Yes, the bag, the bag. The air-choking, dust-belching, dirt-spewing, odor-radiating cloth bag.
For me, the cloth bag somehow epitomizes all that I like about old vacuum cleaners. There's just something about the way the big cloth bag hangs from the handle that has such a visually appealing and satisfying appearance.
Ditto for when it's being operated and the turgid, air-filled bag is pressing against the handle and slightly rocking up and down as the machine is pushed back and forth. I could watch a custodian or "lady of the house" using an old Kirby, Sanitaire, Royal, etc., for hours - just enjoying how the bag looks. And it's also fun to watch a Kirby being used with the hose and seeing the bag and handle "jiggle" when the machine is tugged around the room.
Granted, these visual elements surely are archetypes impressed onto my mind probably from infancy, but I still enjoy seeing upright vacuum cleaners with cloth bags. It just looks good. Correct. Satisfying.
A vacuum cleaner with a big plastic (and usually ugly) bulge protruding from its handle just doesn't look the same.
