JC Penney 1979

[rugmaster37]

Yeah the Premier is still one of......My

My number one favorites!!!

Jeff, I remember the story you told me about the Premier. I love that thing. That and the Golden PowerMasteR. I have some of my nicest machines because of your generosity over the years. The double brush, brush roll still pulls up even the nappiest of shag and grooms everything beautifully.

I have recently off from EBAY received a 1973-74 Century House Catalog. They devote a whole page to the new "Premier" line of machines designed by General Electric. They have three levels of upright good,better,best all bearing the trade name of "Shagmaster".

One of them is the TOL Cord Reel version also. All of the machines are in harvest gold and white. the page also features three levels of SwivelTop as well. There is no powernozzle model..although you wonder if it was available or not...

Anyway...Tom you have a VERY impressive collection of Penney's machines including the "box top" Convertibles, which IMHO must have been sourced thru Eureka.. the bag assemblies anyway, as they look to be the same type of upper bag assembly as the Eureka versions. Most notably the burgundy or "brandywine" version to the left of the last picture.

As of late I'm in a sense embarrassingly on a vintage Rexair kick due to my very nice model B that I had a customer give to e complete with everything except the hose but unfortunately the motor is kinda yuck, the armature being very worn. The next new Rexair is the beautiful model C that Kyle gave me, with a WONDERFUL motor, clear plastic water basin and dolly. This I use quite a bit.

Kyle also gave me a NIB model D as well. I just have to have a PN outlet installed in it. Which if I can get ahold of a lower housing with a outlet and it is stock I will do it. It will be soon if I do because I also have a stock correct triple wire Rexair/Eureka powerhead, wands, and hose with the straps.

However as usual I will eventually tire of the Rexair's becasue of the cleanup and rying of everything, and will just go and get my U5007 and vac the place.

One final thing that I have to say IMHO in the Dialamatic's defense. ANY of them can clean VERY well. The trick I have finally found is to make sure all of the seals are well moistened, and NOT dry. Make sure the brush roll has the correct helix, and new bristles, and finally if the seals are ineffective, or too thin, to beef them up some. The suction then is INCREDIBLE, and will clean as welkl as a Convertible..again IMHO.

I'm sure that will create a firestorm....


Chad

 

[myhooverco]

Chad...

Hoover had many of those box top bags in the works. I have seen the pre production mock ups. They just never made it to production. I will tell you that they had some wild colors and that the ones I have are fairly sedate. Hoover only built them for the private label market. I am not sure if there are other examples out there or not. They make the basic Convertible a little on the clunky side and make it much easier for the whole machine to fall to the floor once the handle is released. I would say that Hoover made this on their own since the hole pattern is the same as other Convertibles of the sam era.

I would not agree with you that the DAM is a good carpet cleaner. I say it would be fair at best. I know that it is a Hoover product and the suction is very good, but it uses side air flow instead of more central air flow as on the Convertible. The proper brush roll does help this situation. I have never thought to beef up the seals. They very often do leak as these machines are not built as well as they could have been. It is one of the MOST innovative designs ever to come from a vacuum cleaner company. I grew up with one and my mother "hated" it. To this day she will tell me that it was too heavy and too loud. I was lucky to save it from the dumpster. The Convertible of the same era was a better carpet cleaner not by much but still a little better. I would like to see more DAMs as they do not seem as sought after as other models.

How many DAMs do you have in your collection?

--Tom

 

[scott55405]

It's interesting to learn of the boxtop bags, I'd never seen those until you or someone posted some once before. I didn't think any actual Hoovers had them. I've always liked the more tapered Hoover styles, I didn't like the bags as well when they got "wider."

It's also nice to learn about #7. I was going to ask what that was.

I remember those brown Eureka style canisters when I worked at JCPenneys (early 80s). At that time we were still pretty much a Sears "clone" as far as what we sold and it was a wonderful place in many ways. They'd already scaled back quite a bit by the time I left, leaving basically the softlines retailer we see today.

I still shop there and get some good buys from time to time, and it's nice they still do the catalog. I like them for bedding and certain clothing items, though sadly their housewares area is a mere shadow of what it once was. They were actually the last to come out with the catalog, and now are the last remaining. Also one of the few places that still does made to measure window treatments.

 

[rugmaster37]

Maybe Comparing it to the Convertible....

Was going a bit far. However..it's got a similar brushroll as the Convertible, and seems to have equal or better suction....? However I do see the side suction thing as being a downfall. If they would have angled it towards the center as Panasonic did later or even simplicity today it would have helped matters immensely. In fact I have to keep on top of demonstrating my newer Simplicities; that I do not demo it on the belt side. Edge Cleaning on that side is dismal at best...

I just think that due to it's state of the art design for the time, it's revolutionary by-pass cleaning that allowed even the clumsiest or daft of home keepers to pick up stupid things like small change, toy's and fan breakables does deserve a much better respect quota than I usually read about....

In short the DM's at the very least again IMHO do MUCH better than many contemporaries of the era. Especially in above the floor cleaning. As of now I have a U5007 and a U1110. The latter is in storage, as I do NOT like it as much as the former as it does not have a rug adjustment, which I feel personally helps the Dial in a way of being a better cleaner.

