Eureka 260 flyer

[texbodemer]

I got this Eureka 260 flyer from the McLean Museum, and was wondering if the "Cam Lock" described on the bag means those "Heavy Duty Commercial" bags meant for the Sanitaire Tradition would fit earlier Eurekas as well. I just assumed that all Eureka F and G outer bags were attached with two screws by the bellows, but this has me curious

 

[eurekaprince]

This is great Nick! Thank you so much!!!

A few comments:

This must be for the very first version released a year or two before Eureka’s golden 50th anniversary in 1959 (so this is from 1957 or 1958). We had the 1960 Canadian version - the green was replaced with Lagoon Blue and the golden anniversary gold headlight frame was replaced with silver. But the graphic on the bag was identical to the one shown on this spec sheet. Consumer Reports rated this Super Automatic very well, better than the competing Hoover Convertible. But it noted that the tool converter which slid into the hose port in front of the headlight could damage floors if you moved the motor unit while cleaning with the tools. By 1960, Eureka changed the tool conversion system to one that used a plastic blue bottom plate to seal off the suction and protect floors while cleaning with tools.

The clasp on the bottom of the outer bag is interesting: the User Guide instructed the owner to competely remove the outer bag from the machine and lay it on a table with the zipper side up to make it easier to replace the inner F & G paper bag.

I always thought our Super Automatic had a steel handle and a steel base - interesting to read that these were made of heavy aluminum!

 

[eurekaprince]

Another comment: the spec sheet says “tools lock - don’t fall apart in use”. Our 1960 set of tools was all friction fit - no locking buttons or latches on any of the wands or tools. I think this was an error on the spec sheet. I never saw any Eureka Williams tools that were not just friction fit.

 

[texbodemer]

Instruction manual

@eurekaprince, would you be able to scan the instruction manual?

 

[eurekaprince]

I would love to say that I still have the User Guide, but it’s long gone. It was actually more of a glossy two-sided sheet that had a hole on top from which you hung it on a nail or hook in your closet. We kept ours with the packs of dust bags in the back of the cardboard tool caddy where you stored the hose.

The last I saw of our blue Super Automatic and its tool box was when we gave it to my aging uncle who was a widower. I’m sure it got thrown out after he died.

 

[rugsucker]

"Tools Lock--"

There was a time in the mid 50s that a few Eureka tools(one wand,floor & rug tool)had a pin that pushed and twisted to lock.
Great information above on a great and beautiful vac!

 

[paul]

Nice score, Nick!

Re: the cam lock versus the screw bag connection, I wonder if it allowed for the option of not using a paper bag? Or it may have been that the cloth outer bags had the cam lock, and the vinyl outer bags were attached to the bellows. My guess is that the Sanitaire Tradition cloth bags would fit a Model 260.

We should ask someone in Illinois which models were the 50th anniversary ones and why the green & gold colors were chosen (if they had anything to do with the jubilee). Brian's information is different than what I found in newspaper advertising. I found nothing that suggested special anniversary colors, and the anniversary ads were in 1960 instead of 1959.

 

[texbodemer]

Maybe...

Maybe we'll be able to get Eureka as documented as Hoover!

 

[eurekaprince]

I guess it makes sense that Eureka touted their anniversary year after it reached 50 years old in 1959. Could even be that the company’s birthday was actually in late 1919 and so the celebration was for a full year following 1959. You may be correct that the green and gold styling of both the Super Automatic 260 upright and the Super Rotomatic 960 canister were meant for both 1959 and 1960 sales promotions. Timing of design, production, distribution and marketing was a lot slower in those days….

 

[paul]

I just found an online snippet that the Eureka Williams Company celebrated its Jubilee on the evening of Friday, June 3, 1960.

Maybe Eureka Canada observed it in 1959?

 

[eurekaprince]

After doing a bit more research, it looks like the Eureka Company was founded in 1909 but only officially incorporated in 1910. So I guess 1960 was the official jubilee year…following 1960, the 260 Super Automatic went from green+gold to blue+silver….

 

[paul]

Gotcha, although it's interesting that later anniversaries were observed according to Eureka's organization rather than its incorporation.

 

[eurekaprince]

I think I may have mentioned this on Vacuumland before, but our blue Eureka Super Automatic 260 ended up with an anniversary green handle neck about 10 years after we bought it! The notches at the back of the original blue neck started to wear down to the point that the handle would no longer lock in the upright storage position. So Montreal’s main vacuum repair shop - Vacuum Rebuilders - took our cleaner in to repair it. I was horrified when it came back with a neck in the wrong colour!!!!