Kenmore...

[myhooverco]

Can anyone tell me more about this Kenmore cylinder cleaner? My family had one when I was three and I remember being terrified of the sound it made. My folks did not even have the tools or the hose. They used my grandma's Hoover model 62 hose with lots of tape to make it fit. It was our "shop vac" until I was five when my mom bought my dad a true Shop Vac brand vacuum. Any information would be helpful. I remember that ours had a dull "chrome" finish on the bullet end of the machine. However, I distinctly remember the sound of this machine. This one runs like brand new!

 

[myhooverco]

Here is another shot...

 

[myhooverco]

Here is the belly of the machine...model number 116.722-1... I just love the "skid" on the bottom!

 

[myhooverco]

Here is the bullet end and the bag...very easy to change.

--Tom

 

[charles~richard]

The Kenmore Commander

This model was introduced in 1939 and sold through the mid 1950s. I have often wondered if its similarity in appearance to an atomic bomb was coincidental, or perhaps a subliminal nod toward "America's Might." I suspect the latter, to tell you the truth. This motif appeared in many post-war objects but is most blatantly epitomized in this particular vacuum cleaner.

The Commander was sold in a variety of colors over the years -- maroon with a polished aluminum "nose cone." ... maroon with darker-maroon ends ... the two-tone brown one you have presented here; hammertone gray model with aluminum ends, and turquoise with aluminum ends. I believe the turquoise model was the last since the next Kenmore model was the pink "KenKart." I wish John Lucia would stop by; he is a font of information on Kenmore machines as he has an extensive collection of Sears catalogs. I may have to give him a holler and get him in here!

The Commander could be be had in the "KenKart" version. If you will look at the linked page on my web site you can see some photos.

The pink KenKart is one of the machines on my wish list. It's so fabulous and so pretty and pink!!

http://137.com/museum/sears.htm

 

[myhooverco]

Thanks for the information Charlie...I really liked the Commander in the maroon paint scheme. Thanks for the link! I guess it would be difficult to pinpoint a year of production then since it was made for so long.

The one thing about this machine is how heavy and well made it is. Did the motors hold up? Ours was still running when it got pitched in the trash.

--Tom

 

[rexaircollector]

Charles

Is this the pink Ken Kart on your wish list? Sorry for the ugly red Kirby hose but that will be replaced with something more suitable.

Robb

 

[charles~richard]

YES

that's the one. A friend of mine's uncle has one in mint mint MINT condition because it was NEVER used -- he bought it for his wife, for whatever reason she hated it and stuck it in her bedroom closet where it still lingers to this day, even after her death. I have dropped every hint imaginable, within the bounds of tact of course!, that I'd love to have that machine but so far it's still sitting in his uncle's closet.

btw to Tom, I know what you mean about the sound of the Commander's motor -- it makes a distinctive "BWIRRRP" sound when it starts up, and the the motor has a very musical sound albeit a bit on the loud side.

 

[hygiene903]

Kenmore

Tom,
Your 116.722 Kenmore is a little older than the 116.730 that will be arriving at my house any day now. The later ones had a hinged "door" that covered the exhaust end and directed the exhaust air downward, and also had clips on the inside of the "nosecone" that the rim of the bag would attach to. Mine has the maroon (or burgandy) trim and nosecone, just like the one my folks used in the basement and for cleaning out the cars. I can hardly wait til it gets here to hear that characteristic "prrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeen" sound when I fire it up!!
I agree, it would be interesting to find out just what years they were made. I'm wondering if it could be that the models WITHOUT the door were prewar models and the ones WITH the door postwar models?
Jeff

 

[rexaircollector]

Charles

Since your friend's uncle has one in new condition, do you recall what type of hose it had? Someone told me that the original was gray with flecks of pink in it. I do not even remember these machines as a youngster so the original status escapes me.

Robb

 

[charles~richard]

The hose

is coiled vinyl, in matching "coral" - the darker of the two pinkish colors.

