AWESOME $4 Find This Morning

[vacumaniac]

Happened to see across the street from my house there was a sign for an estate sale. Decided to take a stroll over as it was so close, walked in the garage, saw a Lux XXX in the basement for $12.00 but seeing as though I have several, decided to pass on that (though on Sat whatever is left will be 1/2 of 1/2 so if it is there for $3 I will pick it up). On the main lever there was a Kirby Classic III marked at $175 with all attachements (again, I have several so as tempting as it was for $175 I had to pass )

But.... I always do a second sweep and I am glad I did, as in a corner of the garage was this Hoover Special #543 for $4!!!!

 

[vacumaniac]

powers up, bearings sound a bit dry, but I suppose that is to be expected....

Is this the original bag?

 

[vacumaniac]

what about the cord? It seems rather thick.... it may be an older replacement??? Other than needing as cleaning, the cord is in great shape!

 

[s31463221]

Derek

That's a beauty you found there, and at such a steal too! Congrats! Was the green convertible for sale as well? Hope you also get to pick up that XXX too, I really like those machines as well!

 

[vacumaniac]

Actually, the green convertible was picked up a few weeks ago on my way home from work. It was in the garbage!!!

 

[eurekastar]

That's a great find! I think those Hoover Specials were rebuilds done by Hoover during WWII of an existing model. But I know almost nothing about Hoovers, so you'd better depend on someone else for intel. Congratulations!

 

[kirbykid]

it kind of looks like a old extention cord.....

 

[hygiene903]

Nice Find Derek!

After a good polishing it will be a real beauty! The Special designation means it was a factory rebuild, and if you look on the bottom you should find the rebuild date stamped somewhere. The original idea of the Specials was twofold, first to eliminate the trade-ins that Hoover had collected over the years, and second, to put like new Hoovers in the hands of folks who couldn't afford the price of the brand new current model. In the course of the rebuild all worn parts were replaced and they were given a spa treatment and usually painted in the colors (if any) of the then current model, and guaranteed to perform and look like a new cleaner. And yes, that IS an original Special bag on your 543, and the cord is probably original as well.
The Specials were especially popular during WWII. Even though regular production had stopped and all US factories were producing goods for the war effort, Hoover could still rebuild existing machines. So even though new models were not produced for the duration of the war, consumers could still buy a Special. The Special program was phased out in the early to mid 50's, but after the Convertible was introduced the Special name was brought back for the lower priced line, with shorter cord, no headlight, snaps instead of zipper on the bag, etc.
I have 2 Specials in my collection, a 541 and a 700. Here is a pic of the 541. Cord and bag are both replacements, and although you can't tell by the pic, the motor cap, yoke, and badge are green.
Jeff

 

[vacumaniac]

Wow Jeff!!!! Thanks for the insight into this!!! I was very curious about the "Special" program and how it worked. I will post pics when it is all cleaned up!

 

[hygiene903]

And here's the 700 Special. Rebuilt in 1952 and the color scheme is the same as the 61, 28, and 115. I do have the original Special bag for this one, but it is in need of repair, so I currently have a Hoover replacement bag from that era on it. And I forgot to mention with the 541 pic that it was rebuilt in 1938.
Jeff

 

[vacumaniac]

So, in the picture I have attached... would this mean the vac was rebuilt August of 1934?? If so, that was pretty soon for a rebuild I would say!

 

[vacumaniac]

Would a customer back in the day have been able to send in a vac to Hoover for a rebuild? Similar to Kirby?

 

[rugsucker]

Hoover rebuild?

Hoover not only had the first practical upright but used national advertising to set up a network of dealers and then service centers as any vac will need service and belts,brushes,etc for customer satisfaction and increased sales.Hoover also had DTD salesmen until 1957 with many working out of the best dept store in the bigger cities.For smaller towns there was a service progam to periodicly visit smaller Hoover dealers for same day service and maintenence.With all this I beleive customer rebuild and repair was done at the service center level which is why many Hoovers will have date stamps on bottom similar to month-day-year stamp once used on library books.Factory rebuilds were probably to sell only with some seen in catalogs such as Aldens & Spiegal.

 

[hygiene903]

That's Right, Derek!

The rebuild date was August of 1934. And although it wasn't that old when it was rebuilt, it was probably traded in for a model 800 or 450. As I said before, that's how the Special program worked. Hoovers that were traded in for newer models were rebuilt at the plant, then sold as a Special at a considerably lower price than their lower priced model, so that those who couldn't afford a new Hoover could buy a like-new Hoover Special.
As Jimmy said, service, repair, and rebuilds of customer machines were taken care of by the local service center, and the factory rebuilds were for resale.
Jeff