1996 JC Pennys ad....

[vacuumfreeeke]

Pictures of various machines from 1996. I've kept this magazine since I was in 6th grade... since my family actually hated my passion for vacuums and wanted me to like "boy stuff" I had to hide this magazine from them when I was a kid so they didn't throw it out! Funny... most kids are concerned about hiding dirty magazines from their parents and I had to hide vacuums! Sorry the pictures are kind of skewed.... I wanted to leave the magazine intact and my scanner hinges from the back instead of the sides and it was quite difficult to get the whole magazine under the scanner platen.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

2

2

We had a Eureka Bravo that was almost identical to the one in the picture, but it included the attachments like the powerline... no head light though.... I always wanted the Victory or World Vac machines....

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

3

3

I never liked the Elites, even as a kid, but I wanted that Self-propelled Hoover so bad (not to mention the Excalibur).... So many memories! Thanks to Dave for telling me how to get these pictures out of Adobe with the paint program so I could post them here.... I thought it was possible, but too much work, but I finally decided to just go for it...

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

4

4
This is so fun.... I usually just take things in and don't contribute much as far as pictures go, so this is my contribution )


I also have somewhere a Sears add from the late 80s that I "stole" from a high school teacher when we were doing projects and cutting up magazines.... I'll post it if I can ever find it... some beautiful vacs there like the Concepts and twin fan Kenmores, Whirlpool made self propelleds...

As much as I don't like Elites, that white one is kind of growing on me.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

5

5

My favorites.... I adored the Fantoms as a teenager! We got baby chickens for Easter one year and I named mine Iona... better than the ball python that I named Sharikarakuru )

I convinced everyone I knew to buy a Fantom... grandmother, aunt, people at church, teachers.... I really should have been a door to door fantom sales girl )

I also liked the Dirt Devil MVP Sterling and felt guilty for liking a Dirt Devil!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

6

6

To look at the current JC Penny's catalog in comparison, it makes me sick.... not even half the selection and most of the machines they have in the catalogs are junk now... save maybe the Dysons though some people think they are junk too.

I didn't know anyone with a canister as a kid and I so wanted every machine on this page!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

7

7

Cleaners... we had the Big Green growing up and I always wished we'd gotten the one with the power nozzle instead. The big green finally got a crack in the body so the clean water mixed with the dirty water, and the solution hose busted, but I remember so many fun times shampooing with that thing... I was the only one who used it... I still have the upholstery tool.... I keep it on my Rainbow SE since it didn't come with one.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

last one

last one

I always wanted the baby Bissell.... and of course we all remember the Capture machine.... I had dreams about that thing!

 

[vacman117]

I can't even imagine how rare that Dirt Devil MVP Sterling Set must be! I would love to find one! And thanks for posting these, I love looking at them!
Chase

 

[isufan11]

Thanks for sharing. What i wouldn't give to have any one of those Eurekas. (I have always had a soft spot for them) If anyone knows where I can find one, or has one they want to part with, please let me know.

 

[eurekastar]

Thank you for posting all those scans! They're certainly fun to look at. What strikes me is that vacuums were really quite expensive "back in the day".

 

[bagintheback]

Thanks for posting! I love the Hoovers and Eurekas. All the Hoover uprights are Elites!

 

[luxman107]

Thanks for posting, love looking at old any appliance catalogs, especially vacuums

 

[petek]

Always fun to look at catalogs. I think I have the green Hoover Encore upstairs hidden away in a closet. I bought one of those big bissel canister shampooers way back then. It was the one where you hooked the hose up to the kitchen faucet.. a little bit of a nuisance compared to a self contained water supply but it worked well. And there was one of those blue Hoover self propelled as the Habitat Restore here a couple of months ago but they wanted $50 and it was missing the clear little cover that goes over the attachment storage on top.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

DJ,the self-propelled isn't an Elite!

Luxman107, do we already know each other... I see you just registered today....

 

[mark40511]

Ohhhh wow.... That bissel with the powerbrush that looks like a canister vacuum; I've never even seen anything like that. I had the Bissel canister carpet shampooer (the one below that) back in the mid 90s and between me, my other clean freak friend, and my grandma, we used it until there was nothing left of it. We got our money's worth out of that.......It did hook to the sink though......But I feel like those canister shampooers do a better job than the upright shampooers. I don't know why.

