I wonder how many 1950s housewives loved their vacuum cleaners this much...

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How many women?

I know of two.

Jeanette Pletincks November 30, 1904 - March 28, 1986.
Cecilia Rowan April 2, 1901 - October 6, 1993.

And here was the machines use by them, starting with Jeanette's Electrolux.

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And I can testify

That Alex's house is SPOTLESS..I have seen it and I have never seen a neater cleaner place!Mines a wreck at the moment..LOL
 
My mom always loved her Eureka and never minded vacuuming as long as it was with her Eureka Roto Matic Power Team. My dad also loved his Filter Queen Majestic. When people would come over he would always get it out and start it up with fragrance to "purify" the air. He would always make sure company noticed his vacuum because he was very proud of it.
 
Bottom......

line is that most boys push some sort of vacuum at one point or another in the family. Some hate it, some LOVE it and it will become a lifelong passion for many.


 


As campy and funny now as most of those early appliance ads were, there were also insulting/demeaning to women....that much we've all come to learn. A husband giving a wife some sort of appliance for Xmas or her birthday was perhaps not the most well thought out gift idea, unless she asked for it, of course. But as was said, Valium made life 'wonderful'. 


 


Kevin
 
Bottom line.

Consider this little gem that some male chauvinist pig of a husband gave to his wife. Sit back, relax and let her work her --- off!

This was part of the treasure trove of patent info Stacy Krammes gave to me back in 1980.

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I had a Valium Val customer once ask me how much "trouble" it would be to move a wall a few feet one way or another....load bearing at that. Had another Valium Val go off on me about a perfect paint match for a Kohler fixture set.  You'd think there would be bigger battles in their lives, but...........


 


Kevin


 


 
 
My 2 Cents

As far as the housewives in the old advertisements, seen enjoying their appliance with an unnatural passion, one has to consider the fact that these companies were trying to sell it. Naturally, they're going to make their models look overjoyed with the product.
Whether or not women loved their vacuums in reality, I do not know.
But if we consider what they were likely using before their new fancy electric vacuums, loud, cumbersome,unaffordable, more primitive models, or worse- a BROOM, well I'd probably think that new Electralux XXX that Santa left under the tree was a dream come true.
 
Until.......

they were given an appliance for their BD, anniversary or Xmas.....


 


The fact that these appliances were advertised that way, only gave endless fodder for the women's movement for decades. As they say, 'the rest is history'.


 


Kevin
 
But keep in mind.

High end companies like Air-Way, Compact, Electrolux, Kirby and others were sold based on an in home demo with both husband and wife present. The demo was geared to the wife on the basis of less work for her, and to the husband for trying to make the point that if he loved her he would buy the 'best.' But the bottom line was 'make the sale,' and each of the above mentioned companies and several others did just that.

But this was the world of advertizing back then. How many women got dressed up, put on make-up, and so on to clean the house? Most were in a ratty housedress, and looked a fright.
 
Lol......

there was always the image of the housewife dressed up to do chores in mags and on TV, but in reality, I never saw anyone do that. And the really upscale(rich) people that did dress like that all the time, had maids do the housework.


 


And if you think about it, why would anyone want to dress up to battle dirt/grime? I think the point of the advertising was that; the cleaner you were using was so remarkably well made, you could clean in your best clothes and not get the least bit dirty. Probably a Madison Ave thing and it just stuck.


 


Kevin
 
Exactly...

Kevin wrote: Until.......

they were given an appliance for their BD, anniversary or Xmas.....

The fact that these appliances were advertised that way, only gave endless fodder for the women's movement for decades. As they say, 'the rest is history'.

I reply:
Back in the brief and miserable period known as my marriage, my then-wife and I ate lunch one day at the bar of a local restaurant and watched the bartender juicing oranges with a commercial juicer. She commented that she would like to have a juicer, so I got her one for Christmas, along with several other nice non-appliance gifts. When she opened the juicer, she was nothing short of enraged, growling at me through gritted teeth, she said, "YOU. DO. NOT. GIVE. APPLIANCES. AS. GIFTS!!!" And on what I guess was to her a matter of principle, she returned the juicer and got a different one, which she used exactly once while we were together. Thankfully, that was the last time I had to select Christmas gifts for her.
 
The other side of the coin.

It all depends on who's giving the gifts. In our family giving/getting appliances was common and nobody was offended.

I remenber one Christmas very well, my grandfather gave my grandmother a years supply of Estee Lauder perfume, and other items in a travel case. She hated Estee Lauder, but true to form she smiled and put with her other presents. Think she returned it? not her, it was the thought that mattered. She used every drop of that perfume, soap and other items in the case.
 
Being that our poor model 67 Convertible was on its last leg

a new Hoover would have made my mom very happy.
Anything to help with that 12-room house was a blessing.
We didn't have a dryer. She was thrilled when my brother gave her one. It was used for YEARS and YEARS.
My uncle gave her an electric can opener after taking care of his children while his wife had another child. Again, she was very grateful. We were a no frills household.
Actually, anything she was given was very much appreciated and put to good use, be it cologne, clothes, an appliance, etc.
However, one day, someone tried to influence her with an Electrolux. MISTAKE! That was a memorable day, for sure.
 
Regarding the picture above, I have a Lionel ZW transformer, and the turbine steamer just like in the pic.
 
In regards to reply #23, it makes me want to smoke Virginia Slims all the way down to the burnt, carbonized filter...Yummy!!! Thanks so much for making this " Thread " relevant and worthy of responding to!
 
Well,

Who would Virginia smoke, wether a gal, or a dude in drag?
Some prefer tuna, some prefer sausage. We're here to enjoy each others collections, and ideas, not criticize each other on alleged moral issues.
If I believe we all came from a big bang, where did that come from? Can't be answered. Am I an atheist? That creationist theory is by the way in the Vatican archives in Rome now.
Chad, those old Lionel items are very collectable.
 

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