Blue hoover Rescued from Thrift Store

[electrogirl]

Hello,

Here are some pics of a nice Blue Hoover convertible I "rescued" from the local thrift last week. I got her for the price of 9.99. This is model U4021 with original bag. Was scuffed as usual (perhaps that is best, makes for a cheaper price). I have since removed the black goo with Pete's magic eraser. There was also a small band aid on the lower part of the handle (don't know why), which I removed. The bag is original and very supple, just dirty and dusty.

I think people buy these vacuums and never think to empty the inner paper bag, this must have had 5 or more pounds of dirt inside. The bag was beyond full. I immediately installed a fresh C bag. The belt was shot too, when I removed it, it was oblong instead of round, I have installed a new replacement belt, cleaned the brushes (which were in decent shape, and took some steel wool to the axle and other parts on the roller that had light surface rust. I am also working on cleaning the outer bag. I wiped away a lot of surface grime. The bag is neat to me, because it is a snap bag as opposed to a zipper.

Let me know what you think.

 

[electrogirl]

Another picture.

 

[electrogirl]

The bag.

 

[electrogirl]

The bag from the back.

 

[electrogirl]

Underside

 

[electrogirl]

What I love about this vacuum, is the metal base on the underside. It feels "substantial" compared to the others I have with the plastic.

 

[rugmaster37]

Some Info on the mchine you have....

Hi Debbie,

I found your exact machine in my 1973-74 Century House Catalog showroom buyers guide. It had a retail price of $74.95.

Century House, like Service Merchandise, Zayre, Best and Whitmark had a interesting pricing system. the last four numeircal numbers in the ordering number denoted what you "actually" paid for the item. In this instance... the order number was K04Hoover-5497.

Meaning many people at least in my area and yours too as Century House had many outlet stores around you and I only had to pay $54.97 plus appliacable taxes. This made it Hoover's "affordable" or "budget" cleaner and fairly popular.

I've heard that this machine did not have the benefit of a long production run. I'm probably wrong tho.

I will let one of the Hoover guys dig out that info for you if they respond to your post.

Kind regards

Chad

 

[electrogirl]

Thank you for the info Chad. I asked Tom Anderson about this machine and basically he told me the same thing. That it was a budget model sold through hardware and specialty stores. It was not promoted as heavily by Hoover as their main machines were and thus had a limited run.

 

[electrogirl]

Oh and thank you for giving me a list of stores that sold this machine. I remember well Service Merchandise stores.

 

[electrogirl]

Chad,

Would you be able to scan that page from your Century House catalog and email it to me?

 

[rugmaster37]

on scanning...

Unfortunately, I do not have a scanner. However Kyle Krichbaum has a copy of it and may have the ability to do this for you...

I do not remember if he has a scanner or not on his puter' at home..


Kyle any thoughts???


Chad

 

[electrogirl]

Thanks Chad, I will try to contact Kyle, maybe he can assist me.

I appreciate all the info you gave me on this vacuum. I do not remember Century House as I grew up in NY and we had Service Merchandise, and I do not recall the other stores.

 

[hoover1060]

Electro...

hang on to that one, its a rare bird!! The only other one of those I know of is in Tom Anderson's collection in North Canton!

 

[petek]

Were all the snap bag convertibles the economy models? I have a lime green one and a brown one with a green hood Cdn models 1012 & 1030.

 

[hoover1060]

Snap bags

were the economy models, the deluxe models had zipper bags

 

[vac-o-matic]

Penncrest Version?

A couple of months ago I found the Penncrest version of this model in a thrift store also, and for 9.95. I saw it from behind first and wondered what model it was as I've never seen a baby blue metal-based convertible. It has a matching handle grip and zip bag. I walked around it and discovered it was a Penncrest. The plastic hood and base were grungy, and that's sugar coating it. I plugged it in and turned it on and it sounded a little rough but salvageable. It's a model A137 I believe and has the small square Penncrest sticker in the round hole on the front of the base. I was glad to find it as I have several Hoover convertibles, but no Penncrest. I called my friend Marty who's quite the Hoover guru here in St. Louis. After a spa day with Marty, it came back looking and running like new! I can't believe the wonders he worked with it. I was suprised to see the handle grip and zip bag on the lower end model. You would think they would've put that on the actual Hoover models, as it's a non-headlight model. Anyway I now have a Penncrest in my collection and a pretty one at that. Baby blue bumper too! Kudos to Marty for bringing it back to life!

 

[myvacsrock]

ok lemme go get my book

 

[myvacsrock]

here you go!

View attachment 10-23-2007-15-10-36--myvacsrock.jpg

 

[myvacsrock]

ok i scanned but it isn't letting me put it up

View attachment 10-23-2007-15-12-50--myvacsrock.jpg