Electrolux Product History

[kenkart]

RE vacuum prices..

Isnt it odd that several store brand vacuums were actually higher priced than some of the door to door machines, for example, An Automatic E was 89.95 in 56, an Apex Strato 5502 was 120.00 and in 57 it went up to 150.00 with the model 5555, The 1952 GE 815 was 99.50,and the 1955 Westinghouse canister, was 100.00, the 1952 Jet 99 was 99.95 and the first Constellation"the grey model 82" was 97.50, but, as the years went on, most of these went down in price as the door to door machines went up.Only the Apex price stayed high...and by 1963 they were gone.

 

[rugsucker]

Electrolux

The Vactric above is similar to the Elux B-3 and B-6 that were replaced in the late 50s with new polisher to match the AF.(the polishers had 2 speed foot switch at rear of motor hood.)
The XX had a smooth handle as I recall.It was shown on a 1974 wall hung plate with the new Golden J and previous models and very little mention otherwise.
Electrolux was said to have lost money on the Model T.Good vac but many salesmen would be afraid to ask the price of the deluxe Automatic and settle for the quick,cheap sale.Of the very few Ts I have seen some had original switch fail and hole drilled for replacement.(There was a trend of low price vacs at this time including the little known AirWay 85,GE Swivel Top without wheels,basic Sears-etc and more.)
The first B-8 shampooer (1965?) was only one with starburst.I think the transition from polisher to shampooer was-Tshape handle polisher,then 'lawn mower'style handle polisher with solid metal bottom plate and drip hose for wax to the side,then shampoo tank held on 2 'bumps' between new style handle and metal bottom with center hole for sud shield lock and hole through base for larger shampoo tube.There was a way to update a later polisher to a shampoo/polisher by drilling a hole for shampoo tube using template provided to service depts and changing metal bottom.At one time there was a Kit A and Kit B with various shampoo parts.
The B-9 is more often call the Floor Pro and always had the unit on handle with cordwinder in rear and sham tank in front.Ealy units were troublesome and I still prefer the B-8!

 

[caligula]

Hi Tom.

I'm certainly no expert on the 'war years' of Electrolux, Hoover, Kirby or any other brand, I only tell what was told to me, or read in various publications. The bulk of my information on 'Electrolux at war' comes from the book 'Electrolux Corporation-the first forty years, starting with the last paragraph on page 24, and ending on page 32. As far as the XX is concerned, it's not mentioned, but the XXX is, frequently! On the following few posts I'll print my source of info. Remember too that I'm talking about production at the Electrolux plant, not sale to the general public.

It's also quite possible that production of the XX began in 1940, but the date set by Gustaf. E. Lofgren, (the head of engineering) was Christmas 1941. One of the pre production XX's migh have been given to Consumer Reports and others prior to that date so it could be tested and evaluated.

The XX has always been a bone of contention because none of us know the exact date it was introduced. But here's what Electrolux top brass has to say about the war years.

Alex Taber.

 

[caligula]

Electrolux at war.

Because some pages have test on a color background I have to use my back-up copy and offer text only, then follow with the graphics. This is chapter 3- The War Years.

 

[caligula]

Electrolux at war.

Page 26.

 

[caligula]

Electrolux at war.

Page 27.

 

[caligula]

Electrolux at war.

Page 28.

 

[caligula]

Electrolux at war.

Page 29.

 

[caligula]

Elextrolux at war.

Page 30 is the start of chapter 4, and the caption is 'The Booming Decade (1945-1954.) Unfortunately the text is on a color field and dosen't print well, so I'm going to type in the text and show only the graphic.

"September 11, 1944, was another significant date in Electrolux history. It was on that daythea the War Production Board granted the company permission to resume, on a limited basis, the output of cleaners for civilian use, for the first time since March, 1942.

Therefore, even before the factory itself was given the green light to reconvert from war work, the companywas able to make a start on the big job of filling the great backlog of preferential post warsales contract orders. Finding that it still had a fairly substantial stock of parts on hand, Electrolux opened a temporary assembly (continued in next post.

