Electrolux Model G original price?

[ct77]

So far, I'm really liking the vintage Model G vacuum I bought recently
It's working great, and even the "weird smell" it had is starting to disappear the longer I play around with it and run the motor. (Or Am I just getting used to it?? Ha.)

I'm really curious now, what would the original price have been back when it was new? I've tried searching everywhere on Google but haven't any luck. I've found a couple pictures of old advertisements, but strangely no prices listed. I asked my mom about it and she said Electrolux vacuums tended to be very expensive (and even told me a funny story about my dad having a job very briefly selling them...or apparently TRYING to sell them!)

Does anyone have any scans of old advertisements for this model, with any prices?

By the way, I actually found a vacuum shop pretty close to where I live, and the owner has a bunch of vintage vacuums! I assumed something like a "vacuum shop" had pretty much disappeared these days, especially a place that actually does repairs and sells replacement parts. But just out of curiosity, I looked it up and found a place just a few minutes away! That was a major surprise. I talked with the owner for a while - there were modern vacuums in the shop, but he also had a bunch of vintage ones he was going to sell. I might be getting another even earlier Electrolux canister vacuum. I hadn't planned on "collecting" vacuums...but I guess I am now?! I'll post another topic if I do end up getting that one.

- Chris

 

[fantomfan57]

Hey Chris,

I'd say you found a gold mine with that Vacuum Shop. Would be cool to know what machines they have.

 

[rugsucker]

Electrolux G

Electrolux started in US with no advertising relying on in house demonstrations and the post cards that could be mailed to nearest office when supplies were needed.Later only ads were once a year in Good Housekeeping magazine which gave GH Seal of Approval.No ads had prices.Electrolux branch offices were company owned with one price policy for vac,supplies or trade allowance from any salesman anywhere.Some vac companies would sell a Brand X to a distributor whose sales force might try to get $XX from one customer and $XXX from another.The Model G would have been about $99 with the optional Power Nozzle about $49.Others may have dated contract copies with prices.

 

[dysonman1]

The model G was $149 and the power nozzle was another $49. The model G was $50 higher than the Automatic F it replaced. When the G was no more and the 1205 took its place, the 1205 was $50 more than the G.

 

[jo]

Vacuum shops

Well vacuum shops and even Aerus Electrolux franchises are disappearing no doubt but they are still out there. Oreck still uses the vacuum shop model and is now called David’s vacuums I believe. There’s still a lot of people who have older vintage vacuums or higher end newer ones that need or want service than just replacing with plastic junk. In fact I find as people get older they get tired of having cheap plastic vacuums that fall apart and start wanting better quality and they can afford it so this is where and who the vacuum shops cater to. Back in 1994 I had a Hoover convertible and the brush roll bearings went bad. I went from one vacuum shop to another trying to find a replacement but everyone told me I had to get the whole brush roll for $40. The Hoover was only $69 originally so I couldn’t justify paying that price and the last vac shop I went into hearing the same news…he had several used quality vacuums for sale and 2 Electrolux canister caught my eye since that’s what Mom had the entire time I grew up and still had. I ended up buying the Electrolux Silverado he had there that was 10 years old and trading the Hoover. It was $150 and he took $25 off for the Hoover trade. I knew the Electrolux would last and knew that I really liked them so I bought it. Fast forward to 2019…the Silverado’s motor finally has gone bad and it lasted me close to 30 years. I can’t complain. Since then I’ve acquired other Electrolux’s though thrift stores, ebay, or gifts or from other enthusiasts generously so I haven’t needed to go to a vac shop too frequently except for parts for my Hoover steam vac but I will say…they are fun places to go to try different vacuums of higher end quality and suddenly you may find yourself forking out some cash and walking out with a new vacuum like I did that time.

We have two generic vacuum stores in town I know of currently (others have closed) and it is always pretty busy in them still when I have had to go in.

For Electrolux I try to always use genuine parts but for the older models they have discontinued making parts in the last year so vac shops with generics or used parts or eBay is going to have to be the source.

Jon

 

[jo]

Vacuum shops 2

Additionally, I’ve found that people are getting irritated with the poor quality of the throw away vacuums and so demand for older quality durable machines still exists. Door to door sales of these quality machines new is almost nonexistent anymore so where to get one? A vac shop or eBay is pretty much the answer. The vacuum shops cater to those people but eBay certainly has also become their competition causing some to just close down but others still stay open. There’s people who aren’t sure if they will like one brand over another and want to try it out in store and also have reassurance they can bring it in if something goes wrong and it can be fixed and these shops can help to ease the mind of those people before they fork out the cash.

