constellation86
Well-known member
Tank section
1950 Eureka manual
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constellation86
Well-known member
Upright section
constellation86
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eurekaprince
Well-known member
Beautiful! Thank you for posting this great piece of Eureka history.
The idea of a two-vacuum cleaning team has really taken hold with me. After trying the combo vacs, I am now a firm believer in “an upright for carpets, a canister for everything else.”. If for no other reasons than lighter weight and simpler engineering that causes less problems and breakdowns.
The waxer feature is still a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Using the floor wax with the upright must have made a real waxy, oily mess of the brush-roll chamber and belt and fan. I can’t imagine you could easily go from a floor waxing job to cleaning carpets without an hour or two of cleaning the vacuum first. Yuch!
The idea of a two-vacuum cleaning team has really taken hold with me. After trying the combo vacs, I am now a firm believer in “an upright for carpets, a canister for everything else.”. If for no other reasons than lighter weight and simpler engineering that causes less problems and breakdowns.
The waxer feature is still a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Using the floor wax with the upright must have made a real waxy, oily mess of the brush-roll chamber and belt and fan. I can’t imagine you could easily go from a floor waxing job to cleaning carpets without an hour or two of cleaning the vacuum first. Yuch!
huskyvacs
Well-known member
Also, the wheels were plastic, which kind of defeated the benefit of having a waxed floor when they scratch it up and slide all over the place as you're waxing.
Also I notice on page 4 it tells you not to wash or dry clean the bag or it will open the pores and cause the bag to leak dust. Would hand washing still be beneficial? I know a lot of people on here wash their vintage vacuum bags just as a hand wash, so I'm kind of confused on what is correct. I know after 60 years these bags can be really grubby.
Also I notice on page 4 it tells you not to wash or dry clean the bag or it will open the pores and cause the bag to leak dust. Would hand washing still be beneficial? I know a lot of people on here wash their vintage vacuum bags just as a hand wash, so I'm kind of confused on what is correct. I know after 60 years these bags can be really grubby.
madman
Well-known member
Yeah, there doesn't seem to be one agreed-upon answer to the question of washing bags.
madman
Well-known member
Also, I just noticed the ad for the 'Eureka' cordless iron (pic #10 of upright). I actually have that exact iron, and it's branded the Chereton Cordless, by EPCO (Electrical Products Company) Detroit, MI. Detroit was also where Eureka was, right?
huskyvacs
Well-known member
Some companies back then cheapened and rebranded things to be sold in budget department stores, not sure if Eureka did the same at that time.
I found the patent info and it looks like the irons had 2 different inventors, and the Chereton was patented 8 years before the Eureka.
Chereton: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2284132
Eureka: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2497452A/en
The owner of EPCO was someone named Avery B Chereton and he somehow got into a few lawsuits against the entire United States after WWII for something, can't discern what. But him and his company seem to have no affiliation with Eureka.
I found the patent info and it looks like the irons had 2 different inventors, and the Chereton was patented 8 years before the Eureka.
Chereton: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2284132
Eureka: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2497452A/en
The owner of EPCO was someone named Avery B Chereton and he somehow got into a few lawsuits against the entire United States after WWII for something, can't discern what. But him and his company seem to have no affiliation with Eureka.
huskyvacs
Well-known member
Aha! I found out how this happened, from Billboard Magazine March 16, 1946. Chereton sold the design and patent of the iron to Eureka.
madman
Well-known member
Nice google-fu. I like how the article implies Eureka somehow 'developed' Chereton's iron, when the picture makes it look 100% identical.
I think maybe they 'developed' the nameplate onto the iron lol
I think maybe they 'developed' the nameplate onto the iron lol
So the Eureka F&G-style uprights are older than I thought...
I always thought that they debuted in the early to mid 60s but could never pin down when they first came off the assembly line. eBay seems to be full of 1970s/1980s Eurekas but I don't think I've never seen any older than that. When did they produce the first F&G-style upright (even if they didn't use the F&G paper bags yet, like with this model)?
Does anybody know if there is an internal code name for the lineage of these vacs, from the first ones to the modern Sanitaires, or is it just "F&G"? While we're on the topic, does anybody know the meaning behind "F&G" (besides the type of bag)?
I always thought that they debuted in the early to mid 60s but could never pin down when they first came off the assembly line. eBay seems to be full of 1970s/1980s Eurekas but I don't think I've never seen any older than that. When did they produce the first F&G-style upright (even if they didn't use the F&G paper bags yet, like with this model)?
Does anybody know if there is an internal code name for the lineage of these vacs, from the first ones to the modern Sanitaires, or is it just "F&G"? While we're on the topic, does anybody know the meaning behind "F&G" (besides the type of bag)?
eurekaprince
Well-known member
You can see the transition from “fan forward” design to “fan downward” design in the mid 1950’s. I think this brown upright was the first one - maybe 1953 or 1954. As much as I have loved Eureka over the years, I’ll be the first to admit they often copied Hoover designs after the Hoover patent ran out. Wonder when the unique Hoover “fan downward” patent expired.
Hoover had always had a “fan downward” configuration which allowed their uprights to have a sleeker, low profile hood. Eureka’s upright’s were all “fan forward” like a Kirby - up until the early 1950’s when thus cleaning system was put on the market.
So you could easily say Eureka’s classic “fan downward / bag in the back” upright has been around in various forms for over half a century.... and now available under the following names: Sanitaire, Bissell, Perfect, Koblenz, Reliavac, etc.
I think it’s more relevant to group these classic Eurekas as “Dial-a-Nap” uprights from 1970 until now...That dial on the front was a unique Eureka feature for decades.
Hoover had always had a “fan downward” configuration which allowed their uprights to have a sleeker, low profile hood. Eureka’s upright’s were all “fan forward” like a Kirby - up until the early 1950’s when thus cleaning system was put on the market.
So you could easily say Eureka’s classic “fan downward / bag in the back” upright has been around in various forms for over half a century.... and now available under the following names: Sanitaire, Bissell, Perfect, Koblenz, Reliavac, etc.
I think it’s more relevant to group these classic Eurekas as “Dial-a-Nap” uprights from 1970 until now...That dial on the front was a unique Eureka feature for decades.
seijun
Well-known member
First post, second picture, at first I thought the lady was vacuuming a tree trunk.
I machine wash all my cloth bags and have been lucky so far.. I try to use HEPA-type bags in every machine I use regularly, so if it did "open up some pores", I don't imagine there would be much dust escaping the HEPA bags to then escape the cloth bags.
I machine wash all my cloth bags and have been lucky so far.. I try to use HEPA-type bags in every machine I use regularly, so if it did "open up some pores", I don't imagine there would be much dust escaping the HEPA bags to then escape the cloth bags.
