LOVING CONNIE

[StellationGuy]

HI Everyone...

Just a hello to introduce myself and say I am thrilled to be here. I never knew house cleaning could be so much FUN! I am focused on Hoover Constellations... They look like friendly little UFO's... I have 4, and hope to yet buy a LIME green one and an AVOCADO one; if you know of any out there, please let me know.

I am definitely a newbie here. One thing I am trying to figure out is who designed these, and when did they switch from the horizontal wall guard belt to the one that is slyly tilted like planet SATURN? Does anyone know?

Here's to cleaning house!
~Christopher

 

[aeoliandave]

You will enjoy reading this current thread in Off topic that will answer many Connie questions.

Enjoy and prosper, Christopher ...

Dave

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?19455_12

 

[Lexalux]

It looks like the vacuum they would have used on the Jetsons...pretty cool!

 

[squarehandle]

Post some pictures

Show off your Connies, man!

 

[intv1980]

Check out Hoover's wiki page. There's a great article about the constellation on there.

 

[hooverboy81]

Wiki page

Yeah, it has finally been updated with some factual information! It's about time! That page was AWFUL before!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Welcome Christopher!!

Thanks for filling out your profile.  You'll love it here.  Here are SOME of my Connies.  Enjoy!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

The tilted one

is one of my favorites.

 

[kirbyultimateg]

Aren't those Hoover Constellation's fantastic?

 

[hotpoint95622]

hotpoint 95622

Welcome to the connie club.

 

[jfalberti]

I would love

to find a yellow and white one to match my Convertible. I can dream ...

 

[beko1987]

I am now very jealous! Thanks for that

All I have Connie wise is a battered one that I put a 1000w motor in. Must dig that out*








* 87% sure I didn't chuck it, and did do the conversion...

 

[aeoliandave]

I only have a few but they are all stellar examples I hunted down.


Top picture - the all white with Canton Red trims is a Canadian made exclusive, USA didn't get it.


Bottom picture is the three first edition swivel-tops (blue is non-floater) from 1954 through 1957.

 

[guardsman69]

just got one from another club member ....the best part of all....john long does not have it.......that even makes it more fun when he comes to visit.....he will be DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLING...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......IT WOULD FILL SUCH A VOID IN THAT GROUP PHOTO......

 

[aeoliandave]

From the man who has everything Hoover, Tom Anderson, this is a small section of his Constellation shelves.


 


Perhaps John Long has a few, too. LOL


Oh, and Fred Masterweb has a couple of 'em, too.


 


Dave

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Many a fun time was had in Tom's HOOVER Gallery. I feel

I go there.


  John Gregory.... do you feel better having said that?  Did that bring you joy?  I hope it did. We all have our favorite machines.


 


 I didn't get into Constellations until about 20 years ago.  But, you all know what happens:  1 becomes 2,3,4.........

 

[mieles7]

I've got a green model, which I use relatively often. They're fun vacuums to use.

 

[guardsman69]

boy somone is chrochity this evening

did it make me feel good to say that HELL YEAH ......DID IT BRING ME JOY BEING ABLE TO SAY IT .....YES...YES...YES...DROOOOOOLLLLL JOHNNY BOY DROOOOLLLL WHEN YOU SEE IT ......I KNOW WHERE ONE OF YOUR OTHER CONNIES IS HIDING......LIGHTEN UP JOHN lifes to short it was intended to make you laugh

 

[guardsman69]

toms collection is priceless and everchanging

what a gift that tom anderson shares his collection and his machines with all of us ....thanks for dave to post those great photos he takes when he visits tom....what an awesome guy indeed

 

[chan55]

Hoover

If the first Connies did not float, how did you use it? Did it have wheels?

 

[aeoliandave]

Fair enough question, John.


 


You vacuumed with the vacuum stationary in the center of the room like a GE Reach-Easy, early Eureka Roto-matic or  an Air-Way 55. The GE Reach-Easy swivel-top and Lewyt side hose canisters had a blister dimple in the center bottom that kept the body centered on carpet and floors, that aided the entire vacuum rotating in place. Runners for cylinders and smooth flat bottoms on round canisters was the norm in the late '40s to early '50s. Wheels seem like a no-brainer to us now but they had not been considered yet. Aftermarket wheel kits were made available for cylinders with runner rails and by 1956 wheels were fairly standard on all vacuum models of every brand.


 


The Constellation 82's advantage is that it came with an Ultraflex hose that could stretch - without kickback - to twice it's length.


The bottom ring was smooth with 4 shallow convex 'dimple feet' so you could drag it across floors and carpet but this was not recommended and could scratch hard floors. Exhaust blew upwards around the body.


