Exhibition update

[vintagehoover]

Hi Charles Richard -

the lower motor vents you mention seem to appear exclusively on 240v machines - my guess would be that Hoover engineers were concerned about keeping the new 360w motor cool when running on a higher current. The same lower vents were also used on the 825; later 825s had slightly restyled vents, as did the 875 (the final cleaner of this style before the Dreyfuss-designed 262 was introduced).

The 800 and 825 were the first Hoover cleaners to be 'styled', Hoover taking their inspiration from luxury motor cars of the day - so you could be right with 'heavy industrial'. They make the cleaner look like it means business!

A few friends in the US who have 800s have commented that UK 800s sound slightly 'different', but not louder, exactly. I've noticed the wattages between the US and UK 800s vary slightly, too - and presumably, the RPM's - which could be a factor.

 

[vintagehoover]

John, Stephen, Terry, Simon, Kenny, Bill, Joe, Rob, Mike and Dave - thanks for your responses! It's been great, but it'll nice to be able to relax again, I've been working at 200% since the end of November!

As you say, Simon - it would be fitting if I could persuade the Design Museum to host an exhibition, after my visit to the Hoover in Britain display back in 1992 sparked my interest in the pre-war machines to begin with! I'm sure I'd stand a better chance of holding such a display now Mr. Dyson has resigned as chairman!

Getting back to the 800 for a moment, I found this newspaper clipping from The Telegraph tucked inside the instruction manual. She's dated it 29.8.01, so presumably the 800 has always been at the back of her mind!

It's a rather oddly-written article, and I'd assume it's talking about H C Booth's vacuum cleaner...

 

[vintagehoover]

John Lucia - sorry I missed your name out!

The Sun is a national daily tabloid with a circulation of 2,862,935, and a readership of 7,986,000, so it's inevitable there will be a few negative comments, I guess. It's a shame, but I have to keep in mind that the only opinions that matter are the ones of the people I love and respect, and of the people who really know me!

It's a strange feeling: the TV thing I did for The ONE Show for Hoover's 100th anniversary will either have been seen or missed on the evening of broadcast, depending on who was watching. But print-media sits around for an indefinite amount of time, as anyone who's ever sat waiting for a doctor or a dentist can attest!

 

[andy]

Way to go Jack! I'm so happy for you and that 800 is gorgeous!

 

[turbopowerpaul]

That 800 is just reward....

....for all the hard work you put in!

What a storming machine it is and in such good condition. Its always nice when people are able to pass stuff on knowing that they are going to a good home where they will be appreciated.

Congratulations on the obvious success of your exhibition and may it continue to pay you dividends in the future.

All the best Jack and see you in a couple of weeks.
Cheers
Paul

 

[turbomaster1984]

Ok

In a position to reveal one.....

Autosol, Jif and a brillo pad later the worst looking one actually looks like it may turn out as the best looking one.

Have not yet dared plug it in although it has been sympathetically rewired and has a new belt and brushroll fitted.
Maybe see about that tomorrow evening.

Bag requires a bit more laundering to get those stains out. Something a machine wash (30degrees Silk Wash, 1000rpm spin)with Ecover liquid didnt achieve.

Half the furniture guard has snapped off although we also scooped a second 700 with it all intact and in good enough condition to transfer it on.
The other 700 is not halfway as pretty as this and will become a spares machine.

Also Paul will touch up the rusty bag grip.

 

[turbomaster1984]

700

 

[turbomaster1984]

hood

 

[vintagehoover]

Hi Rob and Paul - congrats, the 700 is a lovely machine, and of course, the first to introduce the patented Hoover Agitator!

When you get round to firing it up, I'll put money on it running flawlessly - they always do!

Here's mine, post-restoration...

 

[vintagehoover]

...but this was what it looked like when I first got it home!

 

[vintagehoover]

And here's the complete 'ensemble'...

 

[vintagehoover]

A twist in the tale...

Well, this was supposed to have been the last day of the exhibition, and right now, I would have been mentally preparing for numerous journeys to and from the gallery tomorrow to dismantle and collect 25 vacs, but plans have changed!

Following the article which appeared in The Sun last Monday, a number of other news outlets picked up on the story. Most significantly, on Thursday, an item on the exhibition was broadcast on ITN's London Tonight news programme. I also did a live interview with BBC Radio Sussex (over the phone in my kitchen!!).

In the light of all this publicity on a national level, the gallery requested to extend the exhibition for a further two weeks. Although I was looking forward to all this being over, I agreed - it seems silly to take everything down now, just as word is beginning to spread!

So it looks like I have a further two weeks to get through before I can get all my stuff back! I'm delighted the public and media have been so receptive, though!

