Geier Electro Hygiene Vacuum

[keyboard21]

Hello,

I have just signed up for this wonderful forum.

I have a few questions.

My Aunt has a Geier Electro Hygiene Vacuum That is with all original parts except the Bag. It is in good working order and we have extra cleaner bags and the original hose and attachments. We are the original owners and was bought in the 1960's from a store. Some wear and tear on the handle. Motor was refurbished about 10 years ago

I could post pictures if needed.

1)Just wondering how do I find out what this machine is worth? 2)Where would I go to sell such a machine?
3)How rare is this vacuum?
4)Where would I look on the machine to find the model number?
5) Is there a special forum area for talk about this machine?

Thank you all so much for your time

 

[crevicetool]

Pictures are always cool.....

and appreciated. Duck and cover when asking about a vacuum's worth....Whew!!! Touchy subject. The best thing to hope for in that area, is for someone interested in the machine to E-mail you. Oh, and welcome aboard. You will most likely get all the information about your machine, (except for item #1) from all the great people on this site. Electro hygiene's have been discussed before, so I know there are experts out there. Jeff? how about it?

 

[hygiene903]

You're right, Rick, pictures would be helpful...

John, welcome to the forum. I'm going to answer your questions in reverse order. First, you're in exactly the right forum for discussing this vacuum, as all Electro-Hygienes fall into the Vintage category. The last ones were made around 1980.
From your description it sounds like your machine is an upright. There will either be a plate on the bottom of the motor with the model number stamped on, or, on later models, a sticker on the back of the nozzle. If you have a tank the model # will be on a sticker or plate on the bottom. If you have a pot-type cannister, which happens to be the rarest model, I'm thinking the number would also be on the bottom but I'm not sure, because I've never seen one up close. I sold Electro-Hygienes back in the 70's, but the dealership I worked for only sold the uprights and tanks, no cannisters.
As for how rare they are, I'd say not too rare, except for maybe the cannister, and one model of tank that was yellow--the only one of which I have seen was an ebay posting. I have 5 Electro-Hygienes myself, 3 uprights and 2 tanks, and 2 of the uprights are early straight-suction models.
The fact that you mentioned Geier with the name tells me that your vacuum may have been a used one if your family bought it in the 60's, because the P.A. Geier Company became Royal Appliance Mfg. Co. in the late 50's, so that would date it to the 50's or before. Also, if it's a straight suction upright with just a strip brush on the back of the nozzle instead of a revolving brush in the nozzle, it's from 1955 or before, as that was the last year straight suction machines were built.
And I agree with Rick--worth is a touchy subject. It mostly boils down to what an interested buyer willing to pay for it. If you want to sell it, you could mention here in the forum that you have it for sale (and please post pics!) and see what kind of offers you get, or you could post it on ebay and see where the bidding takes it.
Hope this has been helpful, and again, welcome!
Jeff

 

[crevicetool]

See...

Told ya! Jeff knows his stuff!!!Thanks Jeff, I had hoped you would see this thread. I needed a little schooling on the Hygiene myself!

 

[hygiene903]

You're Welcome!

I still have a lot to learn about Electro-Hygiene and Royal myself, but I'm always glad to share what I do know. I would love to have some kind of chart with all the models of Royal and Electro-Hygiene showing the years of production for each. Does anyone out there have such a chart, or any dating information?
Jeff

 

[lux1521]

I don't think the yellow Electro Hygiene canister is too rare. I have one and have seen 3 others on ebay in the past. It is the only model I have seen in yellow and it does not seem to fit in with any of the other models which seem to be red (or blue on earlier models). Oh, and since it is close to Halloween I should mention that it's model number is 666. I think most manufactures would stay away from that number.

When it comes to rarity I think my Electro Hygiene hand vac is rarer as I have only seen one or two of those including mine.

Overall I would not call the brand common but I have never seen high prices on them. I think many collectors (including myself) just don't know enough about Electro Hygienes, or even Royals to drive the prices up on them.

 

[keyboard21]

WOW thats for the welcome guys. I stated I was new so If i broke a forum rule. You guys would know why. lol

As I said the machine is my aunts. It will be passed on to me and my family. My aunt asked me if it was worth anything. So I said I will look to see if there are forums to ask.

My aunt lives 1 hour from me and I go there every couple of weeks ect. Next time I go. I will bring my digital camera and post pictures. As fr as selling guess it would all depend on price.

You know what got me to this forum. I was watching cable and they had a special on collecting vacuums and that there was a kid who found a Hover model O for $1 that is worth $10,000

So it got me to thinking that maybe my Aunts machine that she refused to throw away was worth keeping.

You see I am going to help her redo her Apt and I was thinking of throwing the machine away. Well after the tv special I won't.

