I was just about to post the very thing that Thunderhexed sa
... he took the words right out of my mouth! While there is clearly a beauty and desirability around a vintage machine in glistening-new condition, it's not the way most vacuum cleaners were that I remember. Most of them were well used. Kirbys in particular are absolutely stunningly beautiful when all buffed out and glistened, but how many in that condition did you ever see in someone's home?
I only remember two cases --
When I was about five I guess, we visited one of my Uncles in Richmond, Virginia. I went looking for the vacuum cleaner of course, and found it -- a gloriously beautiful brand-new Kirby. The year would have been 1961, 1962 at the latest, so it would have most likely been a 561. It had red and gray trim and the dark gray speckled bag. It was standing in the corner of their bedroom and just glistened like a mirror! I was at once attracted and frightened --- at that time I was still afraid of Kirbys so I kept my distance, but I clearly recall how beautiful it was. That was the first time I had seen a new one.
The other one was a certain Dual 50. You can read about that on the link below if you haven't. It's a fun story!
All the many other Kirbys I remember were dulled out. Most did, at that time, still have original bags and trim however. So that, in a way, is how I like my machines to look --- all original, but not shiny. And that is, I suppose, why I don't get more ambitious about buffing them all out. Beautiful as they look, they remind me more of the "sweepers from my youth" when they look like they're being used!
And of course there is my "special" (e.g., mentally disturbed haha!) obsession with my Aunt Dabney's Kirby -- I've spoken of it many times -- a well-used machine that was, from as best I can recall, a 514 or 515, that she used most often with the hose and wand, but with the rug tool from her green Eureka Roto-matic canister. I only recall seeing her use the Kirby once as an upright, and then one time when I was there when she was babysitting me, she was polishing the bedroom floors upstairs with it. Another story I've told probably too many times!
I do not know why she preferred using the Kirby in that way. The suction in the early single-speed motors was pretty weak, and that Eureka nozzle was hardly the greatest thing available! It really did not do a good job of concentrating the suction.
And the length of the single gray Kirby wand with the Eureka nozzle, even with the long neck, was fairly short and my Aunt was fairly tall, so she was obliged to stoop over and sort of scrape away at the carpet, vigorously going to and fro with the nozzle, which would make the hose jiggle about and in turn cause the bag and handle to wiggle!
When she would tug on the hose to move the machine, the handle would dip backward slightly, taking the bag with it, then when the machine stopped the handle would jerk back up again, pulled back in place by the taut, fat bag.
I have replayed that scenario over and over with my 515! (Okay, you can call off the men in the white coats, thank you!!)
To this day, I love setting up my 515 with the hose, wand, and, yes, the green Eureka nozzle. Something about just seeing it standing that way in my living room really makes my heart start pounding! And I am very particular about this --- it has to be arranged only in the ways I remember seeing it, or it doesn't "look right." I am sure no one else here can identify with this, hahahahahahaha!!!
And here's a REEEEALLY strange thing I like doing, while I'm on a tell-all rant.......
I =LOVE= to start up one of my old Kirbys and then go outside and walk around the house listening to the sound from out of doors.
I just wish someone was actually in there using the machine so the pitch of the motor would go up and down, but actually just hearing that very distinctive Kirby Whine emanating from a window is quite a thrill!
I like doing the same thing with an Electrolux Model E with the polisher attachment. There's no other sound in the world like the eerie, high-pitched warble and hissing that the Electrolux polisher makes, and it's a big kick to go outside and hear it running from the inside, pretending someone is in there using it!
If you've never done this, try it -- it's great fun! But would be best, probably, to do it when you're home alone lest you elicit concerned stares from family members!
But back to the topic ... I guess I do in a way prefer to see old machines that LOOK old, even though they are, granted, far more beautiful when looking new.
http://www.137.com/kirbyd50
