Hoover Converter for 25, 26, 930 (Aeoliandave!!)

[portable]

Dave found that wonderful Hoover Model 25 Special, rebuilt by the factory. Nice clean-up job, Mr. Dave. Here's a picture (the one on the right) of the strange converter for this vacuum. It also was used on the Model 26 and the Model 930. It's heavy Bakelite and has those strange protruding angles. Other converters for the 150 and the other side conversion models don't fit in the 25, 26 and 930. You have to use this critter. This picture and several others of different Hoover converters was posted by "markuap". John L.

 

[portable]

Here's a Christmas ad for December 4, 1937

...showing the tool kit (the converter is next to the floor brush). Sorry for the partial scan - my scanner bed is not big enough for the whole ad.

The kit looks very similar to the later Model 150 tool kits, used toward the end of their run in the late 30's. The early Model 150 tool kits used pockets. This same Model 25 tool kit configuration was also used on the Model 26, and, with modifications, on the Model 305, produced before the War.

 

[vintagehoover]

A few other Hoover converters.

#3 is for Model 425, but it was very similar to the one used on the 450 and 475.

 

[vintagehoover]

The tools on the 25 were pretty similar to the sets used on the 160 and 262.

After the last coffee-can style pre-war Hoover, Model 875, was phased out, Hoover in the UK went over entirely to the automatic conversion system, with the exception of the Junior models.

 

[portable]

Jack -

Were 4 and 5 for Juniors?

 

[vintagehoover]

Hi John, yes -

#4 is for the first Junior, Model 370

#5 is for Henry Dreyfuss' restyled Junior Model 375

 

[portable]

That notch in the crevice tool....

for your 262 was what I was trying to explain to Dave. It was an aberration in the US Hoovers. Not many tool sets were made with that strange hole in the tool handles. I think it was called the umbrella latch. Most of ours were the button system.

 

[vintagehoover]

Here's a better pic of the 262's tools - the photo's actually about 2 years old. If I had everything to hand, I'd take a better one for you, but it's all up in the attic!

This connection system was used on several UK Hoover models.

-160 (the toolset pictured above with my 160 is actually for the 150! The sets are essentially similar, but differ in a few details)
-262
-Later Junior 375s,
-De Luxe Model 612

The Junior 119, despite being sold at the same time as the 612, used friction-fit tools, which just pushed on and pulled off. This was the case for the Hoover Cylinder 402 series, too.

 

[portable]

Thanks, Jack -

That's a great picture of the tools. Did the British 262 not have the ridge down the center of the hood? The US 26 had a rubber sort of "bumper" along the top of the motor hood, I guess to cushion it from damage when it was run under furniture. J

 

[vintagehoover]

No, I've noticed that too! It's another case of the British equivalent of the American model being made simpler than the original. Like the 750/900 lacking the Hed Lite, 800/825 lacking the Aromador and headlamp on/off switch, the 925 lacking the 'Radio Interference Eliminator', the 160 lacking the bag-full indicator and floating height-adjustment...

The UK machines look rather sparse in features compared to their American counterparts, but the UK market has never gone for 'gimmicks', and I'm sure that keeping costs down was another major factor.

 

[aeoliandave]

Utterly fascinating, John and Jack.

I can guess finding the Bakelite converter is no easy task.

Dave

 

[vintagehoover]

Hi Dave -

The bakelite converters are much stronger and more durable than one might think (see pic below!). The material they used - called 'Durez' - is incredibly thick. It's not so much that finding them is a challenge, but that finding any toolkits for Hoover uprights is a challenge nowadays!

I was very lucky with that 262; I won it on eBay for £5, and had arranged to collect it from the seller in person. However, the seller booked an impromtu holiday, and since they felt it rude to make me wait for it until they returned, they dropped it round to my house themselves.

The elderly couple pulled up in a huge vintage Jaguar, and extracted from the trunk not only the 262, but a box containing the complete toolkit! The sellers hadn't realised the tools were still present at the time of the auction; good thing too, since I'm sure if tools had been mentioned in the listing, it would have fetched a lot more than £5! They didn't want any extra money for them, they were just delighted that the cleaner was going to a good home.

The man told me his father purchased it shortly after the war, and remembered that 'Hoovers were like gold-dust at that time!' This was because well into the 1950s, over half of all London-made Hoover cleaners were destined for the crucial export market, and Hoovers were supplied to their home market only in limited numbers. Sales of new cleaners were also crippled by Purchase Tax; correspondingly, sales of Factory Rebuilt Hoovers soared during this period, since they were tax-exempt.

And so, children, concludes today's history lesson!