Kenmore Magicord "Sears Best"

[filterqueen83]

I finally got this today and gave it the pre spa treatment. I have had it for a while and just never got around to picking it up at my mothers house.
I do have a few things to say, This must have been quite a nice model for its time and may have cost quite a bit. I have always wanted one as a can van With PN has always been a weakness for me. I find this odd cause when I was a kid all I ever wanted was an upright but that is off the point.

I do think this machine is a bit fragile it has great suction and plenty of control for this suction, Such as a variable speed motor and suction control on the wand. I would love to have a new hose as this one has a few very minor cracks and thats about it.
Does anyone know if it is rare or how many out there and also any pics of theres.

Thanks

 

[filterqueen83]

second pic

See the Sears Best Sticker still there.

 

[petek]

Really nice those and getting harder to find every year. Those darn Kenmore hoses of that era were terrible for splitting and cracking up by the handle. Use some silicone to patch the cracks if you're getting any splits. I'm still looking for the matching top of the line green Power Ease upright. I had the blue canister but it's gone to live with Chad. I've got the even earlier light green 2 speed model and I had the brown/tan model but that may have gone with Chad as well in my zeal to slim down on vacs.
It's too bad they only used a cheap sticker to herald those vacs as Sears Best. There were usuall 3-4 models in the lineup: good, better and best with Sears Best having all the bells and whistles. The good model usually had no lid, shorter cord, one speed and/or less fancy power nozzle adjustments or no light on the power nozzle. And the power on/off foot pedal on the "good" models usually didn't extend from one side of the machine to the other.

 

[danemodsandy]

Good Machine!

I had this exact Kenmore for many years; it was a very good vacuum for what it was. Mine finally burned out its motor (I'd bought it at a thrift, so I have no idea what its history was prior to the time I got it), and I let it go, since I'd found a very nice Lux Diamond Jubilee by that time.

Your machine should have a plastic tray to go on top of the canister; the tray fits into those little slots you can see at the sides of the woodgrain on top of the canister's lid. It was white plastic, and Sears called it a "tool garden." They're not easy to find, since many people didn't understand how to remove them or put them back on (you pressed down on it, and slid it towards the front of the machine), and broke the tabs. You might check with Sears Parts to see if by some miracle there is still some stock left. All your tools snap very neatly into the tray, and they're held in place by little "fingers" that won't let them fall out if you raise the canister's lid to change bags, etc.

Your power nozzle has an early version of edge clean; there is a little red plastic brush under the power nozzle, at the edge of the unit. The little brush probably needs replacing by this time; Sears Parts still had them the last time I checked, which was a while back, admittedly.

Hoses are still readily available for this generation of Sears vac. There are two filters for it; the big rectangular motor filter, and an afterfilter for the exhaust. I think you can still get those, too.

Congrats on a nice find!

 

[rugmaster37]

Sears Best PowerMate Vacuum.....

Matthew,

I have several of these machines now, thanks to Pete who noted in his post that I have some of his castaways living now in my collection.

My oldest is a 1974 version, complete with the earlier second series PowerMate beaterbar brush. The headlight hood and lens penthouse is a full inch and a half high. And it's only an 11 or MAAYBE 12 inch cleaning path also.

The powerhead you have was the third incarnation introduced in 1975-76. This powerhead stayed around until 1982, with the introduction of the double brush, double beater bar 15 inch cleaning width style head, which would have been POwerMate incarnation number 4.

I have a few shots, of the last SearsBEST Canister from that time frame, that used the same tank, hose, and everythng except the powerhead. I like mine alot, and it gets a fair amount of use.

 

[rugmaster37]

Sears Best 1981-82

PIc # 2

The next year, Sears came out with their aerodynamic canisters, the more common Panasonic body machines we see today....

 

[rugmaster37]

Last one

The whole shebang....

My hose is thankfully not screwed up. I keep it that way by coiling it up inside a large trashbag,when it's going into long storage. What I do is, after spraying down the hose with vacpolish, and lightly wiping it off leaving some vac polish on the hose, I coil it inside of the bag, and tie it shut.

Doping this keeps the vinyl so soft and supple. Hence no cracks...and no hose damage.

And this is quite important for me and my machine , for this model was the first Kenmroe to have a "fingertip switch control" to operate the cleaner. YOu could turn the Vacuum on, without powermate, and then the whole enchilada with the powermate on it the last position . So it has a three position switch you can kinda see right behind the suction control in the last picture.

Becasue of it's fragility, I use it but not alot. I keep it excersized, but it wont be cleaning my whole place. And I have very good reason to not overuse it, becasue I have direct confirmation from the supplier that this hose is NLA!!

 

[kirbyvertibles]

I am trying to find a hose for one of these. Could anyone please find me one?

 

[methodistbill]

Manufacturer?

Who was manufacturing this generation of vacuums for Sears?

Thanks! Bill

 

[shag]

Will putting vac polish on the hose keep it from turning yellow?

 

[electroluxxxx]

Hello Matthew
I had that one only mine was white and wood grain with a reddish brown rubber trim. loud machine but very powerful and I kinda miss it. I think I still have the hose but it is in need of work because it is torn in a couple of spots and is stiff. but all in all Very nice machine matt
Mike

 

[rugmaster37]

Who was manufacturing this generation of vacuums for Sears?

From everything I've read, and what I've heard, these machines were still being made by Whirlpool's left-over vacuum division at the time.... Up until the Panasonic years from about 1984 onward. Today, Panasonic, and I believe Dirt Devil make most of Sears current line of caca'...

IT's well known then and now that Whirlpool was asked by Sears to buy out Birtman Electric Company of Chicago, sometime around 1957-58. Birtman had made all of Sears Vacuum Cleaners from the 1930's forward. Whirlpool was instructed by Sears to up the quality of , and get control of costs, manpower and so forth.

