I'm not sure why the big argument here about whether it is or is not fake. It is a legit box and vacuum. Just because the condition is good doesn't mean it's fake. This is not something that you use daily and haul the box all around the house all the time. They usually sat in the closet.
The facts are the following....
#1: Masland Duran vinyl coverings were trademarked and first used in commerce in 1947, it was filed as a copyright in 1953, and was out of business and a dead brand by 1996.
#2: The wood is not actual wood, it's a form of cardboard called Masonite. It was used heavily in the 1930s and 1940's during WWI and WWII war rations. Many storage boxes were made of this material, and by the 1960's flooring was made of it.
#3: Northwest Mfg. Company is listed as being in "St. Paul 17, Minnesota". No city name within the last 60 years has been formatted that way. Also Atwater St. is no longer a street anymore, it's now known as Atwater Circle. That address number (459? Atwater) does not exist anymore.
#4: The "Guaranteed By Good Housekeeping" seal logo on the Duran tag debuted in 1941 and remained unchanged until 1962 when it was redesigned.
#5: The "PA 1-5395" telephone exchange number dates to a May 11, 1961 newspaper classified ad in Minneapolis, MN. The ad attached for this number hawks "$112.50 A WEEK! GUARANTEED!!! New, expanding firm needs men. No experience necessary, PA 1-5395." Now wonder who this firm could be? (Revelation Associates door-to-door sales firm perhaps?)
#6: The one "Wally Blatz" on the sales card is Walter Martin "Wally" Blatz who passed away on Feb. 28, 2014. He was married to an Eleanore Hasse (the salesman misspelled her name on the card in the photo). Eleanore died in 2000. The salesman, George Kelley I cannot find out if he is still alive or not. I found a 1940 census record from St. Paul, MN that shows him as being 8 years old (born in 1932). In 1960 he would be 23 years old, meeting the age requirements for the advertisement for Revelation Vacuum salesmen.
Wally's obituary:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125739041/walter-martin-blatz
Elanore's obituary:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89839544/eleanore-e-blatz
#7: I have attached two photos of Eureka storage boxes from the same period, and surprise, same materials used.
So, summing this all up....The seller is located in Elk River, MN, the box manufacturer in St. Paul, MN, the telephone exchange number to Minneapolis, MN, the door to door salesman was born in St. Paul, MN, and finally, Mr. Wally Blatz himself born and died in Minnesota.
Everything all fits to the same city and was all localized, so the claim that all these people, names, and cards can be picked completely at random and faked but all connected within the same city, that is just simply not possible. That's my thoughts on this matter.
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