I do moisten with sewing machine oil all of the fabric and rubber seals, including those inside the Dial-A-Matic chamber inside the bag compartment.. I always bump up the thin seal around the bag compartment with thin weatherstripping that has a adhesive backing so it stays in place. I have found that sewing machine oil is non-corrosive and non-damaging at least the brand I use, and it does the job perfectly in my restorations.

On another note..I cannot begin to imagine the items that you get to see in your job with the Hoover Hist. Center. And more importantly the photo mockups of the bags for the convertibles especially the Eureka style box top style as you have on your Penney's and Western Auto Cleaners. It's too bad that you would still probably get into hot water with the company if you posted a few shots of what Hoover had in store. I can guess as well that it would make a Hoover handle fall immediately to the the operating condition if not to the floor as it's not counter sprung like the Eureka handles of the same vintage.

Just imagine a Hoover Convertible Model 704-01 with a box top bag. Just makes me kinda giddy to think what Hoover could have done to the Convertible...clunkiness aside.This dream model is the CordReel Convertible in Persian Gold- and Seal Greige Light and Medium I'm sure you know..and the only Hoover Convertible model that I clearly seek to own anymore.

I only have two Dialamatics as of the present. I do not like in any way the Self-Propelled models as I feel that they are too jerky and heavy for my taste. And I'v e had them including several nice 1178's that I feel are the prettiest of the S-P DM'tic's.

I also find automatic adjustment a con in any vacuum design and because the 1110 doesn't have the rug adjustment which I feel is real important in a vacuum cleaner including the Dialamatic.. Althought Panasonic and Simplicity have really done it best, I dont feel I've gotten that big where I cant bend over and properly set my machine either...LOL

Sorry I ramble so long.

Chad

 

[swingette]

Dial a Matic

heres my two cents: i think Hoover abandoned the DAM concept a little too soon. sure the machines flaws (bag/filter, handle strength, too small wheels) would prolly have necessitated a redesign, but its unfortunate Hoover threw the baby out with the bathwater in regards to the Dial a matic.

as gangbusters as the Concept is on carpet, the attachment setup is sooo a step backwards. you can tell the Hoover designers learned from the shortcomings of the DAM when you look at the Concept's beefy rear wheels, killer agitation and a handle that cannot be wiggled loose. now just imagine the DAM with bigger wheels, better bag, quadraflex agitator, a more articulate rug adjuster and stronger handle. IMO these improvements could have brought the DAM into the 90's and perhaps beyond.

Hoover DID phase out the DAMs motor (which was used on several cleaners)at the time the Concept came out, and the Concept helped spawn the long-lived Conquest series, so there was a lot to consider. and the DAMs metal casting may have needed a change as well.

i would have loved to see what the Concept designers would have done if given the task of redesigning the DAM.

 

[myhooverco]

Swingette,

I agree, the Concept is killer on embedded dirt. The tools "suck". I hate having to connect them. They should have added a side duct like on the Innovation so that the tools could be added "top side". The Concept too suffered from side suction. However the agitator made up for it. The DAM went on too long without improvements. They just added gadgets to it over the years without any substantial changes. Hoover should have kept it around redesigned for at least another few years. I am sure that a Concept motor could have been adapted to it and that the base could have been converted to plastic. Who knows what could have been?

--Tom

 

[petek]

But the updated Concept, the PowerMax did have on board tools with the hose attched to a top port that kicked in whenever the the handle was in the upright position. It was removable as well. I think it's the best vacuum they ever made other than the noise and weight.

 

[rugmaster37]

Pete-

What a beautiful example of the final Concept series. I remember seeing alot of these around Michigan. In fact I would see five of these types of Hoover to every one Concept. I remember that Whitmark catalog Showrooms had this machine as well as Service Merchandise. And of course any ACE or ACO hardware that sold Hoovers had this machine as well.

If I remember correctly...these machines sold for around the $250.00 dollar mark...???

When I worked for Hoover we got these in occasionally for service because the all plastic rollers would warp because of the heat that these machines could generate in the brushroll if string or carpet nast got in to the bearing area.

One last thing...Were the metal wands stock? I thought that they were white plastic like the tools. Of course the metal ones are prolly better for doing any above the floor work that you may have...

Chad

 

[myhooverco]

Yes...I do know that at least some of these Powermax cleaners came with the chrome wands. The one that I used new out of the box was the green one. This Hoover's attempt to correct some of the problems of the Concept series. I just wish that they had kept the good agitator. I like these machines a lot and would like to add one to my collection some day.

--Tom

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Metal Wands.

The model U3745-930 (the black one with the variable speed motor) was the only model that did come with those metal wands. It was a top of the line thing. I have that same model, and I LOVE it! The tool suction leaves something to be desired, but for a quick dusting off of something, it works alright.

My cleaner also has the Quadraflex Agitator, versus the plastic agitator. I believe this was a change they made a year or so into production.

~F

 

[petek]

Mine came with the metal wands and Q flex agitator as well. I bought it new at Costco in Vancouver somewhere around 89 or 90. It was expensive to boot at the time. I can't remember exactly what I paid for it but it was close to $400 Cdn which probably was close to $300 US back then. It's been my daily driver for years with nothing but belt replacements and once or twice the control wire in the sliding handle came out when SIL picked it up by the handle. Easy fix though. If only I'd thought to keep the box