Fort Collins Craigslist: Eureka 500 Series Canister in Dark Green

[paul]

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/hsh/d/fort-collins-vintage-eureka-canister/7828946217.html

(found in online search, guessing it was a store exclusive due to its unique color)

 

[eurekaprince]

Wow! So cool! The braided hose keeps it firmly in the 1960’s, but the more modern font used for the brandname almost puts it in the early 1970’s. Very unique colour too! Maybe a JC Penney exclusive? Maybe Wards? Maybe Canadian?

 

[eurekaprince]

If you go to VL thread 44109, you’ll see your post showing several newspaper ads for this model from the mid 1960’s - especially the one from Zales Jewellers. They show the more modern font with the braided hose.

 

[paul]

For sure, Brian! And I like your ideas of where the dark green cleaners may have been sold.

To me, the logotype is the same used on the 1965 Empress. Also, the Empress II canisters from 1970-early 1972 (not the Power Teams) had the braided hoses.

So, that would indicate a 1965-early 1972 production span possibility.

Photos:

1. Empress control panel

2-3. Empress II model-type 1880-A and caddy/hose (originally posted by countryguy)

 

[paul]

Hey again, Brian! Thanks for mentioning that thread with the ads I posted. So, the dark green cleaner is the Model-Type 500-BP, introduced in 1966 and advertised through 1975 for many stores such as AlMart, Lane's Woodville, etc. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any color name reference. It may have been 'Pine' going by the 'P' after the 'B'.

Here's a couple 1968 ads (with the best artwork):

 

[eurekaprince]

Thanks for those pics! Yes…1965 to 1970 would make sense. Such a unique colour! I don’t think Eureka used that dark green on any other vacuum in the 1960’s.

 

[eurekaprince]

I wonder why the turtle-shaped Princess lost its cool “cord wrap” plastic handle not long after its debut in the early 1960’s. Maybe it was not strong enough and broke a lot? It also had the new boomerang EW logo on it.

 

[paul]

You're welcome, Brian!

I had wondered about that original cord wrap, too on the 500 series. My guess is that it was an option that was discontinued when the Tool-Pak and plastic dual handle/cord wrap were introduced.

Eureka had such a variety, including logotypes which it used concurrently. I also noticed that some canister models had nylon braided hoses and typically the cheaper ones were equipped with a braided polyethylene type before ABElectrolux took over and went mainly with the vinyl corrugated kind. Anyway, it's pretty hard to pinpoint a cleaner's production range just going by features.

Btw, I contacted the Craigslist seller and was told that it's a Type A, and its motor is rated at 5.5-amps. So maybe Eureka initially went with a different color for the 500-A to differentiate it from the original turtle-shaped Princess in Lagoon Blue.

I also located one ad for the Type B which appeared to be Lagoon and Platinum Blue due to its lighter body and darker trim, hose, and tools and had the 1940s logotype.

And to top things off, I discovered that the 500-BP was actually orange; so I guess Eureka's fascination with colors took off in the '60s!

Here's the 500-BP with the 1940s logotype, a 1963 ad presumably for the 500-A going by the logotype and color, and a 1966 500-B ad:

 

[eurekaprince]

To add a twist to this discussion, the Singer company in France contracted Eureka to produce a brown Princess for them in the 1960’s!!! See the link below….

http://www.broc23.com/objets-vintage/aspirateur-singer-complet-fonctionne-vintage-841

 

[centralvacs1928]

When I was a kid, my great uncle gave me a model 702-A. Light blue, same "turtle shaped" body style (very apt description, by the way!), blue braided hose. It had the "cord wrap" handle. Wasn't this model called the "Princess"?

I remember noticing that the hose was totally airtight, and my prior experiences with other woven hoses (Electrolux) had me convinced that they all leaked. I wonder if this was a very well-preserved example, or if Eureka's woven hoses were perhaps better constructed than Electrolux (I feel like that's doubtful).

 

[paul]

Brian—thanks for the photo link, I never knew about that!

Owen—that's correct. The 702-A was the original "turtle" shape Princess that was launched in August 1961 and was manufactured through May 1964.