 

[samotronic]

Nice

I can't even get family and friends to look at my vacs here in the US. Let alone an entire town or country. LOL

I admire how you continually move forward with your message and ultimately do get the recognition and celebration for your collection that you deserve.

I predict that collecting vintage hoovers is going to be the hot new trend there. Keep it up.

Chris

 

[vintagehoover]

Thanks Chris - we're now approaching the exhibition's last week (unless they suggest a further extension!), but the whole thing has been worthwhile and fun to do.

I have a couple of other media things lined up, so there's still some mileage in the show yet!

 

[sireluxomatic]

Congratulations, Jack, on a fine exhibition, and on all the exposure; you deserve it. Quite a bit of good fortune getting the 800, too.

Bob

 

[kenmore81]

Congrats again Jack on the sucess of your exibit!.Can you prvide us with a link of your interview if possible?

 

[vintagehoover]

Thank you, Bob and Kenny - I'm not quite sure how you'd be able to watch the ITN clip, I think it's gone from the website now, and in any case, it's probably set so it can't be viewed outside the UK

Here's an article on the exhibition extension - I think it's one of the nicest so far. Amazing how long they can string out the whole 'sucking' pun, though...

 

[eurekaprince]

Jack....I had no idea you had a fear of vacuums as a toddler

So did I!

I used to run screaming into my bedroom whenever Mom took out our turquoise Eureka upright circa 1963 (Model 250 I think). This vac has a motor-head that looks like a face! The chrome headlight frame looks like it has an eyebrow, and the port to insert the attachment hose looks like a nose.....

Anyhow, Mom also tried to rid me of my fears: One day she positioned the vac in the hall outside my bedroom door, left it upright and opened the door to show me that it would not hurt me. Well, little did she know that even the Eureka advertisements at the time touted the fact that the vac "walks by itself"! So she turned it on, and it began moving towards me! All by itself! That was it for me....never trusted Mom ever again!

Not quite sure how the turnaround from "evil monster enemy" to beloved play toy happened, but withing a few years I was in love with the attachments and pretending I was cleaning with them with joy...

Any others have memories of being frightened at first by what became their "object of affection"?

 

[vintagehoover]

Hi Bob - as you might expect, the journalists have simplified everything slightly! I'll elaborate.

After I was born, my mum went back to work - she had a very nice job working at Debenhams as senior buyer for the textiles department. This involved a lot of travel to places like Jerusalem and Portugal, where mill-owners would try and convince her to put in orders for their towels and linens for her department.

Meanwhile, I was left to be looked after by my dad, and during the day, by my grandma. It was while I was at my grandma's house where the fascination started.

A couple of times each week, she'd vacuum with her Hoover Senior Ranger (a cleaner made iconic by the Shake N Vac carpet powder ad!). I was suspicious of the large, loud cleaner with a headlight on the front - the slow build-up to full speed after she switched it on sounded like it would get louder and louder until it exploded! I didn't like being near it.

The thing that really scared me, though, was the noise it made when the beater-bars clattered against the raised metal strip which holds two sections of carpet together underneath doors. It was a really loud, intense and sudden noise, and it always terrified me!

This presented a problem for my grandma - she needed to get on with her daily domestic tasks, while faced with the problem of supervising a very young child who wouldn't stay in the same room as the vacuum cleaner! She didn't get annoyed, or tell me I was stupid to be afraid - she tackled the issue in the best way possible: she explained the cleaner to me.

Hoisting the Hoover onto its front, so I could see the underside, she unlatched the soleplate, and explained: 'This is the brush-roll, which beats and sweeps the carpet. This is the belt, which drives the brush-roll. This is the fan, which sucks up the dirt.'

She showed me that when the cleaner made that clattering noise: it was just the beater bars hitting the carpet-strip. Nothing scary about that!

And as a child with a questioning mind, fascinated with mechanical and electrical devices, I was transfixed. What made the fan go round? What was underneath the hood of the cleaner? Why did we plug the cleaner into the wall-socket to make it run? Why was there a light on the front?

This lead to more general questions: Why do some vacuums look different to others? Why do we use them, anyway? Why do really old cleaners look so different - why have they changed so much over the years?

And really, that’s the whole story – somewhere along the way I accumulated over 100 cleaners, and as a Design and Technology student at school and college, I learnt to assess appliance design from an appliance designer’s point of view. But at heart, I’m probably still the same fascinated toddler, filled with wonder at the magic of ‘cleaning by electricity’!

 

[vintagehoover]

Lol, apologies - that last post should have been addressed to Brian! The story is the important bit - it's one I've been explaining a lot over the last three months!