 

[eurekaprince]

Loved that basic 7amp Eureka Bravo!

I bought one for my parents in 1996 - but the colour was a very cool dark blue. It was so amazing for a simple, no tools, fan-first upright. Though noisy, the bag was huge!!!! And it was lightweight and easily maneouverable - like an Oreck or Hoover Platinum Lightweight, but cheaper! I got it at our Canadian Tire hardware store for about CAD120!

The only other thing I did not like about it (besides being loud), was the bumper seemed to end about midway down the side of the power-head and easily caught on baseboards....but other than that - this was a real winner from Eureka in my opinion!

 

[luxman107]

Hi Vacuumfreeke,,
I don't think we know each other, I did just register today but have been hanging around reading this forum for a long time. Great job posting all those catalog pages..

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

hey there

Very cool... well, we are so close, that maybe we should get together sometime and "play" vacuums if you'd be interested ) It could be fun... I don't know many other local collectors!

I was up by Deland a few weeks ago when I visited Casadaga.... One of the shops in Casadaga had a Kirby Heritage 2 and we talked about vacuums a bit )

 

[kenmore81]

Hi Bobby!

Thanks for scanning these pages. So many memories lol. I had alot of those vacs. From the top down, Both Red Bravo's, A maroon BOL Victory,The Excallibur( a loner fromSears) Hoover Power-Drive in blue(Kenmore version,still have)and black with dirt finder(1997 version). So many Elite's, my neighbor has the whit one he bought in 1995 for $89.99 at the local harware store.
The green Futura, the World Vac and Powerline canister as loners from Sears when hving my Whispertone fixed, those Eureka PN's always cought the haie at the bearings causing thm to smell like burnt hair.
The Hoover StemVac Deluxe for 239.99 I got at Sears for 125.00 on clearence May 1997,and it still works great minus one new motor in 1999.
These vacs were expensive for back in the day, but some of these could be had on Sale at other stores, like Sears had the white Powerline can for as low as 139.99and red upright for 79.99, and the whit Elite for 89.99.
Oh and wallyWorld had the Hoover Perferred for 129.00 and the soft&Light for 88.00.
Funny how I see these and remember the different prices but I cant remember what I did with my keys an hour ago lol.
Thanks again Bobby.

 

[eurekaprince]

Bobby - I had to hide my vacuum clippings too! I used to have an unmarked envelope at the bottom of one of my drawers in which I kept all the clippings of advertisements which I secretly kept. I use to have to go through the garbage to retrieve the newspapers and magazines after my family was finished reading them. I would then find the ads I had seen earlier in the week and secretly cut them out to add to my hidden collection.

Now I have a file in my filing cabinet!

We really need to create an international "Vac Pride" day so we can have a parade too!!!!

 

[bagintheback]

This is like my 20th time looking at this! I just noticed in the Bissell carpet-cleaner pictures there is a VHS cassette. Does anyone have a copy of those tapes? Whats on them?

 

[electroluxxxx]

ok
I have the eureka excalibur, the bissell big green and a couple others on there. I have had the eureka powerline Gold canister, and the powerline victory uprights which were some pretty darn good cleaners for the day and still would be today. I have a Bravo (precision) which is in need of some bearing work but still works like it should. boy oh boy they really dont make machines like they used to.

Thanks Bobby for posting this!!!!!!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Thanks guys... I'm so glad so many of you liked the pictures ;o)

 

[luxman107]

Sounds great bobby, would love to see your collection..I don't have much of a collection, just a couple of electroluxs, 30, AF, Golden jub.,silverrado, legacy and central vac

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Cool

That would be great to know another vacuum "guy" in person ) The few that I knew seem to have faded away!

Here's a preview of what I have, about 43 machines....

 

[luxman107]

Wow, Awesome Bobby would love to see your collection

 

[15brandon]

On page 4 the hoover preferred elite is that the one thats from or similar to the vacuum in Mrs.Doubtfire.

 

[vacman117]

The Vacuum in Mrs. Doubtfire...

is a Hoover Elite II with the bag does not have a zipper.
Chase