Eureka Golden Crown & Storage Hassock

[countryguy]

When I was a kid in the 60s, I remember my aunt had a Eureka Golden Crown with the storage hassock, same as shown in this Ebay ad. The only difference however was that it had 3 wands ie. 2 straight and 1 curved, and the rug/floor nozzles did not have the metal elbow attached to them. In all the Golden Crown pics and ads that I have seen on Ebay and elsewhere, the vac is always shown with just the 2 wands and the rug/floor nozzles having the metal elbow attached. Was the version my aunt had, only available in Canada? Did the U.S. models ever have the 3 wand version. Why the differnce? Looking at the hassock you can see the 2 bands at the bottom right of the lid which were used for the curved wand.

Thanks.
Gary

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304739358963

 

[oldcrankman]

Oh wow

She's a beauty, definitely eye catching with that shine.

 

[eurekaprince]

Hi Gary,

I think the debut of the Eureka Vibra-Beat nozzle is what caused the simultaneous debut of a single long curved wand that could allow for an easy transition between floor brush, regular carpet nozzle and Vibra-Beat nozzle. Before the arrival of the Vibra-Beat nozzle in 1960, or around that year, all Eureka canisters came with integrated necks on the floor brush and the carpet nozzle. With the arrival of the canned ham Mobile-Aire canister and its Vibra-Beat nozzle, the company introduced a separate curved wand that could connect to all three floor heads more easily. This also allowed for easier storage of the three different floor heads in the new cardboard tool caddy that came with the Mobile-Aire. I guess it was more economical to start offering the curved wand with all vacuums being sold by Eureka, including Super Rotomatic tub vacs and even upright attachment sets.

 

[countryguy]

Thanks Brian. My aunt's Golden Crown did not have the vibra-beat nozzle. I have a blue rotomatic that I bought on Ebay from a seller in the USA and it does have the vibra beat and the 3 wands (pics in my photo album). I just found it odd that I have never seen any vintage ads with the 3 wands with a Golden Crown. Also the ads showed a rubber like hose whereas my aunt's had a green cloth hose like in the Ebay listing. BTW, the cannister is missing the upside down plastic triangle with the Eureka badging placed above the footswitch.

 

[paul]

Hi Gary & Brian,

The Golden Crown was produced from February 1957 to September 1961 in two successive models: 960 & 960-A (Brian, there was no anniversary model Model 960-B; the ad that I posted in another thread was a typo according to Eureka's shipping record).

I did some database digging for print ads to construct a timeline of Eureka vacuum cleaner hoses. I also perused patents but was unable to find any assigned to Eureka Williams or Eureka for vacuum cleaner hoses, so they must have been outsourced. Brian, do you have any information?


Eureka Hose Type Timeline

Pre-1956: fabric (not sure when an attachment hose was first produced for uprights; first Eureka tank-type 1941)
1956-61: vinyl
1958-74: "unbreakable" ("nylon" used in ads beginning in 1960; these two terms seem to refer to the same type as some ads included both terms together)
1971: vinyl reintroduced


Eureka Williams apparently discontinued using the vinyl hoses for its canisters after 1961. They were brought back in 1971 with the launch of the Sweet Sixteen (1600) Series canisters.

The company prided itself on its ever-expanding customer options, so some Golden Crowns may have been originally sold with nylon hoses or they may have been replacements of the vinyl ones. The same theory may also be applied to some having a separate curved wand like the so-called canned ham tool sets.

Gary, regarding the inverted triangle with the E/W logo on your blue canister, the logo was introduced in 1957, but in the '50s, '60s, & '70s Eureka used several logos and logotypes on cleaners concurrently either because it retained the original over the years, or possibly as some type of indicator. The lagoon blue & white color line was launched in 1961 and would at some point include Model-Types 980-A,-B, 806-A-B, 880-A, 910-B-A, 912-A & 948-A—at least three sported an alternate to the E/W logo.

Attached are photos of some ads that mention each type of hose along with some showing the rug tool with the integrated curved wand that Brian mentioned. In addition I included some representations of the blue & white canisters I referenced.

