A Vacuum Mini Meet in Hoover Mecca

[myhooverco]

Hello everyone out there in Vacuumland. We had a vacuum mini meet this past weekend. Two good friends of mine, Tony Mical and Brian Hurt flew in from Chicago to visit. We had a two day vacuum extravaganza!

We went to the Hoover employee sales center where Tony bought the "new" Connie in white. He got the last one that they had too. He also walked out with some G bags for his Handivac.

We visited a vac shop where I picked up a nice 61 model Hoover, some cleaning tools, a few vintage cords, and a nice porta power box.

We went to every estate sale and thrift store around. We came back with two convertibles, a Hoover blender, a Penncrest hand mixer, and even a Kirby model 560 at a rummage sale.

I had a great time hanging out with them and running vacuums. My little boy, Glenn had fun too watching us run the machines. They had not been here in awhile so I had plenty of new stuff to show them. I gave Tony a nice model 82 Connie that was complete and Brian took home a nice 150 Hoover that we put new brushes in to make it sweep like brand new.

All in all it was a lot of fun. I was sorry to see them leave. I look forward to their next visit! Happy Hoovering!

--Tom

 

[myhooverco]

Here is my little boy, Glenn vacuuming with Tony. These two had a lot of fun sweeping with the mini Hoovers!

 

[petek]

Neat finds. I'm always on the lookout for Hoover small appliances, they seem to be scarcer than hens teeth nowadays. I've got a couple of the blenders and a can opener but that's about it I think. One of these days next year I'd love to drive down to Canton and see the museum, never been there. How long a drive is it from Detroit, I'd have to add another hour driving time from there.

 

[myvacsrock]

TOM!!!!

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT A 150!!! LET ME KNOW!!!!

Kyle Krichbaum

 

[seamusuk]

Tom....

Glenn is seriously young to be a HOOVER nut- he obviously takes after his dad lol!!!

What model is the orange Covvertible?? looks kinda bright .

I may have got something for ya , just gotta see how it cleans up !!

Seamus

 

[myhooverco]

Pete...North Canton is just 4 short hours from Detroit. You are welcome to stop by any time. I think that you might like the Hoover Historical Center as there is so much history there not to mention some real cool vacs! The appliances pop up around here often still. Some are still in use!

Kyle...the 150 is a long story...I will tell you about it soon.

Seamus...the orange convertible is a U4047 and it is BRIGHT! (1974) Glenn loves to sweep and he now says Hoover! He is such a blessing to my wife and I.

--Tom

 

[buffalo-joe]

Glad You All Had Fun!!!!!!

I was thinking of you guys this weekend while I was dealing with the mess Mother Nature gave us in Buffalo. This was my driveway and barns on Friday morning. Snow was knee deep.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread this way, but I wanted to say I was wishing I was in North Canton instead of the mess here. Oh well, its over and I'm in the process of cleaning up the yard.

Again, Glad you had fun and I hope Tony and Brian made it back safely.

Joe

 

[charles~richard]

The Hoover Samples/Models Vault

Tom, when the VCCC had its first meeting in Canton back in, hm, 1996 or 1997 I think twas, one of the highlights was a tour of the "models vault" down in a basement somewhere, where there was shelf after shelf not only of Hoovers -- actual models and prototypes -- but also of many other makes as well.

Apparently, once upon a time the Hoover company bought samples of competitors' machines to check them out and then they were stored away in this models vault. Hundreds of mint condition vacuum cleaners of many makes and models.

I was unable to attend that meeting and have always regretted it especially since I have only seen a few blurry photos of the vault. Do you have access to that vault, and if so, can you take like 300-400 photos and post them???!

 

[luxg]

Tom it sounds like you all had a fantastic time. Glenn is sure growing and is such a cute little guy. Thanks for sharing the fun. There is nothing better than a get together like this. Terry

 

[convertible68]

Tom, looks like fun, and you certainly found some great machines! The Model 61 and bright orange Convertible really stand out! Has your son tried a "real vacuum" yet?

And PICTURES do exist of "The Vault"? Wow...I'd love to see those!

 

[hygiene903]

You mean I missed another North Canton get-together??? Looks like you guys all had a great time and found some nice machines. Haven't heard from you since I last emailed you, drop me a line when you have time.
And Joe, seeing that picture puts a scare in me--if you're getting snow now, won't be long until we have it in the Buckeye State. However, our temperature highs are still in the 50's, so I don't think we have too much to worry about--YET.
Best to all,
Jeff

 

[robgwisdala]

Hello.

I wish I was there at the mini meet!
It would be fun if the Ohio members could have a vac in!
Tom,
Do you have any attachment sets for a Hoover Convertible U4497?
Thanks.
Rob Gwisdala

 

[swingette]

the bag on that 61 looks perfect!

 

[countryguy]

Distance

Sounds like you guys had a great time. Wish I didn't live so far away.....and in another country LOL

Gary

 

[dysonman]

The Vaults at Hoover

Charles:
There are tons of pictures of the "vaults" from Hoover. I was there at that Convention of the collector's club. The Vaults were located Behind the Engineering room. Ironically, at that time, they had a Constellation that was made of clear plastic, with an electric hose and a quadraflex power nozzle, sitting on the 'bench'. We passed through the engineering room, into the 'vaults'. There were five rows of metal shelves, six shelves high, and on each shelf were crammed all the competitor vacs. I saw a virtually NEW Rexair model B, All the Air-Way's, all the Kirbys, etc. We took tons of pics at that time. Bob Kautzman had them developed and gifted each of us with a set. I kept the ones that had pics of vacs I liked, and gave the rest away to members that didn't go to the meeting. That was ten years ago. I doubt the 'vaults' are there any longer, as we asked about them five years ago when we went (for the second time) to Hoover. We were told they no longer exist and the machines were 'disposed' of. Mike Hays had a fit, as he was the one who talked Stacy Krammes (the director of the historical center at the time) into letting us go through it back in '96.

 

[charles~richard]

Oh

well, if any of those sets of photos are floating around I'd sure like a set, or, better yet, see them posted here!

 

[ahzeks]

I'll Second That!

I'd love to see the pictures posted here on this Web site as well!

 

[myhooverco]

I would love to see the pics of the "vault"...however I was told by a Hoover engineer who recently retired that the vault does exist still. It has two of every model made. The first one 00000001 and the last one off of the line. Ann Haines regularly gets different vintage models from the vault for display at the Hoover Historical Center. Recently, she had asked for a model 25 and one was delivered. It was brand new and I got to put it together for the display. What a treat! The best part was that it ran perfectly. Who knows what may still be in there. I have not personally been in there so I would really like the chance to see the pictures of it! Someday I may get lucky enough and tour engineering. What a treat that would be for any collector.

--Tom

 

[frkirby511]

The Vault..........!

Absolutely it would be great to see the pictures.

And perhaps someone could talk Hoover into another tour one of these days.