Australian Made Wernard Vacuum Cleaner

[michaelwalter]

Hi Everyone

Yesterday I was fortunate to come across this 1970's australian made Wernard brand vacuum cleaner from the late 1970's.

Wernard was an Aussie manufacturer of Vacuums, sewing machines, desk fans etc and made their own electric motors for other manufacturers. They no longer make household appliances but are still in business.

In the day they were the cheapest of cheap appliances for the 1st home buyer or anyone who didnt see value in quality.

The build quality of their appliances wasn't bad but they very very basic with no bells and whistles.

This vac is 1979 / 240 volts / 650 watts.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Cheers

Mike

 

[lesinutah]

Hmm

It seems to have cyclone technology guessing by seeing the bag.
It looks like a bigger oreck xl hand cannister vacuum or even eureka or electrolux cannister from same period. It's basic but it looks above average performance machine even with no bells and whistles.
Les

 

[eurekaprince]

Australia’s vacuum cleaner industry is so interesting. It seems that being so far from Europe and North America made it more economical to design and manufacture their own products right there instead of importing from far distances. I imagine some of the cleaners used industrial designs and patents owned and licensed by vacmakers in Europe and North America, but everything right down to the molds were created in Australia. We see very similar Hoovers and Eurekas (sold as Pye) and GE’s in the history of cleaner offerings “down under”. And the famous Australian brandname called Wertheim seems quite popular. I remember actually seeing Wertheim cleaners in stores in Israel when I lived there in the 1990’s - they must have been imported from Australia. And like Sears Kenmore, Wertheim seems to be a brand created just for Australia’s “Godfrey’s” stores, if I am not mistaken.

It’s certainly a fascinating world of vacuums “down under”!!!

 

[michaelwalter]

Wertheim

Hi eruekaprince

Aussie and NZ's cleaners certainly are a mixed bag. PYEs cleaners were a mix of eureka (rotomatic and princess) mcdonald electric (upright) and hitachi (70's cylinder vacs).

Our electrolux here was basically the UK versions but made locally.

Most Hoovers were made in Meadowbank Sydney (OZ) or under licence at the F & P (fisher&paykel) factory in auckland. A few exceptions were the celebrity and a few other models made in the US.

GE was a mixed bag with the swiveltops made in the USA and many all plastic 70's capsule / cylinder vacs made in japan.

Wertheim in australia and NZ is a godfreys only house brand (godfreys now the only nationwide vacuum cleaner store). Wertheim cleaners were made in germany but now they are EU designed but made in china. They are electrolux made and do not have a good reputation for reliability or value.

PYE went defunct here in the late 70's and was sold to philips and their vacs left the shelves quickly, GE which as a very popular brand decided to sell its homewares division in 1985 / 86 to black&decker and the swiveltop left the shelves in 1986.

 

[eurekaprince]

Wow! What great information, Mike! Thank you!

Just curious: what is the current price for a German-made Miele C3 canister in NZ? I imagine it’s quite expensive to ship from Europe....would be interesting to compare to Canadian prices. A basic Miele suction-only canister costs anywhere from $400 to $500 Canadian dollars here, depending on the retailer and the promotional pricing at a specific time.

 

[michaelwalter]

A german made miele ranges from $299 for a c1 to $1700 for the c3 with power nozzle so the same prices as for hoover or wertheim tol models. Miele machines are good value for money in nz taking into account reliability and quality. The bags are very expensive at $30 for 4

 

[eurekaprince]

Prices in both countries for Mieles seem about the same: Your top of the line C3 at 1700$ is sold here for $1500 CAD, which is pretty similar...but we also have a less fancy green power nozzle Miele with head light for $1100 CAD. It’s similar to the American “Marin” canister top-rated by Consumer Reports.