 

[caligula]

Electrolux at war.

Page 31.

 

[caligula]

And finally,

the last page of, 'Elextrolux at war.'

 

[caligula]

Electrolux XXX.

Since the caption of picture showing the production staff holding the Model XXX's, reads. "All smiles as post-war consumer production is underway at the Old Greenwich plant." I can only assume that this confirms the fact that the model XX was history.

Again, let me state that I'm no expert on the war years at Electrolux, in fact I wasn't even born till September of 1950, but if I'm correct there were no Electrolux vacuum cleaners made from December 8, 1941, till September 11, 1944.

As always, I welcome information to the contrary.

Alex Taber.

 

[dysonman1]

It takes a great amount of time and effort to design and develop (and patent) a new model. The huge 'start up' cost of the model XX (which used a unique motor) was certainly not recovered when the war started. I have no idea why they chose not to bring it out again after the war. Perhaps because there was little need for an 'economy model' - after all, the money that women had after the war (from their jobs working in factories) was more than enough to buy a $69 Electrolux. As we all know, the model XXX became the 'economy model' in 1952 with the launch of the LX.

 

[paul]

Alex,

Thanks for posting the polisher ad and the excerpts from the Electrolux book--very interesting!

 

[paul]

Jimmy,

Thanks for the additional information on the polisher/scrubbers. You have me curious about the models. So was there a B-1 through B-6--and were those just the floor polishers that went on the end of the hose of the blower port?

 

[paul]

Erik (re: reply #17),

Thanks for the info. Didn't know about the Model 1452--I'm taking for granted that that was the Olympia SE.

Also, from your information, I think I have a Silverado SE. The fact that it had a cord winder through me off, but like I mentioned previously the handle is definitely a SE type. Interestingly, the bag chamber ID simply reads, "1505".

 

[caligula]

Hi Tom.

Gustaf E. Lofgren was both the head of engineering, and Vice President of manufacturing at Electrolex, and while I don't know the exact year he was appointed, he was with the company when the factory opened in June of 1933, and was still holding that position in 1964 when the book 'Electrolux Corporation the first forty years' was published. His name also appears on 90% of the patents in my personal book of patents. He had immense pull with the U.S. Patent office, and produced dozens of prototypes for the ejection system. Those prototypes started in 1945, and didn't end till the model LXI was well into production. I fully agree that it's far from easy to patent anything, but his seems to have been a revolving door polocy with the patent office. Between 1944 to 1949 net prophets for Electrolux were in the millions. So obtaining patents were easy. What took the time was going from patent filed to issued, those took on average three years. Once a patent was filed it could go into production as patent pending.

In the case of the model XX, I have no clue, but the copy of the patent I've got reads "Gustaf E. Lofgren- vacuum cleaner. Patent #2,335,428, filed March 12, 1941, (issued) November 30, 1943.

My only interest in this at all is to provide Paul with the best information I can, but the model XX has me stumped.

Alex Taber.

 

[suckolux]

I love taking a look at all the history and stories members here have to share

 

[rugsucker]

-Electrolux-

Alex,Great wartime history.I have never seen this but do have a similar one for Hoover.
Paul, I only know of the B-3 & B-6 that was a 3 brush polisher.Not sure if there was a 1,2,4 etc.This polisher was seen again in US in the 80s as a Viking from ABLux of Europe with added shampoo tank.The polisher attachment(for suction,not blower)was a common option from late 40s through 50s.
Special-The Special model mentioned by Eric would have exactly same hose & atts as the Automatics but no chrome or auto door and the cordwinder was optional.

 

[dysonman1]

@Jimmy M.

The first Special (the one that matched the Olympia) even made the cord "halo" an option. If you didn't buy the cord winder, or the halo, you were to wrap a vinyl strap around the coiled cord and strap it to the handle. The halo became standard on the version that matched the Silverado.