Well ...
"I think people used to take better care of an appliance years ago, not expecting to replace it every year at a discount store with another cheap ,plastic, made in China junky vacuum."
They DID.
For two reasons:
1. They paid the equivalent of $926 for the Dial-A-Matic (as opposed to the equivalent of around $600 for the Convertible).
2. There were no cheap, plastic, made-in-China junky vacuums in existence back then. The only options were well-built vacuums starting at the equivalent of $600 (and upwards). If it broke, you took it to the repair shop.