When I asked for a price I wasn't asking exactly what it was worth. Just wondering if it was worth hundreds or thousands. After looking on ebay at the sister machine the Royal I see maybe $150

BTW it is an upright. Give me 2 weeks and pictures will be up

Thanks again

 

[myvacsrock]

yeah the kid with the model O Hoover is me

 

[petek]

But remember it's not $10,000 till you have that $10,000 sitting in your hands, otherwise it's still an old vacuum LOL

 

[myvacsrock]

they told me to say 10,000 i guess they did research and they said someone would pay that to get one

 

[rocketwarrior]

The Big O

Hmmmmmm. So, Pete, what do you think it is worth - you know, an estimate? $10k seems outrageous.

 

[petek]

Mark you're back !!!! LOL

 

[crevicetool]

Round and Round.....

She goes!!! Where she stops nobody knows!!!LOL

 

[keyboard21]

So back to my model (not worth 10k) lol

could it be worth hundreds or thousands? Or worth to throw out?

Congrats on the 10k. Nice find

 

[crevicetool]

None of us here

At the Vacuumland site has ever thrown a vacuum cleaner away. Nor have we ever flooded one with the drain-hose of a washing machine. No matter how rare or plentiful they are.

 

[petek]

I'm guessing what you're really after is a definitive value to sell it. There isn't one, just put it on Ebay with a starting bid of say $9.99 and see what you get. That's about all you can do. And to make sure everyone sees your ad spell vacuum correctly.

 

[keyboard21]

LOL I guess I should rephrase my question

Is my model a collectors Item? Will it increase in value over the years?

You mis-understanding me. I was ready to throw this out till I saw the TV show. Now I am getting hooked lol. I was saying to my aunt imagine if I threw out a $10,000 machine lol.

For example. Let's say it was worth $100 and you guys told me it was a collectors Item that will increase in value over many years. Then I will keep it. Pass it on

Anyway I will wait to post more when I get pictures.

Thanks for all the info guys. Much appreciated

 

[myvacsrock]

what i have learned-By Kyle Krichbaum--lol

It is only worth what someone is gonna pay for it.

the end

Kyle Krichbaum
hour 7 Language Arts

 

[rocketwarrior]

Pics, please

John,
It is an absolute must that we need to see pictures. Good pics where we can see all of the tools, etc. Probably 90% of the vacs purchased were purchased for less than $25.

With decent pics, there a couple of fellas that might give you a range to answer, at least, the over/under $100 question.

Note: A few more posts and you will probably get some "off thread" emails about who you should respond to and who you should ignore, etc. You may also get an estimate of value/range from someone who would prefer not to post the estimate. But, in all fairness, you need to post pics.

 

[petek]

Now Mark, move away from the pot and put that stir stick down

 

[rocketwarrior]

Smile

Pete, check out my latest purchase at thread #14265 on the Imperial (vintage) section of Automaticwasher.org

Should I cannibalize it? See you there.

 

[charles~richard]

Oy vey.

 

[bisonian]

About that Model O ....

John, I seriously doubt anyone's going to pay $10,000 for a vacuum cleaner, no matter how rare, but I could be wrong.

However, the thing to keep in mind about Kyle's Model O is that it was basically THE first electric home vacuum cleaner.Let's face it, NO other vac will have that kind of historical significance. Then there's the fact that it's a hundred years old, so there aren't going to be too many left. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything else that rare.

While I'm certainly no expert on pricing, I've seen Electro-Hygiene uprights in local thrift shops -- for far less than $100.

Rick C.

 

[lux1521]

I think I'll expand on Rick's comment about the Model 0.

Due to the fact that it is a well known item outside of the vacuum collecting community, and it's a historical significance as the first electric vacuum cleaner, I would assume that not just vacuum collectors would be interested in it. General antique collectors would probably love to get their hands on one as part of a collection of early 20th century electical items. My instinct also tells me that a general antique collector might have a larger budget than the average vacuum collector. Even with this factored in I still find it hard to imagine a $10,000 Model 0.

With regards to an Electro Hygiene, it is only know to the vacuum collecting community, and to my knowledge has little historical significance. They are realy just a rebadged Royal in most aspects and I don't think they have any special features as Royal was rarely cutting edge and rarely designed anything strange or unusual. They just built good vacuums using a proven design. When it comes to exact pricing I have never seen any rebadged Royal of any kind exceed $250.

 

[keyboard21]

I will get pics up in a couple of weeks. My aunt is 1 hour away and I plan on doing some painting for her in a couple of weeks. While there I will take some pics for you guys.

But I got the answer I been looking for.

Thanks Guys.

BTW the handle is Blue and not red. Maybe that was a difference. And there is a beater brush.