Jon

 

[ct77]

Holy cow...I looked up the equivalent in today's dollars and $149 in 1966 would be over $1,300 today! The power nozzle alone would be the equivalent to about $450! So if you wanted the entire setup, it would be over $1,700! Yikes. I really like the Model G and I love how well it was made...but if I had been around back then I really don't think I would have spent that much money on a vacuum cleaner! But obviously a lot of people DID buy them. I guess if you were really serious about cleaning and considered it an investment for your house. It just seems crazy expensive to me.

 

[electrolux137]

Here's a Model G receipt dated September 24, 1963. As Tom said, the cost of the cleaner was $149.75 and the power nozzle was $49.75.

Note the serial number of the trade-in: T60728K. It's hard to pinpoint what model that was. Electrolux used that serial number format from the Model XXX at least through the Model G.

 

[ct77]

Very interesting! Thank you for posting that! I've always liked seeing original receipts and advertisements, and seeing how much the antique things I've collected cost when they were new.

I have a few reel-to-reel tape recorders, and I have one that has the original box. I found a price on it and it's the equivalent to about $1,000 in today's money! These things weren't cheap! Appliances and electronics were made better in earlier times, but apparently they were also VERY expensive!

 

[kirbylux77]

Chris, you make a very valid point about Electrolux being a pricy vacuum, whether in the 1960's or today. But, one thing you must bear in mind - back in the 1960's, vacuums being sold in department or hardware stores were NOT very common. A lot of areas didn't even have vacuum shops yet. So in those days, it was common, especially in rural areas, for travelling salesmen to sell you everything from hairbrushes to vacuum cleaners. Plus, Electrolux had already built up a reputation for being a quality, reliable product that cleaned well. So it would have been a easy sell for a lot of folks. Plus, unlike Rainbow, Kirby or some of the other DTD brands, it wasn't a hassle to use the vacuum either.

 

[jo]

We must also remember

Back in that era…there were not any “discount department stores” like Walmart, Target, etc. and if there were, they were just starting out and few and far between. The sales model was strongly door to door for these items at their inception and was still this way at the time. People did buy vacs at Sears and other department stores and hardware stores but not too often because it had to be hauled home and this was a problem in big city or towns where people didn’t have cars and relied on public transportation. Plus many homes only had one car, if any car and during the week it often was gone at work so the ”homemaker” was at home all day and what perfect time to catch them than when the kids were at school and the other was at work. Door to door sales was so common for vacuums that people knew that it was an option and more of the norm to buy these items this way and they could always just look up their local brand rep in the phone book and have them come out to their own home for a demonstration. After all, what better place to test out decide if you’re going to like the vacuum than in your own home? This way you can see how it is easier to use or more difficult to use in direct comparison to what you have previously been using. Often when these products were sold in stores, there wasn’t a place to try them out and if there was it was somewhat limited with just maybe a carpet or area rug on the floor. Plus one would always feel sort of peculiar turning on and trying a noisy appliance in a store…it attracts attention and next thing you know you’ve got s bunch of people looking at you!

I pretty much was able to decipher that likely my paternal Grandmother only ever bought one vacuum cleaner ever…an Electrolux model XXX after WWII and she had it until she passed away in 1970 and then it became my Aunt’s (who always lived at home) and she passed away prematurely at 57 in 1984 at which point I inherited it and still have it today. It works fine. Anyway…with vacuums being “a new fangled appliance” in the 20’s and 30’s many were a bit slow to get them and walk to wall carpet didn’t exist and if people did have rugs they swept them and periodically took them outside and beat them with a stick to get the dust out.

Jon

 

[ct77]

Yeah, I'm just learning how different vacuum sales were back then compared to today. I guess I assumed you would just walk into an appliance store and buy a vacuum cleaner like anything else! I had no idea they were so expensive and that some of them seemed to be kind of an "exclusive" or "premium" thing. I've seen a ton of old newspaper and magazine advertisements for radios and televisions (with prices) from that time period, but it just seems so weird to me that vacuum cleaners could only be bought in certain ways. It really makes me more curious about what it was like to buy appliances in earlier times and how different it must have been from today.

- Chris

 

[mjhoshaw]

Thanks for starting this thread

Electrolux is my favorite brand of vintage vacuum, and I'm really enjoying this thread.


 


Joel