Extremely Old Hoover, searching for details.

[uswcnco]

I have an extremely old Hoover I happened to pickup roughly 15-20 years ago. At the time I didn’t think too much about it, sans knowing it was old. As I was cleaning out my basement, I came across the machine again. I have been searching the net trying to find some more details on the machine, but so far my search results have not been fruitful in finding any kind of info. The machine has a cloth cord, with an Edison style plug that would hook into a lamp socket. The motor was made by Robbin’s and Meyer, and the name tag indicates it is “special” made by “The Hoover Suction Sweeper Company”. No bag came with the machine. I believe the bag itself dissolved years ago. My hunch is the machine is at least 100 years old if not older. If anyone has additional details on this machine that they could share, I would greatly appreciate it.

One other oddity about this machine is the brush roll, or lack of having one. It seems like this machine has a stationary bristle brush, but inside I can see pulleys that look like they are motor driven. Definitely an interesting find that I would love to learn more about. Please see that attached pictures and I hope to hear more about it soon!
Cheers!!

 

[vacuumman]

Screws

Are those screws in front of the motor holding the stationary bristles in place? If so, I would assume that the machine was supposed to have a revolving brush and somebody converted it into a straight suction machine. Are there any mounts on the sides of the nozzle where a revolving brush can go?

 

[ohiovacuums]

Very Very Cool

I've never seen one before. The Edison plug was used when electricity was first put in houses ( the very wealthy had it first ). I'm guessing the machine dates to
around 1910. I'll be following to see what others have to say.
We have Edison outlets in our house....electricity was added to it in 1905.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

excellent find!!!

I'm sure Tom (Anderson, of course) would have more info.  I believe he has the same machine, too!

 

[paul]

Very cool! I found online advertisements for it from 1914 to 1926.

Photos:

1. 1914 Jun 27 DRY GOODS ECONOMIST
2. 1918 Feb 23 POST EXPRESS - Baby Hoover & Hoover Special
3. 1920 May 25 PITTSBURGH PRESS - Hoover Special
4. Inflation Calculator - Hoover Special 1918-2023

 

[paul]

Link

Digital Museum of Plugs and Sockets: https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/NorthAm3.html

Using the information, I would venture a guess that the Special used the Edison plug for all or most of its run; with bladed plugs being a customer option years after its debut.

 

[huskyvacs]

I am not sure how complete they are but I do remember in this website's archives there is someone that had the Hoover serial numbers and had the original production sheets, but I don't recall where in when they were posted, it was a long time ago I know that much.

The patents on the model tag do not go past 1910, so this has to be rather early. Maye not much later after the Hover Model 0? I know power cords with the screw in lamp sockets are before Hubbell invented the blade type power cords in 1912. This is also why those old socket-to-NEMA adapters were invented as a way of "retrofitting" baseboard sockets to the new plug type.

The conversion of the vacuum to a straight suction sweeper is definitely a Great Depression era modification, I am sure there was no parts available or no money to fix it so they just cobbled up a modification to make it work.

 

[uswcnco]

Reply All!

First, thank you for the information no this machine. I’ll address each replied question as succinctly as possible.

In terms of the screw shown on top, they’re there for the drive mechanism that is connected to the brush. As best as I can tell after removing the sole plate that brush is mechanically driven. See pictures below.

Personally, I have never seen a vacuum with a single brush type mechanism. Unfortunately, the pulley system is completely frozen. I’ll try some penetrating oil on the apparatus and will report back on any movement. I was considering getting a belt for the machine as it does look like a standard Hoover round type belt, maybe even a round eureka belt could potentially fit. I have again checked the motor and it does spin freely. Any recommendations on how to start that motor?

Additional pictures have been attached. Thank you to everyone who has replied thus far. I also really appreciate the old advertising and information on the Edison socket.

 

[huskyvacs]

Oh wow what on earth did they do to that poor cleaner lol

I wondered what the weird screws drilled through the top of the casing were for, now I see what it goes to. That is a wheel they added to keep the brush bar off the floor so they could actually push the vacuum easier, it looks like the roller you would see in those old fashioned rope and pulley sash windows.

There is no way to connect a belt without the original brushroll in there. You can turn the motor on as it is, but it might sound funny with no load on it and I wouldn't run it for too long, as it would likely overheat without any brushroll and belt to slow it down.

I think people have gotten these running on old Eureka or Hoover convertible round belts but I am not 100% sure on the exact sizing, but again without a brushroll not much can be done.

Parts would be pretty hard to get if you wanted to do a museum restoration on it, unless by some miracle someone has spares sitting around for a century old Hoover (you never know). I'd probably leave it as it is and use it with its primitive modifications as a niche piece of Americana and history of the time period.

 

[vacuumman]

Brush

Based on what I can see, it appears like the weird pulley system sweeps the brush back and forth like a broom. I'm not sure if this is OEM or just someone messing around, though.

 

[dysonman1]

It was called the "old style special". The word "special" was used to describe the household size Hoover and not the large commercial nor the small apartment size. The rotating brush used in this model was not round, but flat and twisted kind of like a vg1. Stan Kann gave me his many years ago.

 

[huskyvacs]

Helix brushroll! Wow!

 

[rolls_rapide]

Helix Brushroll

Which Mr Dyson apparently copied for the likes of the Dyson DC03 uprights - and the the other Dysons which also used dual-belt and clutch arrangements.


As others have said in the past: what goes around, comes around.

 

[centralvacs1928]

Saw this on Reddit!

You are in the right place here.

It appears that someone removed the original rotating brush and installed a straight brush driven by a pulley and crank so that it would oscillate (like the Rug Doctor "vibrating brush").

You can see the streaks of dirt in the housing left by the original rotating brush.

The machine is in very nice shape, and the original cord and plug suggest that it wasn't used for too many years...so this modification likely occurred in the teens or twenties, and who knows if the cleaner was actually used after that, or just put away after failing to achieve the desired result.

Very skillful work...not just some handy hubby trying to fix the vacuum cleaner...but wouldn't be a factory mod either. Hoover's revolving brush was what made their cleaner perform better than any other cleaner...and it was patent-protected through the mid 1920s to prevent anyone else having a similar feature.

Somebody really thought this machine would work much better with an oscillating straight brush instead of a rotating helical one, and put a lot of effort into their proof of concept.

It doesn't look possible to install a belt on the pulley without disassembling. But I'd be interested in trying to free up the mechanism and put a belt on it just to see what it does!

Cool piece. Thank you for sharing!

 

[bikerray]

Old Style Special serial numbers 100,000 to 115,999

 

[hoover300]

I have to ask

Did you ever get the brush mechanism working?
The motor not working could either be bad carbon brushes or the switch not making contact. These are not repulsion start and live forever.