I got a really cool vacuum today. It came from Ohio, and it lived there all it's life(I'd assume). I can't show you what it is until I get my camera batteries charged, so you'll have to guess for the moment. I'll give a few hints. It's pre-WWII and it's rare, but not insanely rare. I'll be back in a hour or so.
Guess What I Found
- Thread starter lux1521
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Wow, sounds good, that'll be a nice surprise.
That's even better than nice! Lucky you! Thanks for posting.
hoovercelebrity
New member
Wow!
That's an incredible find...
Really..
Incredible!
**drooling over that bag**
Congrats, indeed!
~Fred
That's an incredible find...
Really..
Incredible!
**drooling over that bag**
Congrats, indeed!
~Fred
Isn't that close to the age of that infamous 1919 Hoover the club has?
According to Jack's huge Hoover web site, its 1920-1925. The baby model c would have been built in 1919. I have a special model 102 in my collection from 1919-1920 but I don't think it's that rare. A 1916-1919 Model N would be, but I've seen a handful of those around still.
vacuumkid3
Well-known member
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- Sep 30, 2006
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- 974
Very nice! Great find! That bag looks great! It doesn't look like it'll need to much to get it looking brand new! 
Good luck!
~~K~~
Good luck!~~K~~
hygiene903
Well-known member
All I Can Say is WOW!!!
Nice Looking Hoover, and the original bag is like frosting on the cake!! Great find!
Jeff
Nice Looking Hoover, and the original bag is like frosting on the cake!! Great find!
Jeff
Thanks for all the nice comments. Right now I'm keeping it out of my room because I'm alergic to it. I'm hoping the bag gets aired out. I'm not going to wash it. I turned it wrong side out and vacuumed it (with a Dirt Devil hand vac on low speed with crevice tool) and that was tricky enough. I also need to get a belt some time soon to test it's carpet cleaning ability. A new convertible belt is too small, a used Convertible belt is too large, and a stretched Eureka belt is also too large. I think a new Eureka belt should do the trick.
Anyway, the interesting part of this story is the mystery of it's origin and the story of it's travel to my home. My story starts about 3 weeks ago when I saw the lot of vacuums in the picture below on ebay, which I'll talk more about in just a bit. I tried for about 3 days to deal with the seller to get the Hoover but that dident work. I then waited for the buyer to collect the vacuums and asked him about it. I made an offer for $30 + shipping ($25). As the offer was going along quite nicely, the guy got the idea that it was built it 1907 (the oldest pattent date on the machine) and that it was extemely rare and he was going to list it on ebay. This is after I had been tracking the thing for a week and a half and caused quite a adrenalin rush for me. I then convinced him that it was built between 1920 and 1925 and it was not as rare as he thought it was. He then took my offer, much to my relife. Then was the scary part about the box sitting in the rain on my porch. It seems like DHL fails to think about these things.
So, back to the other stuff that he still has. You can see a pink GE swivel top, Hoover 800 (another with original bag), some other Hoover, a Kirby classic with attachments in the box, a high end old style Eureka, a Royal, and a Regina electric broom, a high end Hoover Elite, and a bit of newer stuff. All of it worked, and he got it all for $32.00. Any of you who live in Ohio (local pickup auction) can feel free to kick yourselves now. I have offered to help the guy list the remaining stuff, and plan to offer once more in my thank you email. This guy was nice enough and I'd like to see him make some more money on it. I'm also feeling a bit guilty about the price I paid. If you guys could give me some idea about the demand for, and value of the stuff he has I would appreciate it.
It is also interesting to think about what else the original seller has/had. It seems like the original owner of these machines took very good care of them. Since all of the cleaners worked, it seems like there might have been some that diden't work and failed to get into the lot. Makes you wonder what's still out there floating around in Ohio.
Anyway, the interesting part of this story is the mystery of it's origin and the story of it's travel to my home. My story starts about 3 weeks ago when I saw the lot of vacuums in the picture below on ebay, which I'll talk more about in just a bit. I tried for about 3 days to deal with the seller to get the Hoover but that dident work. I then waited for the buyer to collect the vacuums and asked him about it. I made an offer for $30 + shipping ($25). As the offer was going along quite nicely, the guy got the idea that it was built it 1907 (the oldest pattent date on the machine) and that it was extemely rare and he was going to list it on ebay. This is after I had been tracking the thing for a week and a half and caused quite a adrenalin rush for me. I then convinced him that it was built between 1920 and 1925 and it was not as rare as he thought it was. He then took my offer, much to my relife. Then was the scary part about the box sitting in the rain on my porch. It seems like DHL fails to think about these things.
So, back to the other stuff that he still has. You can see a pink GE swivel top, Hoover 800 (another with original bag), some other Hoover, a Kirby classic with attachments in the box, a high end old style Eureka, a Royal, and a Regina electric broom, a high end Hoover Elite, and a bit of newer stuff. All of it worked, and he got it all for $32.00. Any of you who live in Ohio (local pickup auction) can feel free to kick yourselves now. I have offered to help the guy list the remaining stuff, and plan to offer once more in my thank you email. This guy was nice enough and I'd like to see him make some more money on it. I'm also feeling a bit guilty about the price I paid. If you guys could give me some idea about the demand for, and value of the stuff he has I would appreciate it.
