First post: my vacuum story/looking to buy first vintage Hoover

[Martigan13]

I'll apologize now for the double post--I originally posted this in the "Super Market" forum but looking back I feel it's more appropriate to post in the "Vintage" forum. Must be the nerves....it's my first post. My sincerest apologies and it won't happen again!

Hi all, I'm new here, and this is my first post to the forum. I'll start with my vacuum story before I seek some advice.

My first vacuum memory goes back to my childhood in the early 1980's. My mom used a vintage Hoover Convertible, Judging by some pictures I've seen online (and from my memory) I'm guessing it was a 1076. It had a yellow hood and a funky psychedelic bag. I was fascinated with the look and the sound. One day it "gave up the ghost" in the most dramatic fashion--sparks and smoke from the back side! For a time I was traumatized (being a toddler, could you blame me?), but my fascination for vacuums grew. Visiting relatives, I would always have to go to their closet to look at their vacuum. I'm still fascinated to this day. My grandma has an old Electrolux "tank" that still runs to this day. I believe this is the only vacuum she's had. My parents, other grandparents, aunts/uncles had Windsors for a time back in the 80's and I thought they were quite fascinating, modern machines. I bought my first vac with my first house in 2007. I still use to this day and it's a Hoover Tempo upright bagged. I also have a couple of simple hand vacs, one of which is a Dirt Devil that I got as a gift for Christmas last year.

There's my vacuum story, so now onto business. I'm looking to buy my first vintage Hoover convertible, 1970's to 1980's. I've scoured over the web and have decided to pick one among the following upright models that I've seen available at this time: 1030, U4061, U4005, U4127 and U4189.

I'm no vacuum expert, so I'm asking the board: which would you recommend? Could you tell me a little about the models (i.e. year, materials, cleaning power) and what would give me the best bang for my buck. I'm kind of leaning toward the 1030 model.

Thanks for bearing with me. I'm new to the club so I'd appreciate as much feedback and comments as possible. Thanks a bunch! ~Matt

 

[vacuumlover]

Welcome

At the end of the day its all what you want into your collection. Go for what you most desire lol.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Welcome Matt!!!!!!!!!

Glad you're interested in HOOVERS, as I am too.
Look around and see which ones you really like. Mostlikely, you can find a great machine... maybe even in here.
John

 

[hooverboy81]

Welcome!

John is your go to guy for all things Hoover!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Some people would kill you

if they heard that!

 

[hooverboy81]

John

I'll take my chances. You are one of the only ones who gives accurate Hoover information!

@matt- the 1076 is a cool machine! They pop up on eBay every now and again!

 

[hooverboy81]

Matt

I'd go with the 1030. I had a 1070 and lived it!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

My favorite

of them all.

 

[boxer_rules]

Welcome Matt

Hi Matt

Nice to read about your story and it's funny, I was fascinated of vacs the same way as you were in your childhood. As a young boy (3-4 years old) my mum teached me the rules of courtesy and of greeting people etc. after saying hello to people my next question was "do you own a vac? what kind of, is it an upright or a sled (we use this word for this type here), what color is it, does it make loud noises" hahaha.. People were very surprized and amused about my unusual curiosity. Visiting relatives and friends, I also checked their closets and their vacs hahaha.. Since I'm born in the early 70ties, the machines were from the 60ties and 70ties and therefore I'm very pleased when I discover a vacuum from those days today.
My mums first vacuum was a Tornado(Vorwerk)upright (Tornado was the swiss brand of Vorwerk, some guys here have this vacuum in their collection, I saw it on photos and I'm very glad about that, it's quite difficult to find this vacuum in our time). Our relatives and friends owned Electrolux Z100, Volta U200, Hoover Junior 1354A (my favorit vintage cleaner), AEG Vampirette, Vorwerk Cobold, Hugin 907, Miele S220, Hitachi CV160, Nilfisk GS80 etc... there is a nice swiss webpage/online vacuum museum with many of those machines. It's called hangar.ch have a look!

 

[suckolux]

Pretty John, but a favorite child???? OMG

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Well,

how  about "One of my favorites"..... 


 


 Better?  I realize the "others" might hear, lolol

 

[suckolux]

well she is one pretty girl!

 

[eurekaprince]

Welcome Matt! Love the Hoover Tempo too - a great, lightweight carpet cleaner for under $130. Gave mine to my mom for her cleaning lady to use. With a little bi-annual maintenance, it still runs like a charm!

It's amazing how many of us guys were "fascinated" by vacuums at around the same age: 4 or 5 years old!

 

[suckolux]

The little Tempo is tough, gave one I got for 10 on CL to a family that kept breaking vacuums, so far so good.

 

[Martigan13]

Thank you all for your advice, and for sharing your vacuum stories. This seems like a great, fun forum with some great people.

I agree, it is funny that many of us were "hooked in" to vacuums at such a young age, probably because we were so impressionable back then, LOL...

I am a bit surprised as to how many "young" vac lovers are on here. I was born in '81 so I got to grow up with some pretty nifty 70's/80's Hoovers and even Windsors(!). Most models from that era were great machines.

By the way, I think I'm going to settle on the Hoover 1030 as my first vintage buy...I'll post some pictures when I get it.

My wife thinks that my obsession is a little strange, and doesn't feel that we need to have more than one vac in the house. My argument is that we have a two-story home, so we won't have to drag a vac up the stairs. For now I'm using that as my excuse to get a couple of good vintage vacs, HA.

I do know that she's very fond of the Electrolux "tanks" based on her own childhood experiences, and their durability. I think I'll buy one of those as my next vintage vac, and perhaps she'll get on board with me and better understand why I love these great machines! Her biggest issue is where we'll store the things, but I told her I'd clear out my side of the walk-in closet to make room for them, LOL...I'm sure I'm not the only one in this forum who has that problem.

~Matt

 

[hooverboy81]

1060

Here's a pretty nice 1060: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=181706192854

 

[Martigan13]

Jon, that is a really nice machine. Based on my childhood memories, that looks very similar to my mom's old Hoover.

I'm proud to say that I've purchased my first vintage Hoover, the 1030! Lime green hood and bag. Bought on eBay and it's expected to arrive within the next week.

It looks to be in great shape but it appears to have a few minor cosmetic issues (mainly scuff marks) that I will clean up and polish. After that I'll take a pic and post here for all of you to see!

~Matt

 

[hooverboy81]

Congrats!!!!

 

[dandagreer]

Young age

I've always loved vacuum cleaners of all types, but was always partial to a Kirby. When I was 4 yrs old, my Grandma got a new Eureka F&G upright for Christmas. There's a pic (Polaroid no less) of me hugging the box. I was so excited! I always was curious about other people's vacuums when we'd visit other people when I was a kid. Everyone in the family knew of my love; they still talk about it even now