fan-of-fans
Well-known member
The first Kenmore canister I remember us having was avocado green with woodgrain and it had the Powermate and magicord and I believe the white attachments. It had the flat end crevice tool, swivel dusting brush, etc that had 'SEARS' on them. Then we had a white Kenmore Powermate canister with black bumper front entrance hose and magicord, and I believe it had black tools that weren't as deluxe and had 'Kenmore' on them.
After that one of my cousins gave us two Kenmore canisters that she no longer wanted. One was a brown straight suction that was a rounded shape and the hose went in the front. I had the manual and I believe it was dated 1983. The tools were very basic, brown hard plastic and it had plastic wands. The other vacuum she gave was a Kenmore Powermate canister in white with black bumper and swivel hose. The Powermate looked very close to the white one we had before, except for the graphics printed on it. The tools were rubber like the modern ones but they were brown. That vacuum was somewhat basic, it had the switch on top of the canister, no headlight or quick release. I had the manual for that too and it was bought in 1987.
The Powermate canister had bad brushes, it sparked out the exhaust, so we used the brushes from the brown one to replace them and tossed the brown vacuum.
We kept using both of those white Powermate vacs, until we got rid of them. Both still worked fine when we got rid of them.
About 1997 Sears had a clearance canister on display for $99, I wanted it badly but I couldn't afford it at the time. It was the green model with swivel hose, but had the switch on the canister, exposed tool storage, and the smaller Powermate with headlight.
In 2000 we got a green Kenmore Whispertone from Sears. I was so excited, and this one had the Quick release and headlight Powermate, switch on handle, Powermate Jr and cord rewinder pedal none of the others had. We still have that one.
Does anyone know when the last of the front hose Powermate canisters were sold? I read on here about a red and gray one that Sears still sold in the late 1980s. My Sears catalogs show a similar canister in the section for replacement hoses. I believe the two tone gray front hose models in my catalogs were probably the replacement for that style. There were two models, one with a basic Powermate and the other is straight suction, neither have magicord.
One thing I found interesting was recently Kmart sold a basic Kenmore canister called the "Guacamole" I believe for $149. It was green and white, and used a basic Powermate with the older style non quick release and the all metal wands. I thought it was cool that they were using older style parts again. I believe that model is no longer sold, they now have an orange model at Kmart.
End of my rambling. LOL
After that one of my cousins gave us two Kenmore canisters that she no longer wanted. One was a brown straight suction that was a rounded shape and the hose went in the front. I had the manual and I believe it was dated 1983. The tools were very basic, brown hard plastic and it had plastic wands. The other vacuum she gave was a Kenmore Powermate canister in white with black bumper and swivel hose. The Powermate looked very close to the white one we had before, except for the graphics printed on it. The tools were rubber like the modern ones but they were brown. That vacuum was somewhat basic, it had the switch on top of the canister, no headlight or quick release. I had the manual for that too and it was bought in 1987.
The Powermate canister had bad brushes, it sparked out the exhaust, so we used the brushes from the brown one to replace them and tossed the brown vacuum.
We kept using both of those white Powermate vacs, until we got rid of them. Both still worked fine when we got rid of them.
About 1997 Sears had a clearance canister on display for $99, I wanted it badly but I couldn't afford it at the time. It was the green model with swivel hose, but had the switch on the canister, exposed tool storage, and the smaller Powermate with headlight.
In 2000 we got a green Kenmore Whispertone from Sears. I was so excited, and this one had the Quick release and headlight Powermate, switch on handle, Powermate Jr and cord rewinder pedal none of the others had. We still have that one.
Does anyone know when the last of the front hose Powermate canisters were sold? I read on here about a red and gray one that Sears still sold in the late 1980s. My Sears catalogs show a similar canister in the section for replacement hoses. I believe the two tone gray front hose models in my catalogs were probably the replacement for that style. There were two models, one with a basic Powermate and the other is straight suction, neither have magicord.
One thing I found interesting was recently Kmart sold a basic Kenmore canister called the "Guacamole" I believe for $149. It was green and white, and used a basic Powermate with the older style non quick release and the all metal wands. I thought it was cool that they were using older style parts again. I believe that model is no longer sold, they now have an orange model at Kmart.
End of my rambling. LOL
Till this day, I ask her why did you throw out the Kenmore? LOL Her reply is "I hated that vacuum" and "I'll never own another Sears vacuum ever" LOL I'll show her the 1975 Sears Catalog and she goes off on that vacuum...LOL Crazy....I'm like you kept the lime green Hoover{1030}, why not the Kenmore...hahaha