Sears was obviously pleased with Whirlpool's performance elsewhere, and somehow hammered out a what was reffered to as a "hostile" takeover, and thus Whirlpool became a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, amongst their major appliance lines.

Whirlpool supposedly sold off "most" it's vacuum division during the early 1960's I believe during 1963-64, but kept producing the only the canister vacuum cleaners for Sears. The old school BEE Vac style uprights, were discontinued, in favor of the new Singer Twin-Fan made re-badged uprights that came along in 1965 or so.

Everything else that was Birtman/Whirlpool made was thusly sold to David Oreck, who became VERY weathy and famous on the lightweight upright craze. The original Whirlpool 1000, and Sears "Featherweight??" ultralight uprights were the original forefathers from Birtman Electric-Whirlpool, direct to the current Oreck line.

Honestly, Sears was known nationwide for their canisters by 1965 because of their well reguarded PowerMate vacuums in several different models. That helped Sears develop a stranglehold on a market that they had mostly to themselves during the 1960's and early 70's. They also had liberal credit terms, and their catalog, and their uprights during the same period...the Birtman-Whirlpools were just MUCH less well reguraded.

Hence Sears, and Whirpool made their decision to farm that work out to Singer, and other minor manufacturers for their other vacuum items. For example most of Sears stickvacs were made for them by Regina for example....

The years may be slightly off here, and Some extra info from others may well fill in the gaps.

In a strange twist of irony, Sears tapped their Birtman-Whirlpool arm again during the 1970's to create the Duo-Power or jokingly reffered to the Don't-Has-No-Power, to compete with the clean air Hoover Dialamatic's. IT was really overengineered, and in some cases underengineered depending on who you talk to. This was I'm 90% sure Birtman-Whirlpool's last new vacuum design before it was all sold later on as Panasonic took over.

Chad

Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[methodistbill]

Great History Lesson

Thanks for the history lesson! I was an advertising major in college, so I've always been interested in marketing channels, re-branding, etc.

Bill

 

[electroluxxxx]

fantastic history on Kenmore. I never thought that dirt devil made todays junk.
anyway I found a kenmore commercial vac at the good will for $5 that I could not pass up. it kind of looks and sounds a little like a Hoover Concept.

 

[petek]

Here the older version, with Magicord and two speed toggle switch located on the back not shown. The on/off switch is on the front under the hose connection point as usual. This ones in remarably good condition, no hose problems and the power cord is substantially and noticeably heavier duty than the models that followed.

 

[petek]

Here in my old vac room at our old house you can see the matching green Duo Power upright. This is/was the vac that somehow got lost in the move grrrrr.

 

[rugmaster37]

And Mike jogged my memory...

The Duo-Power was NOT the last machine by Birtman-Whirlpool. I'm glad I'm not a historian or I would have MANY angry reders......LOL

The machine that you just found, was another Birtman-Whirlpool upright that was brought out around 1986-87, and was based as I was told very loosely on the current Hoover Concept One-Two, the design they were going after. So when you say it's sounds like a then current Concept, you are right on the money, cause that was exactly what they (Birtman-Whilpool) were going for.

It had a Horizontal motor , quich attachment connector on one side, flat belt drive on the other, and a rigid dirt tube taking the dirt up into the bag.

IIRC there were several models available, one being a Self-Propelled. There was also a soft bag, and rigid bag versions available too. This one the Commercial is an especially uncomon bird, becasue it was much more expensive than the regular household counterpart, an it's major difference from the standard one was the black color, and a three wire grounded cord..

Whirlpool, for whatever reason unknown to me, began producing vacuums again under their name. This "premier line" of Whirlpool vacuums starting about the same time as it was introduced by Sears. Mostly done in light choclate browns and beige's, this line aped the current Kenmore line haveing several canisters and several uprights, including a commercial.

I remember that J.L. Hudson's, the american Hudson's, not Canada's Hudson's Bay, although you'd think they were related, (and maybe they were)....sold these machines exclusively thru their MarketPlace departments in their upscale department stores. I can especially remember the ads that Hudson's would do for the Whirlpools at MarketPlace.

One that sticks out especially had the whole lineup of Whirlpool cleaners, taking up the entire page sometime around Chirtmas in 1989. I had that on my bedroom wall for YEARS. It's long gone now, god I wiwhs I could find it again.

Anyhoo....

These Whirlpool vacuums were WAY more expensive, than what they were worth, and sold nowhere near as well as the Kenmore versions. By the early/mid 90's these Whirlpool, Whirlpool's were gone as well, as were the Kenmore versions. I believe that is when Whirlpool threw in the towel with vacuum cleaners period. ANd sold off or closed the Birtman arm, ending many tumultuous years as being under Sears thumb, and a forced into vacuum manufacturer.

Of course they again quickly divested themselves of the Hoover brand almost as soon as thy had that company in their grasp, citing that they did not have the "moxie" so to speak to handle the vacuum cleaner buisness, and "were unsure of how to restore the lustre to the Hoover brand" so to speak.. Seems that Whirlpool had the final say as to what they think about the vacuum cleaner buisness...

They don't wnat nothin to do with it...


Chad

Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[collector2]

Hey Chad - thanks for the information. Quite interesting.

Hi Matthew - Just as another bit of information. The plastic accessory tray that Sandy refers to was also designed so that it could sit inside the machine over the bag too as well as on top depending on what the customer wanted.

Doug

 

[danemodsandy]

PETEK!!!!

Yeow- that is a machine I've been looking for, and looking for, and looking for. I know you'll probably never part with it, but if you should ever decide to find it a new home, I would greatly appreciate knowing that it's available.