CLUB ELECTRO-HYGIENE 3 Wheeler NO model #

[daddyoh]

I have been picking for about 5 years and I do not think I have ever bought an item I could not figure out the whet/when/why of until now. I have been googling for hours now and can only find clues. Is it a frankenmachine, altered beyond recognition through the years? Or some patchwork early demo model for salesmen? I can't find this arrangement of parts on a single machine anywhere on the web. Maybe no one has posted a picture of this badge, but I can not find one that says "CLUB". The handle attachment has a patent badge, not consistent with other Electro-Hygiene machines I have found. I think I spotted the wooden handle finisher on a vintage Electrolux? Or Eureka? I don't know. I have looked at every old vacuum on the internet at this point and they are starting too bleed together. The crystal cartridge looks just a little different. It has 3 wheels, a detachment plug on the side of the motor, a shake-out bag that says "Made for Royal", no model number, and a 5-digit serial number with no dashes, 22740. It runs like a champ. I am not an expert in anything, and by the very nature of picking you can expect this bad boy to show up on eBay, but I would like to have something more for my description than "weird old vacuum cleaner". So to that end, I shall now digress, and post many pictures and wait to see what the community of vacuum experts thinks of my find.
Thanks!
James

 

[chad]

hard to tell

The early machines weren't very well documented. And, when times get hard, companies use whatever they had on the shelf to build a product to sell. Having said that, I've found cobbled together parts in units that I swore had never been apart. Also, depression era people used what they had to repair what they had. I've even built a few Oldsmo-chevrolets. Make sure you post a link when ya fleabay it, for whatever reason I like stuff like this.

 

[chad]

Ok . It's a rebadged Royal. See this link http://www.ornery.net/Royal_Metal_Upright.pdf

 

[cuffs054]

Chad, that book was very interesting. I do have a question, the book and other sources use the term "crystal chamber" what does that mean or pertain to?

 

[daddyoh]

yep...

Thanks for the response Chad. I actually saw that article during my marathon of googling Electro-Hygiene. There are so many inconsistencies between my machine and the models in that article that I thought this thing was maybe cobbled up at a vacuum store and sold to make the shop some money off of spare parts. I probably would not be so intrigued with the thing and sold it on that assumption, if it were not for the motor housing. Or more specifically the badges thereon. I cant find another example of a serial number like that nor the CLUB part of the badge, and when I have something that there are no pictures of on the internet it makes me nervous I have something unique and I would hate to screw up a historical piece. Because if it is the cobbled up machine and that is all there is to it, it would probably be worth more in pieces. But if this machine is actually a very early example of Electro-Hygiene attempting to get there product launched or perhaps demonstrated prior to production, then I suspect the machine is much more interesting whole. In that article the model 80 serial # was 80-8116 with apparently 80 representing the model number. My serial # is 22740. If the motor is NOT Electro-Hygiene, that would mean literally every major component of this machine does not match another, and the fan housing is the only thing Electro-Hygiene about it.
I certainly will post here when it goes for sale, i'm not a vacuum collector, and this, or pieces of it perhaps ;-), definitely belong in the collectors' hands.
James

 

[hismastersvoice]

Mine is similar but not branded with anything that says club. I just picked it up yesterday so excuse the dust.

 

[daddyoh]

Awesome

Thanks for the pictures! Your crystal chamber looks just like mine. Your motor housing has 2 wheels. I wonder if the single wheeled housing typically dates further back? Also, the snout on mine looks like mid 20's not like the model 80. And even though the motor housing is 3 wheeled (assuming this dates it a bit) the output is on the same side as a model 80, meaning the motor would have to spin in the same direction as a model 80, opposite the mid 20's royals. I would be curious to see the serial# plate if you have the time. I have found a serial typed out but have been unable to find a picture. All the research has made me curious. ;-)
James

 

[daddyoh]

Hmmm.....

Just found a machine the most like mine I have seen so far. It is in the Ornery article mentioned above. He has the Serial # 1033063, which is 7 digits but minus the dash. I wonder if my 5 digit serial number dates mine older than this machine, and I wonder if there is more information about this machine?
James

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

daddyoh

James,

Your 103 or whatever old Royal you found appears to be quite an early machine going by the single rear wheel and the height adjuster design.

~Ben

 

[human]

I'm saying this in complete ignorance, but one thing that stands out about photos of that machine is that it has two different patent plates on it. That makes me lean toward thinking could be a very early 'frankenvac', which in and of itself is pretty darned cool. It's a shame the patent plates don't have the actual patent numbers on them, just dates. That would be an excellent clue to its origins.

Speaking of 'Oldsmo-Chevys', my dad was a district sales manager for Oldsmobile from 1959-1991 and told me of a colleague of his who in the mid-1980s picked up a Cutlass Supreme coupe to drive as a company car. When he got in it, he realized something wasn't quite right. From the factory, it had almost a complete interior for a Chevy Monte Carlo! How that got past quality control is anybody's guess. Lucky for them it got put into company service instead of dealer inventory. For better or worse, the car didn't remain a 'Monte Cutlass' for long. The correct interior components were swapped in at a nearby Olds dealership.

 

[chad]

cuffs054

There s actually a thread discussing exactly what a "crystal chamber" does. Looks like snake oil to me, but the fellers talking about it know a LOT more about it than I do. http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?22598_16

 

[hismastersvoice]

Oddly, mine has nothing stamped in the model number or serial number boxes...

 

[daddyoh]

Evidently Electro-Hygiene was flying by the seat of their pants in the early years! Thanks for the picture. That really cleared things up lol. I did notice yours seems to be on the bottom of the motor housing. My little wierdo is on the side.

 

[hismastersvoice]

Yeah it's on the bottom. Mine also has 2 rear wheels for what it's worth. Yours is most likely earlier.

 

[hygiene903]

Interesting!

James, I have never seen an Electro-Hygiene with the word "Club" on the nameplate, or with a single rear wheel. I doubt if it is a "Frankenvac," as the parts are all genuine Royal/Electro-Hygiene. I do have 2 Royals with a single rear wheel, one is an early straight suction model that also has no model number with the bag outlet on the opposite side, and the other is a late 40's or early 50's model 153.
Brandon, although the data plate on the bottom of yours doesn't show a model or serial number, they should also be stamped on the nameplate on top of the fan housing. I'm sure when you find it yours will most likely be a model 230. It could also be a 94, but from the pics it didn't have the hammered finish that set the 94 apart from the rest. Also the bag on yours is a zipper bag from the mid-60's. Genuine Electro-Hygiene, but not original to that model.
Jeff

 

[daddyoh]

To polish or not to polish...........

So I am going to be posting this unusual vacuum for auction on e-bay soon. Should I sell it with the patina or polish it up real pretty?
Thanks in advance!
James

 

[charleskirby66]

Polish

Because everybody loves nice things.

 

[coffeecanman]

Unless a vacuum is super rare, cleaned and polished will always fetch more money. An old dirty vacuum appeals to a much smaller audience than a clean and shiny one.

 

[daddyoh]

Thanks

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll get some elbow grease out.... ;-)