 

[scott55405]

Birtman Electric

These cleaners were made by a company I think was called Birtman Electric. They were also sold under the name "BeeVac". I had one prior to downsizing for my move to California. I mostly displayed it but the motor was perfectly fine and had great suction (this was within the last five or so years).

 

[frkirby511]

Commander...

I used a Commander regularly during later grade school years..5,6, 7, 8th grade. An elderly woman lived up the street from us and she had one. I would vacuum for her, take out the garbage, wash the kitchen floor etc. She would make me the most delicious hot chocolate you ever tasted. So after school I got a double treat: clean with the KenKart and hot chocolate!

At one point...I don't remember the year, she got a new Kenmore with a power nozzle and gave me the Commander...but when I left for the seminary it stayed behind at my parent's home and eventually was given to St. Vincent de Paul Charity or some group like that. Too bad, it was really well cared for and in great shape.

Also..Charles-Richard...I remember the pink Ken Cart very distinctly as a young boy. I remember walking into the Sears in downtown Scranton, Pa and seeing the Pink Ken-Cart sitting in the middle of display floor. It was right in front, you couldn't miss it if you tried. I was fascinated by the whole thing. To me it looked like a robot I had seen in my comic books.

 

[hoovercelebrity]

That Kenmore...

Was my Grandmother's first vacuum cleaner... She bought it for $64.95 on March 18, 1948 (her 25th birthday). I still have it, minus most of the attachments, but with the original hose.

It's actually the cleaner that we used as a model when Joe created the "morphing vacuum" image on the homepage of this website.

I found the instruction manual and an original package of bags for it a few years back... in a closet in the bathroom, mixed in with an old Oster hair clipper. I would love to find the tools for it, as I've never really been able to use it in its original form.

Grandma loved the smooth cloth covered hose on the Kenmore, as it didn't get hung up on corners, as a Sunbeam she had years later always did...

Such a cool looking cleaner!

~Fred

Below: The photo we used when making the image for the homepage of this website...

 

[rexairman]

Birtman Electric, whose own brand was Bee-Vac, indeed made these cleaners. Birtman was taken over in what today is called a hostile takeover, by whirlpool, at Sears' behest (Whirlpool already made the Kenmore major appliances for Sears) in 1956. Whirlpool later sold the floor care division to Panasonic. You will notice that any Kenmore made by any of these companies will have model numbers beginning in 116. That designates the manufacturer. The twin fan Singer built machines model numbers begin with 175. There are others, but they don't readily come to mind.

 

[citation]

more childhood

When I was about 8, the lady up the street had a Commander-I think it was maroon and didn't have a flap over the exhaust. It was way cooler than my mother's Aerodyne! Ours was a Kenmore neighborhood - our next door neighbor had an upright (my 1955 catalog calls it "our best" #20 D T719L in maroon. Very bizarre - it had 6 wheels (it sat on the front 2 and center 2 for floors and the center 2 and back 2 for attachment use), the handle was released by twisting the grip rather than by pedal, and the hose plugged in btween the rear wheels like the later Hoover Convertible. If I could find one of these, I could die happy, or something. My mother was a true-blue Hoover gal (at 92, she still is, with one of those incredibly heavy self-propelled jobs) with a model 26 she bought in about 1940 and the Aerodyne in about 1953 (round emblem model). I've found another Aerodyne and a 28 but the 26 with the bakelite hood eludes me. Back to the Kenmore, I have a 116.7301 Commander, medium brown with painted tail and flap, polished nose and side spears. I got it on ebay really cheap with a nice original hose and most of the tools. Who says you can't go back to your childhood Tom

 

[compactelectra]

Here's A Deluxe Commander - Another KenKart

From Kenny Smith - What a beaut!

 

[myhooverco]

Citation...I have a complete model 26 that needs total restoration. Mechanically is very sound. It is yours if you want to pay for shipping. It would need a repaint and has a genuine Hoover replacement bag. Let me know. The 25 and 26 models are harder to find pre-war models.

--Tom

 

[compactelectra]

Rear View

With all the attachments and original hose. I don't know where he finds these things.