Cleaning out Tom Gasko's Vacuum pit

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luxboy

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
166
On Sunday.. John Pease and myself went to Tom Gasko's house in Desloge to help him clean out his vacuum storage "pit" in preparation for the St. Louis mini meet. We call it the pit because it is the crawlspace underneath his living room so you have to crawl around on your knees to maneuver around. Tom has more vacuums and vacuum accessories than I have ever seen in my life. The three of us carried everything out of this "pit" and resurfaced the gravel and did a bit of organizing and then brought everything back in. We had a great time cracking jokes and singing songs from the soundtrack of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" while working. Tom made us a great lunch and even baked a cake. John and I even acquired a couple of additons to our collections during the process. It truly was a great time and I know that all of us are looking forward to seeing everyone here in STL for the mini meet. Here are a few pictures from today.

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Before and after pictures.

Here are some before and after pictures and some pictures of Toms vacuums as they were brought into the living room.

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and last but not least..

My new Filter Queen powernozzle that Tom gave me .. Can't wait to get the machine for it

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Looks like fun.. are those FQ 201 models in the background? I have one with wheels and was told it was FQ's first vac, is that true?
 
Tom,

What year is the Airway that is orange, I never saw that color? I am in the process of aquiring my mom's turquoise 88 MarkII. She bought it in 1970. The motor has already been rebuilt but it needs a few parts and I was wondering if they are still available. It needs the wheel so it can roll horizontally, if possible the turquoise original hose, Vee duster and I would love the Rugmaster. Our vac guy hooked it up with a Eureka powernozzle, but I would like an Airway one to make it authentic. If you have ideas on these parts let me know. My email is [email protected]

Thanks
Mike
 
Hey Everyone

The Filter Queen model 200 came out in 1939. Royal was building the "health-mor" upright (which was a Royal Super with a shorter handle and a detatchable cord) so they built the canister for Health-Mor, the model 200. It didn't have wheels till after world war II. During the war, Health-Mor went to Alex Lewyt (who owned a company that built things for other firms) and asked him to build what would become the model 350 Filter Queen (which used the 'brand new for the time' Lamb motor). Alex looked at the blueprints and drawings and said "NO". Of course, he just copied the machine and brought it out after the war as the Lewyt model 40, for which he was promptly sued (and lost) and had to pay Health-Mor a small fortune. Royal agreed to build the model 350 in 1949 for Health-Mor and that was the first model Filter Queen to have 'real' suction, as the model 200 with it's Royal-built 5 amp motor didn't have very good suction but DID filter the air very well and sold like hotcakes.

The Filter Queen power nozzle was imported from Progress in Germany in the late 1960's and was used to "save a sale or make a sale". The machine would have to be brought in to the selling office's repair center for the electrical outlet to be put on the front of the cleaner. The cord ran along the hose and wand, and the tool would attach to the bottom curved Filter Queen wand. It's very rare (like Rainbow's "oreck - built" power nozzle). It would have gone with a model 33.

Yes, Semus, that IS a Triple Vortex machine. I have one of EVERY model dyson ever made, including the Cyclon (#331 of 500)and the ReCyclone, the Zorbster, the MotorHead, etc.

Orange Air-Way was made in 1977. Derreck gets first pick of the RugMaster and original Hose for his Air-Way 88 Mark II, but, if you are very nice to me....
 
Tom, in one of the photos, I couldn't help but notice a Whirlpool CVR-2000/3000 in your collection. Would you have an interest in a sale or trade? If so, you can email me at [email protected]. Thanks.

Karl
 
Karl:
We can work something out. I saved the Whirlpool because it was the 'first Oreck'. Many of the cleaners in my collection have been saved from the crusher because I know that someone in the club will want it one day.
 

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