Are Elites Valuable Now?

[kenkart]

I think you hit it

And I hate almost anything NEW!!! I wont cook on a stove unless its 50 plus years old, all my cookware, appliances etc are 40 to 70 years old etc...I really have a phobia about new stuff, I equate plastic with cheap junk...

 

[gregvacs28]

This is so INTERESTING


Hans, I hadn't really ever thought consciously about this before, though it's been a motivating force, for sure.

One thing is for sure: we like what we like because of traits we associate with the material. It doesn't matter if the facts we believe about the material are true or not.

I rather detest metal objects because metal is associated with rusting, being old, uneducated, old dark color exhaust belching cars and trains, being associate with ignorant oppressive thoughts, heavy, dirty steel mills, filthy pot-belly stoves, greasy, grimy, smoking and tobacco use, alcoholism, dirty, cut your hands, rusty leaking metal septic tanks, freezing, smelly..... generally yuck. Who Wants that?

On the flip side- I much WANT plastic type things. Plastic is clean, lite weight, colored, flexible, educated, warm, comes in many forms, cushiony and soft, etc. Plastic is a vacation on a sandy beach (vs. metal is freezing sub zero Buffalo, NY winter) Plastic is electronic products and a-a-a-all that that covers. Plastic is healthy eating and progressive thoughts.

The facts? That 60 year old stove you have to cook on, I've no doubt it has plastic parts in it. And the car I drive- it's sure to have lots of plastic parts but the frame and engine is metal. The vacuums you like may have a metal body, but the cord, and handles, and hose, and the paint finish- those are all plastic or a plastic-type material. My computer- It sure has it's fair share of plastic parts, but the frame is a metal box. All the wires and circuitry are metals.

It's interesting for sure.
Then one could ask; how does one feel about wood product, or products made from sea shells, glass, etc.

And how did we come to associate things with these materials?
Was there a subliminal ad campaign that snuck by? Is it generational?

I mean I grew up in the 70s when metal was in it's hey day, shall we say. There were lots of junky metal products. The 80s were seen as fresh and plastic was certainly taking over. Maybe that's what it is.

 

[kenkart]

I actually have 2 stoves I use

A 59 Westinghouse and a 65 Frigidaire, I do drive a car that is older but not ancient, a 2003 Grand Marquis Mercury, if money was no object my daily driver would be a DeSoto or Chrysler with fins and pushbuttons, I use a Hotpoint washer and dryer...1982 models....I had to laugh...I would take COLD COLD COLD winter as a vacation than a sweaty sticky hot beach,,,LOL, Metal is solid, it dents but rarely breaks, it can be re painted over and over, plastic to me is fragile, it melts and breaks, true,the plastics of today are improved over many older versions, this is interesting ..I never thought of WHY people like certain things, Like, to me , nothing drives like a 50s or 60s Chrysler product..If you got in one you might despise it, the power steering to me, does what it should, the wheel can be turned with one finger, even sitting still, in other words there is NO road feel...I don't NEED to feel the road, I don't depend on steering wheel feed back to know how to drive I like smooth effortless handling, most people today want stiffly sprung suspension and stiff steering..I don't.but I hate bucket seats too...lol

 

[kenkart]

as for healthy eating

lol, you might not like my old fashioned Southern cooking...I use butter, lard and fat back...I believe in cooking as close to the way they did in the 50s, I make almost everything from scratch,,,bread, biscuits , pie crust, I use lard in pie crusts because nothing makes as good a crust, but,,,i use olive oil for much also, but I cook vegetables to the Southern degree of doneness, green beans get about an hour with some good fat back or a chunk of ham, I make homemade biscuits or cornbread every meal, and always have dessert, usually pound cake, or some kind of pie,rhubarb, apple, peach, strawberry, chocolate, lemon or cocoanut,i do cook a balanced meal, example would be, meatloaf, green beans, mac and cheese, the old fashioned baked kind,maybe cole slaw, always have bbq slaw made, that's a NC thing.its really interesting why we live as we do!