It is also interesting to think about what else the original seller has/had. It seems like the original owner of these machines took very good care of them. Since all of the cleaners worked, it seems like there might have been some that diden't work and failed to get into the lot. Makes you wonder what's still out there floating around in Ohio.
vintagehoover
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- 2,883
Wow, what a wonderful find! 
Lucky you, I'm green with envy!
I always think the Baby is a weird-looking cleaner - the nozzle looks too narrow, and the motor looks too high!
My friend Stephen has exported 2 Babies over here, one being a 1916 Baby Model C, which I got to see at our UK Hooverland Meet last year. His is an early one, with white canvas furniture guard, push on-off switch and 2-piece handle. I was shocked how heavy it was, though - despite being the smallest version, it weighed more than the later full-sized machines, because the Model C was still sand-cast.
Be careful with that bag - the manual suggests you don't turn it inside out, or brush it, since this damages the chemical which keeps it dust-tight. Perhaps after 80 years, that doesn't make much of a difference!
Here's a question for the experts; was the Baby 103 die-cast or sand-cast? If it was die-cast, I'd guess it's probably a lot lighter than the Baby Model C.
You might be interested to see this picture from my copy of the 'On Judging an Electric Cleaner' booklet. I think it must be earlier than your copy. In the one you scanned for the forum, the Baby has a 'discontinued' sticker over it, and the prices have been stuck over with prices for the 543, 700 and 961. In this one, the original pictures and prices are intact:
Lucky you, I'm green with envy!
I always think the Baby is a weird-looking cleaner - the nozzle looks too narrow, and the motor looks too high!
My friend Stephen has exported 2 Babies over here, one being a 1916 Baby Model C, which I got to see at our UK Hooverland Meet last year. His is an early one, with white canvas furniture guard, push on-off switch and 2-piece handle. I was shocked how heavy it was, though - despite being the smallest version, it weighed more than the later full-sized machines, because the Model C was still sand-cast.
Be careful with that bag - the manual suggests you don't turn it inside out, or brush it, since this damages the chemical which keeps it dust-tight. Perhaps after 80 years, that doesn't make much of a difference!
Here's a question for the experts; was the Baby 103 die-cast or sand-cast? If it was die-cast, I'd guess it's probably a lot lighter than the Baby Model C.
You might be interested to see this picture from my copy of the 'On Judging an Electric Cleaner' booklet. I think it must be earlier than your copy. In the one you scanned for the forum, the Baby has a 'discontinued' sticker over it, and the prices have been stuck over with prices for the 543, 700 and 961. In this one, the original pictures and prices are intact:
vintagehoover
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2006
- Messages
- 2,883
Forgot to mention:
Later 103s had the stengthened bag, suspended with a spreader, like the one in the picture above. Yours may be an earlier version, since it has the older-style bag.
Later 103s had the stengthened bag, suspended with a spreader, like the one in the picture above. Yours may be an earlier version, since it has the older-style bag.
Yeah, that bag is an issue. Right now by biggest concern is keeping it in one piece. I have already had to hot glue the strap to the top of the bag before I took the running pictures shown above.
It does look a bit strange. It is actualy as wide as a standard size Hoover and perhaps slightly taller than the 541. When working on it (belt and brush maintnace) it feels very cramped inside. The belt hardly clears the underside fan case and rubs against the front when trying to close the brush holder.
The 103 appears to be sand cast and is as heavy as a typical 1920s full size. It has the texture on the inside that I think the sand cast models (like my 102) had.
The motor fan is the newer style with the disk under the blades and not the old Model N style.
Like you said in your second post, the bag is an older one. It also lacks the 541 style hand grip or the bag spreader. I wonder what upgrades the later versions had? It seems possible the later ones might have been die cast. It it was sand cast during the run of the 541 it would have been very out-dated. It would have no weight advantage and little price advantage after 1923.
I think I will need to post a few detail photos later to show what I'm talking about.
It does look a bit strange. It is actualy as wide as a standard size Hoover and perhaps slightly taller than the 541. When working on it (belt and brush maintnace) it feels very cramped inside. The belt hardly clears the underside fan case and rubs against the front when trying to close the brush holder.
The 103 appears to be sand cast and is as heavy as a typical 1920s full size. It has the texture on the inside that I think the sand cast models (like my 102) had.
The motor fan is the newer style with the disk under the blades and not the old Model N style.
Like you said in your second post, the bag is an older one. It also lacks the 541 style hand grip or the bag spreader. I wonder what upgrades the later versions had? It seems possible the later ones might have been die cast. It it was sand cast during the run of the 541 it would have been very out-dated. It would have no weight advantage and little price advantage after 1923.
I think I will need to post a few detail photos later to show what I'm talking about.
I was wrong about the fan!
After taking it apart for some more pics, I discovered it has the old style fan! The fan unit is very interesting. It has a different method of mounting to the shaft and the belt pulley is somehow attached to the fan.
Here are some more pictures:
After taking it apart for some more pics, I discovered it has the old style fan! The fan unit is very interesting. It has a different method of mounting to the shaft and the belt pulley is somehow attached to the fan.
Here are some more pictures:
