Demo gifts...

[hmc1981]

I know several manufacturers would give people a gift of some kind after an in-home demonstration...

Here is a set of knives I have that were given after a demonstration for a D80.

What are some of the “prizes” you all have in your collections? Who were The manufacturers?

Please share what you have! It’ll be fun to see!

 

[huskyvacs]

Very cool knife set! I've never seen anything like that before! All I got from Kirby was some leftover pads from the dirt meter demo (this was in 2002), which must have got thrown out during a garage cleanout at one point as I haven't seen them since.

 

[KirbyCollector01]

Suction Tester

In 2013 my parents scheduled a demo on the Sentria II. They ended up buying it after I decided to trade my nice Kirby Gsix to the Kirby dealer for a big discount. The dealer, she was very impressed on my knowledge of Kirbys and my collection I had at the time (1CR, Legend II, and Gsix). So She gave me the suction tester she used in her demos. It’s a strong durable plastic rectangular plate that’s 16 inches long and has a handle. You put the plate on the bottom of vacuum while it’s on and you have to try and pull it off. I still have it. It’s simple but pretty cool.

 

[rugsucker]

Kirby knives

Years ago I found one knife similar to above with yellow handle and round Kirby emblem.Some of the local Kirby salesmen would walk up to a door with a 2 litre soft drink or roll of paper towels as the gift for demo.While the home owner was reaching for it they were at the car bringing in the Kirby.

 

[dysonman1]

The Kirby dealers used to buy the biggest box of Tide, and bring that to the door. The Filter Queen dealers would offer a 'case of soup' (chicken noodle). Rainbow dealers often offer the Rainmate in exchange for a qualified demo.

 

[kirbysthebest]

Fairfax dealers would give a canned ham.

When I worked for Kirby, we gave the knife set. I think it cost us dealers somewhere around 45 cents for the four knives. Which we bought from Kirby, where SF owned the Quik Cut Knife division (now Ginsu). They were wonderful gifts, I actually still have a set that I use after all these years.

When One of the Kirby people was going around a few years ago, they were offering a free carpet shampoo.

The last demo I had with Rainbow the offered food coupons, I think others were offered the Rainmate, yet they don't actually give you the gift unless you buy. These were not door to door offers, however, it was contacts set through the home show.

 

[durango159]

Demo gifts are for advertisement/ cold call demos

I worked for Filter Queen around 2012 and then Rainbow around 2014.

Demo gifts only were given to those that called in for a demo based on an advertisement/ flyer program. In many cases for those programs, the people have no clue that their advertisement is anything related to a vacuum prior to calling.

If you are someone that knows Rainbow, looks them up online and calls to schedule a demo of one, you are not going to get a gift most likely!! The gifts were used in scenarios of an advertisement and a way to get people to watch what they were told was an approximate 45 minute product demonstration for which to give their opinion of.

Filter Queen had a "Poker game" scheme. A certain geographic area was mailed post cards and they were told call in to verify the winnings of the poker hand that was uncovered on their post card. At the end of the demo I would verify the poker card with my cheat sheet guide.

The majority of the gifts were a set of BBQ grilling tools-- it was like a 15 piece set of kebab holders, corn holders, spatulas, a knife, etc. The other very common gift was a knife set. It was around 10 knives including a chef knife, bread knife and 4 steak knives among others. The nicest gift I ever saw drawn was an Apple laptop. I didn't have that one with me for the demo, we had to come back another time to deliver that gift. The boss came along with me, and he put on a suit to deliver the Apple Laptop. We tried again at that time to get her to buy the Filter Queen but she still claimed financial blah blah blah.

With Rainbow we did turkey, hams or store gift cards. Depending on the flyer that the person called off would depend on the gift. Usually we were told to go to the local food store and find a ham or turkey for $10 or less to bring to them.

 

[vacman1961]

I remember when the Generation 3 came out, there was a Kirby distributor here on Long Island that was very aggressive, he used to send salespeople out and have then knock on doors asking "did you get your free Bananas today?" I remember seeing his salesman offer bananas and also they offered rolls of paper towels to get into homes to demonstrate. When my store was an area distributor dealer from the 60's to the mid 80's we gave free steak knives, which were made by Quikut, which was also a Scott and Fetzer company and later on they just offered a free room of carpet cleaning with the Rug Renovator.

 

[lesinutah]

Knives

Hey
Does anyone have the d80 knife set lying around perhaps willing to sell.
Les

 

[vacman1961]

Les there are a few Dual 80 sets on eBay right now as well as a few Dual 50, 50th Anniversary sets with gold plated blades. Search on eBay for Kirby knife sets or quikut knife sets, they are out there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Vintage-...=item4d72e3bea0:g:a5cAAOSw3EZa4l3y:rk:23:pf:0

 

[lesinutah]

Hey

Thanks for the info. I never seen before but ill be getting me some.
Les

 

[kenkart]

When I sold D-3s

In 82 and 83 we gave a set of Maxim knives, Carving knives.

 

[lesinutah]

Paych

I was looking on Google and I came across this sanTronic embroidered patch. Its likely a d80 patch as it is green. I just would like to see if anyone knows info on it.
Les