 

[tolivac]

Plastics as clean??????They contain and require all kinds of TOXIC chemicals in the manufacture.Metals require LESS of this.They do require HEAT to make or form them-which does use energy.Come to think of it molding plastics requires in some cases MORE energy than machining or cold forming metals.And of course metals are MORE long term durable than plastics.Plastics degrade--metals does note esp if stored and used under proper conditions.Will a plastic vacuum like what you get today be useable 50 yrs from now??Metal ones cane be!!

 

[electrolux137]

~
~


Plastic products are a more obvious result of the "planned obsolescence" scheme. This idea was born in its clearest form in the 1950s, put forth by industrial designer Brooks Stevens, famous in our corner for his beautifully styled Modern Hygiene vacuum cleaner. (See link.)


 


Manufacturers have always had the goal of persuading people that "old is bad, new is good" so consumers would buy, buy buy. However, there was a time when products, including household products, were "made to last." When your quality-built vacuum cleaner broke down, you'd take it to a vacuum cleaner repair shop.


 


That's not the case any longer. Now, most products are cheaply made, usually overseas in hideous sweatshops using inferior materials -- including, yes, plastic. Now, when your vacuum cleaner breaks down, you throw it in the trash and go to WalMart and get another piece of plastic junk that, if you're lucky, will last six months. Yes, there are still vacuum cleaner repair shops but their numbers are far fewer than even 30 years ago.



http://1377731.com/zmodern/

 

[ultralux88]

Calling Kangaroo Jack!

Anyone paying $150 for an old Elite needs the Minogue treatment! 


 


They're fun machines, but I wouldn't pay that even for more rare and desirable machines! I have a couple of Elite machines in my collection, but thy were also given to me, and cost next to nothing to get fixed up nice.

 

[kenkart]

My main issue with them

Is the noise factor, Kind of like a mid 60s Hotpoint dishwasher...it sounds like a chainsaw running.

 

[bnorris938]

Anything becomes collectible if you wait long enough....

As a kid growing up in the 90’s, I vividly remember my cousin getting a Hoover Elite Dual Purpose vacuum. I was mad with jealousy. To hell with our filter queen and Electrolux! I wanted what my rich family with the in ground pool and new Chevy Astro EXT had just bought for their new vacuum.

And then, Mrs. Doubtfire was released and that iconic scene of her dancing with an Elite (vacuuming carpet with the on-board hose inserted in the attachment port ) just sealed it. Of course, my mother would hear none of it. And the longing eventually subsided. But one day last winter, I popped into Sans Souci and there it was....Mrs. Doubtfire’s Hoover Elite. Best $16 I’ve ever spent!

I think there are those who collect just for the sake of collecting. And if that’s your thing, mazel tov! But I find that I collect vacuums that I remember from childhood. Those that beloved family members had and I was fascinated with as a small child. And sometimes, those that featured prominently in movies where Robin Williams plays a nanny en travesti...

 

[gregvacs28]

bnorris


Cute and communal story.

It's for the reasons you pointed out that you would no doubt not be interested in the vacuums I grew up with, or perhaps even vacuums people of your similar age group grew up with. It's all about what was significant to each person at a certain time in their life.

When I first came out of the 'appliance loving' closet and decided to flaunt my appliance proclivities with the world, I discovered there were others like myself. I also discovered that they had their own brands and models that were important to them. I couldn't imagine wanting an old vacuum from the 1930s or something. But I knew the brands I liked and didn't care if other vacuum lovers made fun of them.

Well, as a society, we've evolved. I don't think in say 1980 that there was a vacuum cleaner club, so vacuum lovers had to keep their hoards and interests hidden.


 


Soon, we'll have vacuum marriage equality, where people will be able to have a committed relationship with the vacuum of their choice, perhaps even several at the same time.

  A blended relationship may acquire new meaning as between say..... a beige Hoover Celebrity, a dark blue Eureka Mighty Mite, a male, and a tranvestite.  Life goals.