Finally took down the "Haley's Comet" Vacuum in my attic!

[fellybean]

I posted here a few weeks ago about this vacuum in my attic. I finally got it down and I can't believe the condition it's in. It seems like it may have only been used very slightly in it's time... I want to sell it so I figured this would be the best place to see if anyone is interested!

 

[opelgtkarl]

Very Interested!

I'm very interested in this! I'll send you an email.

 

[dysonman1]

It is definitely worth a kings ransom. Very rare, and so many people want one. You should get some good money for this one, as complete as it is. Congratulations on such a nice machine.

 

[electrolux137]

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That's the nicest one I've ever seen. I agree with Tom that it's quite valuable and desired by many people. Surely your best bet would be to list it on eBay.

 

[real1shep]

Sometimes.....

it's not only about the money but the 'home'.

Kevin

 

[gman]

Another one bites the dust.....

Yet another machine listed on EBay only to mysteriously disappear.

 

[huskyvacs]

New sellers often take the first offers they get, likely was offered a deal off-ebay. Likely was pretty rare being in Canada.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

True. Sometimes the "home"

outweighs the price.

 

[dysonman1]

I have a Haley's. The rug tool is probably the worst rug nozzle I've ever used. Together with the upside down Kirby wands, it just has a very hard time with carpet cleaning. It was sold briefly in the mid 1960's, the invention of a Compact dealer who thought he could make a better Compact.

 

[gregvacs28]

I'm still trying to figure out what this is

 

[dysonman1]

Greg

That's the stupid rug nozzle. Connected to upside down Kirby replacement wands. It's just a terrible rug tool.

 

[gregvacs28]

Has got to be the most ridiculous, impractical, and no doubt ineffective vacuum attachment I've ever seen.
And I've seen a lot over the years.

And somebody wants to pay a high sum for this? I wouldn't be surprised

 

[electrolux137]

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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here's the story of the Haley's Comet. Its inventor, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lee Wolf, was a National Distributor for Compact for about ten years. He took great pride in the machine as a whole but was especially proud of the rug nozzle!</span> </span>


 


<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">See link...</span></span>



http://1377731.com/Zhaleyscomet/

 

[electrolux137]

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I sold mine quite a few years ago to collector Kyle Mathews. Soon thereafter he disappeared and has been an absentis personis ever since. Anyone know anything about his whereabouts? He seems to have literally fallen off the planet.

 

[dysonman1]

Greg

You have no idea how bad that rug nozzle performs. Hooked up to a 1960 Compact wannabe, it's about worthless. Hooked up to my Modern Day SilentMaster, it's sill worthless. No amount of suction will make that thing good. And, the wands don't swivel.

 

[gregvacs28]

It looks like the support leg to my mother's 1960s ironing board the likes of which I would rather tear a leg off, drill holes in the base and attach it to a hose and try and vacuum with compared to the weird thing above.

 

[dysonman1]

Greg

The reality of cleaning with that thing is this: The wand connection to the rug tool has no swivel. Because both wands are plastic, you cannot put any real downward pressure on the rug tool. You have to hold the wands exactly right to get the rug tool flat on the rug, and then, you cannot clean anything that the suction opening in the middle of the tool isn't directly over. It's as big as a dinner plate. The brush strip is in the middle of the suction opening and gets fouled with lint and hair quickly. It's definitely something for some comic relief - when I show people how bad it is they laugh at it. I cannot imagine why anyone would have bought one. The machine is so huge and heavy, it's like pulling an apartment sized refrigerator around the house. I'll show you the next time I see you. You'll laugh your ass off.

 

[gregvacs28]

The bar for product design in the 1950s wasn't set very high. If one could get something off the drawing board it was considered a success.

There was still a decent percentage of homes in the U.S. during the 1950s that didn't have indoor plumbing. It wasn't a world of "teenager designs his own electric car and mars rocket on his home computer and is now worth Billions" kind of world back then.

But yeah, this floor tool is BAD.
And this canister seriously looks awkward and heavy. The bubble top doesn't even look like it swivels like the way the top of an Airway vac swivels. It just looks like it's hinged on the back and has a heavy clasp on the front.

Between bumping into walls and scrapes from the various sharp edges, it looks like it would do more damage than it's worth.

I'll have to get to the museum sometime.

 

[paul]

Halley's Comet Background/Haley's Comet Vacuum Clean

"Edmond Halley, an English astronomer, predicted in 1705 that the comet that appeared in 1682 would reappear in 1759. He concluded that the comets that appeared in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were actually the same comet. The comet was named for Halley after it reappeared in 1759." (source: AI)

Haley Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio was the assignee of the Haley's Comet vacuum cleaner invented by Lee A. Wolf. The patent was filed on July 5, 1968, and granted August 18, 1970. I've found that most if not all inventions go into mass production around the time of the patent filing. Indeed, the 1968 MODERN METALS magazine, Volume 24, page 46 featured an article of the cleaner. Although I located no complete online copy, a snippet view mentioned its "rugged construction, good looks, and exceptional performance from the intelligent use of nine die castings. The three major castings comprising the housing, and two of the attachments are ... "

Following are some of the patents located at https://patents.google.com/?inventor=lee+a+wolf:

1-2. Vacuum Cleaner schematics (1968/1970)

4-5. Vacuum Cleaner abstract (1968/1970)

6-8. Swivel Coupling schematics (1969/1971)

9-10. Cleaning Tool schematics (1968/1970)