my grammy's 1978 Kirby Classic III.....this was the FIRST EVER Kirby i EVER saw in real life as a kid 20 something years ago.....due to her death this past month it finally traveled from her hall closet in Michigan and became part of my collection. it was said that she had bought this machine new and traded in her Hoover model 27 for it...and growing up there were two things vacuum wise that i did not get much of and those were Kirbys, and power headed canisters....i use to literally sit in her hall closet and marvel at this chrome and red beast, and i was about 7 when she told me that she had her local vacuum shop put a paper bag unit on her machine (a ugly pin stripped light brown and dark brown F&G unit), and i never saw the original cloth bag and Emp-tor again, and the original attachments were still in her basement never taken out of the carrier or used, as well as the hose or Shag King. so with out further a due, the glorious chrome and red beast....with a special memory attached of.... Grammy's Kirby.....=)
The two dearest units in my collection are my moms mothers Kirby DS-80. She is still living and had it sent back to the factory for a rebuild for me. This was the first Kirby I ever have recollection of and I always got to use it when I would go for visits. They actually have old 8mm footage of me playing with it as a child. Granny has a framed picture hanging in her entry hall of me in my Easter best when i was about 4, posing next to the DS-80. Then there is my dads moms Heritage that she brought over to me one day before she died. It had a busted fan in it and said, if I needed a good "vac-cum" as she called it, then i could fix that one and use it. It's my daily driver and I could NEVER imagine parting with it..It's in beautiful shape for a 30 year old machine. She and grampa bought it brand new in 81. So sorry to hear of your granny's passing. You have a beautiful treasure to remember her and your youth by..
My grandparents had a Heritage 2 that I would have loved to of had, but they traded it in for their Generation 4 in 1994. My grandpa still regrets doing that, because he said the Heritage was the best vacuum they had ever owned. But I now have the G4 and I love it. It is the first Kirby I had ever seen and used. It is probably one of the first vacuums that I had ever used too. But congrats on getting your grandma's, but I am very sorry that she passed away.
