1920s "coffee can" hoovers

[vintagevaclover]

I have one identical to the one on the left. My great uncle gave it to me some time in the late 1990s and I love it. He was from Asheville, NC and said that he went to a local auction and bought about 50 of them from a lot that was from the Grove Park Inn Resort in Asheville. He ended up selling most of them but he saved one of the ones in better condition for me and it's still in nearly flawless shape as it just needs to be buffed to make it shine. It still has the original bag as well. I love the vacuum and the story behind it!

 

[marks_here]

Those are beautiful!!

I always looked forward to going on vacation to Ft. Myers Beach in the late 70's because the Holiday Inn hotel used all Kirby Classic III for years, then they went to cheap hoover convertibles with the 15 foot cord. I always wanted one of their Kirby's but we got there after they had them all replaced. When I started working for them in the summers I told them about the Sanitaire Quick Clean which they bought. That place will always have a great place in my heart & so do all the people & guests I used to work with & help. Take care, Cheers!!! Mark D.

 

[vintagevaclover]

Great story! Thanks for sharing. That does sound fascinating. I didn't actually get to see this hoover in action at the grove park inn as that was way before my time. I think I recall my great uncle saying the auction he bought them at was some time in the late '50s or early '60s, and they were old then.

 

[marks_here]

The strange things is

Holiday Inn used to have their own label Innkare they were hoover commercials, dark green hood, yellow lettering, white base they were great machines, had one of them until it was stolen from work on my day off, I forgot to hide it. I find it interesting driving by different hotels/motels to see what kind of machines they use & how badly they are abused!

 

[vintagevaclover]

I know what you mean. I have a classic 3 in my small collection and I love it. I also work in the banquet department of a luxury hotel here in Athens and we use some beat up sanitaires, they are less than 2 years old but they look 10+ years old. The meeting services department has hoover conquest vacs and they out clean our sanitaires big time.

 

[marks_here]

Those are great machines

I wanted the hotel to get one for the hallway/lobby because it works get low to the ground since when the installed the hallway carpet they glued it to the concrete, no padding which made it a long chore to vacuum. The Sanitaires were okay if you could find a decent one that maintenance didn't get their hands on. They always seemed to mess them up worse after they fixed them, but you know that industry is, cheap stuff for the cleaning staff.

 

[vintagevaclover]

That's the way it is at our hotel, maintenance has screwed ours up so they always smell like burning rubber for some reason, even though they appear to "work" most of the time. Im sure it doesn't help that our staff will vacuum up just about anything from sugar packs to lemon slices that end up on the floor. I'm not part of the cleaning staff though, I'm an event planner/designer. But sometimes we all have to help clean if it's a late night.

 

[marks_here]

LOL

I asked one of the girls if she thought her vacuum was a garbage disposal, I found beer bottle caps, straws and other things I don't want to mention up in there.

 

[vintagevaclover]

Yeah, that's what one guy from maintenance told me when I was writing a work order to repair some our sanitaires. He said he found all sorts of interesting things in the bag lol.

 

[rugsucker]

Grove Park Inn

An early brochure for GPI (1915-?) states among other advantages of a fine resort in a great area--'the cleaning is done with the Hoover'.They also had a separate writing room so ink from fountain pens would not stain furnishings in regular rooms. This has been reprinted and should still be available.In the late 50s GPI was sold and had 2 additions that looked like a 60s motel.These were since torn down and replaced by bigger,better in the proper style on each side of original hotel.I have read that about 1957 an Asheville resident saw original Roycroft furniture piled on the huge front porch to discard.A local antique dealer has told me of refinishing some of these pieces years ago that went to someone in local area.Visitors to GPI have included presidents,F Scott Fitzgerald,Thomas Edison(who is said to have planned electric system for Mr Groves son-in-laws nearby castle)and many more.I have seen years ago at new additions a Mighty Maid version of Vorwerk in use.
Any not familiar with GPI should take a look!

 

[cuffs054]

One of my all time favorite places. Love the original wings and sipping an adult beverage in front of those terrific fireplaces. Dinner on the terrace watching the sun set...ahh the memories of young love.

 

[vintagevaclover]

Grove Park Inn & Hoover

I will definately look for that! And yes it is an awesome place. I've stayed there several times and the cleaning is still done with hoover convertible guardsmans with Shake out bags. Old but not near as old as mine.

 

[vintagevaclover]

I looked at the model number because I didn't remember which one mine was and it's a Hoover 725

 

[hygiene903]

I have One Too!

And mine has the optional add-on hedlite. Here's a pic.
Jeff

 

[anthony]

i have this one

its missing a front wheel apart from that its fine would love to get an origional bag for it though [probably stand more chance of winning the lottery].My grandad found this cleaner in a bombed cinema back in 1940 it was in a cupboard under a concrete staircase .Grandad is long gone but grandma told me the story back in the early 80s when she came to live with my parents because she couldnt manage on her own anymore .i asked gran how she remembered it was 1940 she said she remembered because the day grandad found the cleaner it was his 31 birthday and he had been to the pub to celebrate got drunk and on his way home had fallen over a fence into the bombed out cinema [THE ESSOLDO]he picked up the Hoover and carried it home through the streets gran said it was a waste of time because she had no carpets so she put it in the cupboard .The next evening grandad said he was going to the pub gran wasnt bothered because he went 2 or 3 nights a week he came back an hour or so later with one of his mates they were carying a huge roll of carpet from yes you guessed it THE CINEMA .the carpet was cut into room size squares and put down in the small 2 up 2 down terraced house and the hoover went back into everyday use for the next 42 years when gran moved in with us and i aquired the machine.The Hoover had to be plugged into the light socket as there were no power points in the house ohh yes i also have the full toolkit for this cleaner still in the box .

 

[anthony]

forgot to add

its a hoover 700 heres a photo of the rating plate perhaps someone can tell me how old it is ?

 

[beko1987]

What an amazing story!