2.0 Eureka Shipping and Production History Pre-1947

[hoover300]

The Eureka R. Early Rs had pinstripes embossed and painted on the castings, along with an old style logo on the bag and badge. Later versions(like mine) updated both of those and ditched the pinstriped accents on the aluminum as well. The first truly 2 speed Eureka, with both speeds in the handle. Ad courtesy of Portable.

 

[hoover300]

The Eureka Challenger M. This model had a full wood handle grip, and an extremely streamlined finish. Early Ms had a plated steel handle with the older bag and badge(like mine) and later ones had an updated bag, badge, and an aluminum handle. No pic on hand of the later variant, I'll leave it for the next revision. Some Ms were painted red and brown, and not always marked with a suffix like M60. For the sake of organization I will only include painted Ms listed under a suffix. Ad courtesy of Portable

 

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The Eureka G30. This one has a steel handle fork and an optional headlight.

 

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The Eureka G31. Same as the G30 but with a brown paint job and a front facing bag.

 

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This is either an R-L-C or an R-41, as it has the steel handle fork that started in 1940.

 

[hoover300]

The Eureka M61 or M61A, both came painted from the factory but does not specify the color. I marked both as "red" before I knew the brown one existed.

 

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The Eureka D171. A completely new design for postwar America. This model is for some reason not mentioned in the shipping history.

 

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The Eureka D272. This model simplified the accents of the D171 to white, though some D272s used a matching red bumper. Ad courtesy of Paul.

 

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The Eureka M262(Master). I do have a pic of a real life example of this somewhere but I can't seem to find it. It is finished in dark brown like the G31. Ad courtesy of Paul.

 

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Eureka Juniors H and J respectively. The H came in 2 variants, sleeve and ball bearing. Early Js had a riveted box where the cord comes out, unsure of the purpose. Ads courtesy of Portable.

 

[hoover300]

To wrap up, the following models I was not able to document in any way:
Model C Auto Cleaner
Model L Auto Cleaner
K-60
K-60A
GH-31-P
R-41-P
R-49
D174

And the following I was not able to document fully:
Model 1
Model 5
Model 8
Standard #2
G30
G31
M-61
M-61A
R-LC
R-41
D171
M262

If anyone has info on any of these models, or of the documented models, please don't hesitate to speak up!

 

[paul]

Hoover 300,

First of all, thank you for all the photos and your research of the early period of Eureka floor care products. I also appreciate the credit you gave me for the advertisements.

I had found the Model H Junior in other advertisements but not the Model J, so your photo's are expanding our knowledge of those rare cleaners.

Secondly, I checked your top model list in reply #29 and was unable to find any ad's for them likely due to their short production runs. As for the 'D-174' I don't think it existed. I believe you got that from the 1958 Shipping Record and had thought the same thing until I located several references of the Model 'D-171'. I also wanted to mention that I believe the main difference between the D-171 and D-272 is that the latter was made to be compatible with the new Disturbulator.

A couple suggestions for you are to check with 'DadsVacuum', who posted the 1958 Shipping Record. I noticed that he didn't post the page for the tank cleaners, hand vacs and the auto vacs; so his Dad's list would at least have the production periods in them. The other possible resource is paying a visit sometime to the McLean County Museum of History that houses Eureka's archives.

Thanks again for sharing all your research.

 

[hoover300]

Portable posted a 1938 Eureka model list that lists the 2 Auto Cleaners(below). I do have one pictured in an ad, but unsure which model(below). The D174 being the D171 is very plausible, but the production start date of 1934 makes no sense, and in case of a typo 1944 still had the wartime production change in effect.
Thanks!

 

[paul]

Thanks, I hadn't run across that document.

I agree that the long run of the D-171 doesn't compute. The only references I was able to locate on my library's database for the Model D-171 were:

1. Prentice Hall Price Control Service, 1942 (full document view inaccessible)

2. Consumer Goods Desk Book - Office of Price Administration, 1946 (full document view inaccessible)

3. US Office of Price Administration Press Release, 1942 (attached)

 

[paul]

I wonder if there were some errors in the Press Release I posted in reply #32? 'N-51A' appears in no other place in the database.

Then, in another 1942 press release I just located, it lists 'N-61-A' as being a floor-type cleaner (upright). I'm thinking it should have been listed as 'M-61-A'.

It's blurry because I enlarged it.

 

[hoover300]

But in the other press release it shows the M and N, and the M is priced significantly higher.

 

[paul]

True - maybe the Model N was some type of compact vacuum cleaner that was listed on the 1958 Shipping Record page that wasn't posted (with the tank-types and hand vacs).

 

[paul]

Misc. News Blurbs

1) March 1928

2) September 1931

3) February 1939

 

[paul]

Some Surprising 1941 Ads!

1. 1941 Mar 19 YOUNGSTOWN VINDICATOR - Attach-O-Matic coupler

2. 1941 Dec. 9 PITTSBURGH PRESS - New De Luxe with Attach-O-Matic (likely the Model D-171 - styled by George Walker!)

 

[hoover300]

So neat.. I know someone with a front bag M. Sadly the bag is missing, but the front facing hook and the hook on the fan case are present.

Royalsuper sent me this sweet 1970s photo awhile back. Note the models 3 and 4 have repro bags, but the repro bags are so old they have clips on the bottom. Imagine when they stopped making those as replacements!