For some reason, Eureka Williams decided to go with the "trapezoid" shape for another Princess canister, model-type 705-A, beginning in December 1963; so there was an overlap in production according to the *shipping inventory list (through 1964) posted by texbodemer. That may have been a regional difference between the eastern and western divisions. There was even a short-lived Princess II model-type 711-A from Jan-Dec 1963. Although there was a variety of features and lid and handle styles over the years, that trapezoid shape was used for the Princess and Cordaway canisters (and Roto-Matic Power Teams) through the 1980s; although the Princess moniker was dropped in the early 1980s.

*Note: The shipping inventory list typically excluded model names.


>>The Model-Type 500-A, the subject of this thread, debuted in April 1963 and was made through May 1964.


To Eureka, variety was the spice of vacuum cleaners!

_____________

Here are the series lists of the turtle and trapezoid shaped canisters by Eureka Williams/Eureka that illustrates that last point—

~500 Series Canister Types (from online parts lists), which likely included lesser known colors along with the more popular ones:

(Continued as the 3200 Series—no types list located. The 1240 Series was the Roto-Matic Power Teams.)

500-A/B/BDV/BE/BK/BKD/BF/BF A/BF H/BF HM/BFT/BFZ/BS/BT/BTD/BTV/ BTX/DFG/R/RB/RBV/RV
502-A/B
508-A
513-A/B/D


~700 Series Canister Types (from online parts lists - may be incomplete; a 'T' alone or with another letter typically meant that tools were included; a 'V' usually stood for "Vibra-Beat" nozzle; some models were store exclusives for which I found no ads, so this list is incomplete that way, too.):

(The 3300-3400 Series continued the line, but I have found no type listings for it so far. The 1250 & 1500 Series were the Roto-Matic Power Teams.)

702-A/AK/AT/AZ "Princess"
703-A "Prince"
705-A/AG/B/BD/BDV;BG/BV/BW/DG "Princess"
711-A/AD/AT/AV (A- for sure "Princess II" with new cord caddy and Libra-Beat nozzle; not positive about the other types)
711-B/M/MV/DD/F/F DV/F G/FV/T/X/XD/XR/XRG/XKL/XRM/XRV (no model namer as far as I've researched)
713-A/B (no model name)
714-A/B/BG/BV/SG (at least type A was "Prince II"; later 714 ads included no model name or type)
730-A/AG/B/BG/BV/OR "Cordaway"
736-A/AD/B/BF/BF D/R/T "Princess"
737-A/AR/ARG/BR/BRG/T "Cordaway"
738-A/B/BDV/BF "Princess"
739-A/B
740-A/AV/FM/R/T "Cordaway"
741-AV/BV
743-A
745-A/AG/B "Cordaway"
755-A/AD/ADF/AV "Princess"
760-A "Princess"
761-AS
765-A/AF/ASG/AV/R "Cordaway"
770-A/AV "Cordaway"
773-A "Cordaway"
780-A

It may be, too, that relabeled cleaners such as the Singer that Brian posted had two model designations - one for Eureka's books and one for the other company's (shown on the data tags).

____________

I hope that dark green 500-A will be purchased by a collector, as they're as rare as hens' teeth!

 

[paul]

Owen—

Regarding the Eureka air-tight hose on your 702-A, that is likely the better quality nylon type versus the polyethylene type. Even though Electrolux usually went with better quality items, it may be that going with a cheaper polyethylene type allowed for more frequent customer service that the other higher quality parts would have prevented.

Btw, my limited use and knowledge of G-E braided hoses compared with my extensive use of Electrolux Corp's gave me the same sense as your Eureka/Electrolux impression. I have never used a Eureka braided hose.

 

[eurekaprince]

Love this discussion! Of course, I could add all the Canadian-made Eureka “turtles” that were rebranded for our department stores up here: Viking, Baycrest and Beaumark.

Re Eureka’s huge variety of models: that’s why the voiceover of their TV commercials ended with the confident male voice saying - “Eureka. The very best in vacuum cleaners. And more kinds of vacuum cleaners than anyone else in the world. That’s Eureka.”

 

[paul]

So, Brian, I'm waiting for your Canadian list!

And Eureka's ad wasn't just whistling Dixie!