1. 1952 Dec 7 BONHAM DAILY FAVORITE Roto-Matic ad - 8-foot fabric hose
2. 1956 Sep 26 SCHENECTADY GAZETTE Super Roto-Matic 910 & Roto-Matic 805 - new light vinyl swivel hose
3. 1958 Apr 6 ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS Eureka 960 - enlarged to show rug tool with permanent wand in hassock
4. 1958 Sep 9 LIFE p. 6 Mobile-Aire partial ad showing description - new unbreakable hose
5. 1960 Mar 11 SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN Models 910-B & 805-B - separate longer curved wand
5. 1962 Oct 5 RICHMOND COUNTY JOURNAL - Princess 702-A & Prince 703-A - unbreakable nylon hose
7. 1967 Sep 23 SPOKESMAN-REVIEW Eureka Deluxe Canister & Tools - unbreakable hose & rug tool with integrated curved wand
8. 1972 Dec 1 THE HOUR Roto-Matic Power Team 1260-A, Cordaway Canister 714-RT, Canister 550 - crush resistant vinyl hose
9. 1974 May 17 LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD Princess & Dial-A-Nap - nylon flexible hose
10. 1978 Oct 25 TOLEDO BLADE Eureka 2087 & Princess - vinyl flexible hose

11. Lagoon Blue & White Model-Type 980-A brochure - originally posted on another thread by TheSpiritof76.
12. 1961 May 4 SARASOTA JOURNAL - Model-Type 806-A in Lagoon Blue
13. 1961 Jun 2 CALGARY HERALD - Model-Type 880-A in Lagoon Blue & White

 

[eurekaprince]

Thank you Detective Paul! Amazing research there!

I always referred to the “nylon unbreakable” hoses as “braided” because of the way the nylon “gimp” strips were braided to create that unbreakable surface laid over the rubber tube inside. These braided hoses are famous for being leaky after a few decades because the rubber interior somehow develops cracks over the years.

Interesting note: in Europe, Germany’s Bosch company re-introduced retro-looking braided hoses a few years ago. Not quite sure why they did this, but the hoses came in some very cool colour combinations! These new ones really stood out in the marketplace which is now filled with canisters featuring silver vinyl hoses.

 

[eurekaprince]

Here’s a Bosch cleaner with a beautiful braided hose….

https://www.carousell.sg/p/bosch-vacuum-cleaner-151900584/

 

[countryguy]

Thank you Paul for all that info!

Here are a couple of pics of my rotomatic.

Gary

 

[paul]

You bet, Gary; thanks for your photos!

That's so cool that you have the hassock and the instruction book, and the cleaner itself is stunning! Attached is the shipping record for the 980-A by serial number.

By the way, you might consider getting a lagoon blue & white upright model 238 and one of the floor polishers or shampoo-polishers with the script logotype to make a set.

Keen Eurekaing!

 

[paul]

Of course, Brian! (Sorry, I neglected to scroll farther up than Gary's message earlier).

I always appreciate your knowledge and insights, including the new braided hoses made by Bosch of Germany! I also like the cool look of their colors and designs. Speaking of newer woven hoses, I believe Lux International uses them, too; or at least they have within the last 5-10 years. Maybe they're made again, due to their comparatively limited service than the vinyl ones; effecting a higher rate of replacement or possibly enough consumers have voiced their preference of them to the companies. I'm not sure how I would go about gathering clues for that!

By the way, have you used vintage G-E hoses? I have used a couple; albeit not for any long periods to survey their effectiveness, but short term they performed well.At one time I owned one and used it on the indoor/outdoor carpeting in my garage and patio. It worked well for that with its original braided hose. My impression was that it was a higher quality than Electrolux Corporation's due to the tightness of the weave and flexibility, not anything scientific.

Thanks for your kind and informative response and for appreciating my detective work!

 

[eurekaprince]

You’re welcome Paul! Yes…Lux International brought back braided hoses too. Very retro.

It’s interesting how Eureka focused on their “new” Vibra-Beat nozzle to brand their canister vacs in the early 1960’s. First, the new sleek “Mobile Aire” canned ham vac was the only model to feature the new nozzle. Then they dropped the word Mobile Aire on the canned ham and just called it the Vibra Beat canister, and added a cursive “VibraBeat” decorative label to the side of the canister. Then they rebranded the Super Rotomatic tub vacs as “VibraBeat” canisters as well. Even the cardboard tool caddies sported the VibraBeat name as if this was not only the name of the included deluxe carpet nozzle, but the name of the entire “package” being sold. I don’t think the later Princess and Prince canisters were ever packaged with a VB nozzle. They were more of a budget/apartment cleaner.