Another dream kirby 516 thrift shop find!!!

[vintagevaclover]

I found this at a thrift shop for $50!!! It's all here, this thing was bought fully loaded and hardly ever used from the looks of it. It even has the instruction booklet and came in all the original boxes. At first when I was looking around, all I saw was cheap plastic dirt cup vacs, then when I was checking out, I mentioned I was into old vacuums and asked the lady to let me know if they got any in and she was like " oh Hun, I have an old kirby with all the attachments that just came in back" ans asked if I wanted to see it and I said " hell yea!" Lol.

 

[vintagevaclover]

http://kirby 516 photo

 

[sptyks]

Wow. Nice Find!!!


 

 

[bikerray]

Congrats on the find.

 

[marks_here]

That was a steal!!! Good show!!

Those are great machines which a lot of people around my block when I was a kid had them & I could tell by how they sounded. I have the one before that the 515 that was my grans. & I managed to get a 561 & 562. I think I also have a 519 somewhere boxed up. Best of luck with that. Cheers!! Mark D.

 

[kevin]

Yeah, Austin, great machine & attachments at a great price! Good thing you asked or someone else may have snatched it before you!

All - Are the older Kirby serial #s coded for the year like the DS50 and later models? I know they had a letter code, but the one shown written in the manual in the pic above doesn't.

 

[electrolux137]

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Kirby 500 series model numbers correspond to the year of manufacture:

505 - 1945-47
508 - 1948
509 - 1949
510 - 1950
511 - 1951
etc...
519 - 1959
560 - 1960
561 - 1961
562 - 1962


P.S.: Nice find on the 516!!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

When you attempt to break down serial numbers by the month made, that will be very tough to research on all Kirbys made prior to the Heritage I.

~Ben

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

Super jealous. The only vacs I ever find in thrift stores are Wal-Mart disposable plastic crap ones. Great find and a great price. Congratulations!

 

[vintagevaclover]

The only kind on display was the cheap disposable ones. I just asked if they every got any old ones in and she said she had this one in the back. I also picked up a green hoover convertible from the '80s at another thrift shop for $5!

 

[MikePdx]

Sweet!

What a great find! June 6th must be Kirby Day. I found a nice Heritage II for only $35. Congratulations. That is a beautiful machine.

 

[vintagevaclover]

I really think I would have been stupid not to get it. I mean, it runs like its new, it has all the attachments and paper work going back to when it was first purchased. It was apparently rebuilt in 1972 according to the paperwork.

 

[vintagevaclover]

Here's the #

 

[kevin]

Thanks for the information, Charles. I like how Kirby composed the model #s in part to match the year of manufacture and wish other companies would have done something similar or at least made the serial ids easily decodable.

Here is a list of serial codes that someone posted on Vacuumland not too long ago which inspired my asking about the previous machines:



KIRBY CLEANER SERIAL LETTER CODES (1965-1981)

Dual Sanitronic '50' (April 1965 - August 1967)
A= April 1965 - May 1966
B= June - December 1966
D= January - August 1967

Dual Sanitronic '80' (September 1967 - Late 1969)
A= September 1967 - May 1968
No letter used in serial number after May 1968

Classic 1-CR (December 1969 - June 1973)
R= December 1969 - June 1970
S= July - December 1970
T= January - December 1971
A= January - August 1972
B= September 1972 - June 1973

Classic Omega 1-CB (July 1973 - June 1976)
M= July - December 1973 (Gold Bag)
N= January - September 1974 (Pinstriped Bag)
P= October 1974 - September 1975 (Diamondback Bag)
R= September 1975 - June 1976 (Diamondback Bag)

Classic III 2-CB (July 1976 - June 1979)
A= July - December 1976
B= January - July 1977
C= July - December 1977
D= January 1978 - August 1978
E= September 1978 - June 1979

Tradition 3-CB (July 1979 - August 1981)
F= July 1979 - February 1980
G= March 1980 - February 1981
H= March - August 1981

 

[eurekastar]

Very nice find!!!

 

[vintagevaclover]

I did some cleaning

I love this vacuum!!! I've already cleaned my living room and bedroom with it and it's awesome!!! I originally got this one to sell bit I think I'm gonna keep it because it cleans better than my tradition and my classic III.

 

[super-sweeper]

that bag,

Is a replacement!

 

 

[vintagevaclover]

What would the original bag have looked like?

 

[electrolux137]

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The original bag looked like this (see photos). It was plain dark-gray with a single, large Kirby logo on the front.

btw, the bag on the Kirby that's the original subject of this thread isn't original either. It also would have been plain gray like the one below. The gray bag with the silver "speckles" didn't come out until the 518 and, as with so many other changes, was introduced gradually. I've seen 518s and 519s with either plain or speckled bags. But the FIRST time it appeared was on the 518.

The speckled bag was probably put on the machine, along with a new cord, when the machine was rebuilt in 1972.