The History of the Powerteam and Those that Follow
In 1972, Eureka officially realeased their first line of Powerteam caniters. This line conisted of three models: the model 1285-A, model 1265-A, and 1260-A. The 1260 was the top of the line powerteam, it was branded “Empress II,” and it had the most features of all of the powerteam canisters like push button sucton controls, two speeds, swivel hose, an extra pet grooming tool which was exclusive to this model (otherwise it could be orderd at extra cost), and cord reel among others. The 1285 was also naturally the most expensive too. The 1265 was the next step down and still boasted some features like suction control and cord reel, but was not near as flashy as its sibling the 1285. The 1265 had the body style of what was preivioulsy known as the "Sweet 16", or the suction only 1600 line. The next and last was the budget Powerteam model 1260. The model 1260 did not feature any of the previous mentioned suction controls, or even a cord reel, it was the basic canister with a one stage motor and the standard tool kit and the electric hose and power head. These 3 were introduced in 1972, and ran untill 1975. These very early Powerheads were very distinct in the sense that the bottom plates did not screw on, they were held by two metal latches. Their wands did not have the typical, plastic cord tracks that were glued to the back of the wands. These had a plastic cord sheath, that was held in place by a total of 6 metal clips. These were very difficult to undo, so the powerteams initially came with a second set of wands to use for suction only cleaning of bare floors and such. Also, all Eureka powerheads made untill 1978 ONLY had the wooden, gold, painted disturbulator brusroll with one row of brushes and one row of red plastic beater bars. Their upright counterparts did have the Vibra-Groomer one at this point (why this is, I do not know). I also think it worth mentioning that in 1975, after a 16 year break from the thought of having a power head canister, and having it go south with the Lewyt lawsuit and ditching a Constellation prototype with Power head , Hoover relased its first 3 models of Celebrity II (The Roman numeral II indicating that this was the line with the Powehead). These three were the first to feature the Hoover Powermatic head, which had the same agitator as the Dial-A-Matic upright, and also the top of the line Celebrity II Elite featured a headlighted powerhead as well. This was something that Eureka had not offerd yet. I do think it is interesting that Eureka had the Empress II Powerteam and Hoover had the Celebrity II Elite that were both premium canisters with push button controls, electric hoses, poweheads, and catchy names ending with the Roman numural II. The only thing Hoover had was the headlight and the uprights’ agitator, but not for long.....
In 1975, some would argue after a prompt from the ever competing Hoover, Eureka made some changes to their Powerteam line. They relased their three premium options, which were now the model 1288-A, model 1266-A, and 1261-A, as well as a few new models to fit the more budget market, such as the model 1255-A, model 1248-A, 1246-A, and finally 1245-A. The new 1288 and 1266 now featured a headlight in the powerhead. Also the Empress II canister had changed color to gold now, but still retained all the previous features. The 1266 looks almost identical to the 1265, but no longer had the spring loaded hose lock, and as mentioned, now had a headlighed power head. The 1261 also looks much like its orginal predecessor, the model 1260, but without the spring loaded hose lock and the one number change in model. The ealier run of these machines still had the early basplates that were relased by latches, as well as the plastic cord sheathes and metal cord clips. But in 1976, that was changed to the base plates that used screws and the wands with the plastic cord tracks. The remaning three budget models were the Princess canister (Suction only 500 series) with power nozzle recepticals added and sold with the electric hose etc...The lowest model, the 1245, had a suction only hose and a external powerhead cord that was strapped to the outdside of the hose like an Electrolux. This line lasted untill 1977. Then in 1978, the four models of Brandywine Powerteams were introduced in the famous dark Brandywine color. This would also be the line where the Eureka company finally added their Vibra-Groomer brushroll to their canister. Much like the aforementioned two lines of machines, this set consisted of one feature packed Empress II and 3 various models of canisters to fit the remaning needs of the consumer. Two of the Princess Powerteams were carried over from the previous line, and two more budget PowerTeams were added. One in a blue with a glitter finish and one in the equally desirable Wild-Moss Green. These would be produced to about 1980.
Now, since that covers the first 3 lines of Eureka canisters, I am now just going to do some outlining and say that, the hoses, and power heads were changed once more in 1981. The hoses were changed from a molded pistol grip end, to a end with a larger curved metal handle, and of coarse, a slightly longer power head cord too. The other change was the redesinge of the powerhead casing that became more curved and not so boxy. There was also the addition of the belt veiw window, that allowed the user to see if their belt was turning correctly, and to indicate when to change. The Vibra-Groomer II was also added to the upper tier Power heads in 1981, after being introduced for Eurekas upright line in 1978. These would be features used on every PowerTeam canister made up until 1993 when the metal body Eureka Powerteam canister was finally discontinued in any format. The last being two machines, one in black, and the other in white, that were branded Ironside. Which is where the name comes from.
