later. Also, there was no internet in 1978, I had to go through each gazette, and search. That alone was a backbreaking job. But in my case, a labor of love.

 

[royalsuper]

In effect! It's an interesting machine! serious competitor to the hoover vacuum cleaner! the vacuum cleaner had to be much lighter than its famous competitor at the same time! the big problem is where to find this superb machine ?

 

[oreck_xl]

I fear that what few there were wound up being melted in the metal scrap drives of World War II.

 

[huskyvacs]

Yeah I think Keiran brought that up before, or maybe it was someone else. The WW1 and WW2 scrap drives, plus the "no waste, no excess" lifestyle of the 1950's and 1960's destroyed so many vacuums. Just like all our 1940's and 1950's classic cars got shipped off to Cuba. Just "old junk" then, nobody thought anything of it. Nobody knew that in 80 yr. these vacuums would be rare collectibles and people all over the planet would devote their lives to collecting vacuum cleaners. What little survived were (and likely still are) today buried in attics that nobody even knows about.

That's how I got my Air-Way. Some guy was demolishing a single-car garage to make a bigger one and out of the rubble popped out an Air-Way. It must have been in the attic space of the garage. He thought it "might be worth something" and put it on eBay. I was the only bidder and I had to convince him to ship it and paid extra just to pay him for his trouble. It got lost in the mail in a USPS semi trailer for 1.5 weeks but it eventually made it! It was a miracle it survived both ordeals. Never seen another one surface on eBay since, so I was very fortunate to catch it at the right time.

 

[royalsuper]

sad destiny these wonderful vacuum cleaners transformed into a weapon of war and scattered over a whole part of europe ! at least the 2 great wars have been won ! the fact that the oldest models are so rare makes it even more desirable to collect and protect them !some people who are not collectors are aware of the value of these machines and others do not give them any importance and put them in the recycling center