And the Mystery Continues......

[dysonman1]

I recently acquired a machine from the Ukraine (which arrived in a potato bag - seriously) that only deepens the mystery.

It's a virtual copy of the McAllister Bagless as well as the ConVac. The McAllister came out soon after World War II was over, and a design patent was obtained in 1950. The machine had a cloth filter between the motor and the pan, making it 'bagless'. It's a filthy mess to empty. According to a magazine article from around 1948 about the "post war" models, this was described as being a wet vac as well. No grounding pin of course, and a flow-thru motor. Talk about shocking.

 

[dysonman1]

I do not know when the McAllister-Ross Corporation stopped making the McAllister - but they did only have the one model.

All of a sudden, the ConVac hit the market. Still made in Chicago, but by an entirely different company.

 

[dysonman1]

The ConVac also came with a dolly.

 

[dysonman1]

Then, the ConVac went away (only know of one model) - and soon afterwards, the Fairfax was launched. Fairfax had a deeper pan to hold a disposable bag.

The Ukraine model, which is a copy of the first two, is dated 1962 (after Fairfax's launch).

 

[dysonman1]

I took the top dome off to see what a Russian motor looks like. They have a metal 'chain' from the carbon brush holder cap to the field coil. Looks like a Lamb motor copy, but, the commutator on the armature has a ton of segments (28). I have no idea what the words say.

 

[dysonman1]

All three together for a glam shot.

I don't know how they are related, or anything at all about the companies that made them. All three run, the Ukraine machine has a TON of suction (it's 220 volts).

 

[dysonman1]

The hose connection for all three are completely different.

 

[dysonman1]

If anyone has any information at all that can piece together the puzzle, please share.

 

[human]

Probably a Soviet era knockoff

Given the fact the 'McAllister' is misspelled on the name plate, my money's on it being a Soviet era knockoff. Rather than completely develop a product from scratch, they would often buy tooling from Western countries for recently discontinued products. That's why they were building mid-'50s Packard automobiles in the USSR well into the 1970s. While these products typically got Russian names, sometimes versions would be made that were essentially counterfeits of the original. My dad has a "Leica" camera he bought at a Moscow flea market that has a Leica logo--and a Nazi emblem--on it. The only problem is the camera is a common Soviet knockoff, usually seen with a Russian name, but some were made with Leica logos as black market fakes. The Nazi emblem was likely added after the fact to lend it an air of authenticity.

 

[fairfax88]

So Tom,

What year did the first Red and Chrome Fairfax with the Grey cord come out??
The S-1 with the grey cardboard tool cabnet ?

 

[kirbysthebest]

I was going to say it almost looks like it has Fairfax DNA.

 

[luxkid1980]

Where is McAllister misspelled? In the first pic, the "c" in Mc is very small, right beside the upper screw. It's easy to miss though.

 

[dysonman1]

The Fairfax launched in 1961. It was made in Washington, DC. The disposable bag was optional. It would be 1962 that the wet pick up kit was first offered.

 

[collector2]

Some of the words are just name and I cant make out one letter in the first word but this is approximately the translation.

L_IESOS
EL-2
LANCE-NARKOZ
ZA 80D
ZLEKTROMET

NAPRYAZHENIE (VOLTAGE)
220 V

MOSCHNOST (POWER)
500 W

VILUSK 1965 (RELEASE 1965)

ZAVODSKII (DISTRICT OF MINSK, BELARUS)

 

[collector2]

Alot of the Russian machines are copies of North American and European machines

 

[mchmike]

No comrades, the west copied us and I am unanimous in that.

 

[vacerator]

Stalin,

another murderous ungreat. Was it Nikita Krustchef who told us he would crush us?

 

[mchmike]

Yes all while slamming a shoe on the podium. They got rid of him quickly after that, he was becoming unhinged as they say.