Early Filtex..

[kenkart]

I got this from our own Mr Lester, Aint it pretty!!

 

[kenkart]

Now I need..

Original hose and attachments, I made up the hose, it works but isnt original, now if I can find one of the later Filtexes I will have a pair.

 

[kenkart]

As far

As i know, these came out in 38 and were made until the early 50s, believe it or not, its made out of a cardboard tube..

 

[kenkart]

The cord..

Is not anything ive ever seen before,the plug is similar to a Belden but not exactly.

 

[vac-o-matic]

That is a beautifully designed machine, much more so I think than the later model. Were their suction similar or better than a Lux 30? The plug on the cord is the same plug on the Kirby 505 that I grew up with, and the other end was the same only the larger round female version that went into the switch. Don't know if that was the original cord, but was the only cord we ever had on it.

 

[electrolux137]

Vac-o-matic is correct ... that is an early Belden cord and, yes, the ones they made for the Kirby 505 had matching - but larger - female plugs for the motor end.

I don't know when they changed the male end to the type that we think of as the "classic" Belden plug [see ad below] but I'm guessing later 1940s as all the Lux XXXs I've seen had Belden plugs with the newer plug. Belden's later Kirby cords had flat male plugs with the Kirby logo on them.

Hans, you didn't tell the best part about this Filtex -- who it belonged to before I had it! It was Stan Kann's! He gave it to me quite a few years ago. He never was thrilled with it because, to him, "it's a noisy thing!" I dropped enough hints about how fabulous it was and finally one day he said, "Well, go ahead, take it home since you like it so much."

I have other machines that Stan gave me, so I thought it would be nice to give this Filtex to Hans. And I have two other Filtexes, one just like it and one that I think is a little earlier because the logo treatment is different. It's the one the left-most side of the photo below.

The hose you made for it looks nice - the original is black with silver "dotted" stripes. See photo.

 

[electrolux137]

Belden cord ad, showing the classic plug that they used for many years.

 

[tolivac]

Filtex-interesting looking vacuum-The body cardboard-is it really "hardboard" a wood product made sort of like paper-but as the name implies hard and stronger than cardboard-like wood-it can be bent into-well the tubular body for a vacuum cleaner from steam and pressure.For the Filtexes body-a simple rectangle of hardboard bent into a pipe like tube!And it has lasted this long and still functions!Did these use a paper bag or a cloth dump bag?

 

[kenkart]

The newer ones..

Are the hard body or masonite type product, this one is just a big cardboard tube similar to the Eureka/Wards machines of the late 40s early 50s.It uses a dump out cloth bag, but I put a paper bag in it, it has very good suction.

 

[dysonman1]

Black and Decker made that motor. Before they were Lamb electric. That's the second version that you have Hans. As Charles said, the first (model 1) had a round label that said "Hygienic Filtex" on it. The Filter was FIRST called the Progress in 1934 and they were made in Jackson, Michigan. Once Mr. Hoppe (who owned the company) passed away, his wife "Emma Hoppe" moved production to Los Angeles, and changed the name to Hygienic Filtex. They slogan was "Designed by a woman, For a Woman".

 

[kenkart]

Tom..

This is also a model 1 , I wonder if this might be early post war, I think the more modern grey ones came out in the early 50s ????

 

[kenkart]

RE Motor..

It does sound different from the Lamb motors, more Birtmanlike..When did Lamb take over BandD motors???

 

[luxman107]

There is nothing like the design of old braided hoses. Like a work of art. Great pics

 

[dysonman1]

Lamb took over Black and Decker motors in 1946. Black and Decker also made the Rexair motor until after World War II, when Rexair began to make their own. Black and Decker actually bought Arrow Motors, which was owned by Air-Way and sold to B & D after the lawsuit from Hoover over the beater bars on the twin motor models was over.

 

[dysonman1]

Model 1 Filtex

 

[electrolux137]

 


 


<span style="font-size: medium;">I'd hate to tell y'all what's at "417-423 East 15th Street Los Angeles" now.......</span>

 

[tolivac]

Would like to see the cardboard Filtex used in some of their machines-sounds like it isn't the usual "cardboard".It would have to be pretty tough grade to be used in a vacuum cleaner body surviving to this day!From my workings in the power tool industry-BD made their own motors for their higher end commercial-industrial power tools.Esp the core drill and magnetic drill press motors.These were motors that used 4 3/4" wide brushes on an equally wide communtator and were made for 15 and 20A 120V.Milwaukee made a similar motor for their core drills and magnetic drill presses.Real beasts-and torque--They could drive core drill bits to 24"!I have repaired,and repacked grease in several of these under both brands.Brush replacements were another common repair to these.Core drills often have to run for a long time while boring concrete.

 

[collector2]

Filtex wasn't the only company to use the heavy cardboard bodies on their machines. The Goblin vacuums from the 30's to the mid 50's use them too.

 

[kenkart]

It worked fine

As long as it never got wet or someone happened to pick up a live cigarette!!!When I was a teen ager I got a Wards cleaner made out of cardboard that had a hole burned inside it, not quite but almost all the way thru!! I have one just like it now though that is in great shape..