Hoover later remedied this with an optional wheeled base rack but these are exceeding rare, tho a few members have one.


 


The other two Constellation swivel-tops have a modified base ring that directs the exhaust down to lift the vacuum slightly off the floor and low pile carpet for effortless gliding


 


Subsequent Connies had a redesigned ring that performed the same lift principle  and hovering ability and the hose connection was moved from the top center to further down the side.


 


Dave


 


 


 


 


 


 

 

[vacbear58]

Advertisment


Just uploaded a 1958 or perhaps 1959 TV advertisment for the UK Constellation 822A Constellation. It looks rather like the cleaner on the bottom left hand of the second picture Dave posted in reply 12, although the hose would have been blue and we did not have telescopic wands. Ours also had a step on switch rather than the toggle switches shown above.

Al

 

[MikeKLondon]

Ultraflex hose

I used a family Hoover Constellation when I was about 5/6 and it was one of the easiest vacuums to use the floor tool cleaned rugs very well given it was suction only and the Ultraflex hose and top swivel meant you could clean a good sized room or flight of stairs without moving it, what I would like to know is why the Ultraflex hose fell out of use, it it just down to cost. The nearest I have to this in recent years is the optional hose for stair cleaning on a SEBO felix, There is no vacuum on the market that I know of that still uses the Ultraflex that was so common from the 50s to late 70s. The only bad point I ever found with a floating connie was that unless you always cleaned behind radiators and under low bookcases etc. They would blow the dust out when it floated past, the upside of that is you always had dust free rad.’s. My aunt that had the Connie, was a Firm believer in the motto “a clean and tidy house is the sign of a wasted life” and would leave must of the vacuuming until I visited her.

 

[eurekaprince]

Connie Cwestion: weren't you supposed to wind the electric cord around the handle? I always thought that this was a neat feature. That left the base ring free to store the hose securely in the round trough at the bottom. Is this not correct?

 

[StellationGuy]

forever connie

thank you all for your great comments....

Mike in London, thanks for your memories of being a lad in love with Connie...

Aeolian Dave, you sure know a lot about these.. thanks for sharing.. and if you can, please let me know when the Connies switched over from the horizontal bumper belt to the jaunty tilt forward model, and maybe if you know, why...

VacBear, I LOVE that old TV commercial.. The Newest, the Latest! Every woman with young ideas wants the exciting new Hoover Constellation! You bet, and every guy too! I'd like one in LIME GREEN!

Tom Anderson's collection is DREAMY! How finely displayed too. His must certainly be the cleanest house in town!

John Long, you have some beauts too.. I like the yellow and peach ones, and is that an electric yellow one too, or a pale lime color? I can't tell. But you look very contented, in Hoover bliss, on your stair case...

Lee in the UK. thanks for welcoming me, and posting your great and unified collection of all white top Connies.. I love 'em.. one for each day of the week ! Were those specially made for the UK?

You are all great to share.. Thanks again! And don't forget, if anyone sees a Lime Green one out there, please give me a shout!

Cheers to all!

 

[aeoliandave]

There is no correct way with a Connie - personal choice.

I think you can wrap the cord any way you like.


1. wrap it around the handle, takes a while to un-wrap.


2. coil it up and push the bundle under the handle, pull out the bundle and it's ready to plug in. Best for a Daily Driver.


3. wrap it around the base, harder to deploy.


4. if you look at the Rose one in my top pic you can see the two half-round tabs just above the bumper ring. This allows you to wrap the cord around the bumper and it easily lifts off. Hoover did this on purpose.


5. Just plop the tangled cord ball on top of the machine and toss the whole thing in the back porch...ok, maybe not.


 


Yes, I wrap the hose around the base whether there's a cord there or not.


For display purposes I like to feature the clean Sputnik shape not the cord.


 


My take.


Dave

 

[hotpoint95622]

hotpoint 95622

Christopher
I think all the UK constellations are white tops except for the 822 which is the first floating model; it’s off white almost grey in colour.

Cord wrapping, I always wrap it around the base, keep the machine running so it if floating and twist it all the way back to the wall socket…

Lee

 

[guardsman69]

the king of all hoover constellations is you

desr lee you always blow my mind with your total restortions ....i would love to see you restore a senior....ranger or power plus

 

[hotpoint95622]

hotpoint 95622

I would like to restore a senior, but, the constellations are the ideal size for storing or displaying with easy.

I’m also on the look out for the two missing constellations from my line up which is the darker sage green and the blue that would complete it for me.
And maybe a rose and white, I have one but it was painted GPO red instead.