Mid 1960s Eatons VIKING 2000 canister

[aeoliandave]

Found this today at Bibles For Missions Thrift Store for $5. I had dashed to Kitchener this morning to get Pinnacle Studio Version 12 Ultra on sale for $69, last day only, at Best Buy....because I have used Pinnacle Studio to edit and compose DVDs for at least 8 years now and I know the layout, but my Version 8 is now 'end of life', won't do widescreen and will not work on XP or VISTA. :-( So when I saw it was on Labour Day Sale I didn't hesitate as my new-ish JVC hard drive videocam with AV In and OUT (!!!) shoots in widescreen and HD, oh my...

Got 'maybe' the last one in stock. I had to ask an associate to check in the back room, the computer said there was one in stock, an emplyee had set it aside for himself, and he came out with ULTRA in his hand. Very happy me, for asking. I think the usual price is like $130. CN.

Naturally I had to try some thrifting after that.

 

[aeoliandave]

It's all heavy metal constructed in Japan. Checked Doug Smith's site and there it is, the Viking 2000.

I was thinking it was very much like a Eureka 1010 ham in it's robustness and sure enough if you go to Doug's site under Viking you will see many versions of the 1010 rebadged Viking for the Eaton's Department Stores.

 

[aeoliandave]

Gave it a quickiespa and repaired the hose. Under the gummy duct tape it was first 'repaired' using Scotch invisible tape, which of course couldn't have lasted long.

I think the hose used may be Hoover Dura-Flex, perhaps not original but a perfect choice. I had to remove 1" from each end to clear the vinyl splits.

Interesting hose and wands. Note the shape of the friction slots and the dramatic wand taper on the opposite end. And it orients 'backwards' like a Hoover does. All I got was the floor/carpet nozzle and it'll be fun digging through the partz bins for other accesories that will fit the ends.

Cordwinder works great and the plug is branded KAWASAKI. Mmmm...

Love the switch paddle - it's cast aluminum.

 

[aeoliandave]

Pulls 60" on the Suck-O-Meter.

The Bag Flow Indicator is particularly lovely, being housed under a domed plastic window in a chrome frame. It almost looks like a Hood Ornament badge.

The lid had a 'stay open' arm like a phonograph that collapses when next the lid is lifted.

May or may not be the correct bag but won't be hard to find one more capacious.

 

[aeoliandave]

One aisle over I found this and just couldn't leave it behind.

The person who ordered it paid $49.99 US plus $15.21 for postage from the US of A in May of 2008. I paid $3.

Removed all the shipping labels with Lighter Fluid...and stuck 'em on the manual.

 

[aeoliandave]

Just in case you wondered, yes, it's for your pet's grooming, too.

 

[aeoliandave]

Everything in the box. Whee.

Only fur I have to try it out on is me or long-haired Felix and I wouldn't be so cruel to either of us. LOL

It has a very serious looking rotating cutting blade like a sweater shaver.

It's just like that Turquoise Flow-bee pet groomer I found a few years ago, which hose now compliments one of the Roll-Easys. But the Flo-Bee had reciprocating blades like a hedge trimmer - ouch in either case.

Dave

 

[joe22]

Pnasonic clone see ebay listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130329002585&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[aeoliandave]

Chicken/egg. Which came first? My bets are the Viking 2000 was based on an earlier branded version of the Panasonic you've directed us to which is of much more recent vintage. Same basic metal body halves stamping but the handle, switch paddle and a myriad of other details date the 2000 to the early/mid 1960s while the Panasonic looks more 1970s, making the Panasonic the Clone Pretender. I would also bet the metal sheet used is thinner.

 

[collector2]

Hey Dave:

The 2000 was a Japanese made machine (Cant remember if it was Panasonic, Sony or Sanyo as they all were similar) rebadged for Eatons under the Viking name. Its one of my favorites (although I havnt been able to find the parts for mine) as its styling reminds me of the cars of that era.

Doug

 

[aeoliandave]

Yes Japanese sourced. There are several stick-om mylar labels such as on the floor tool to indicate brush depth lever positions in English. Underneath the names are all in Japanese characters impressed in the plastic and filled with black paint. There's a major large label missing from the backside beside the cord winder plug exposing lots of characters signifying something but the riveted Eatons VIKING 2000 plate is still on the bottom of the machine.

I do like it for it's solid heft and small size. The 4 wheel stance guarantees it'll not tip over on speed runs down the hall.

I noticed on your website pictures, Doug, that your's too has no bumper trim on the lip of the bag compartment but there is one on the lid lip. Certainly when running the lid clamps down tightly sealed. I'm tempted to add a bright chrome auto trim molding to the lower lip to play against the gleaming chrome handle, meter bezel, foot paddle, hubcaps and wands.

Dave

 

[joe22]

egg came first

 

[luxlife]

I know Eatons is a Canadian brand

Is there any connection between Eatons Viking and the Viking brand from Sweden? From what I remember the latter canisters were part of Electrolux Group and had a Eureka power nozzle, but the canister itself resembled a North American Electrolux. I remember a few shops in the 80's and 90's carrying these but I haven't seen one of these on eBay or anywhere else on the internet.

 

[briankirbyclass]

Thats a good question Luxlife,,i remember exactly the machines you are talking about.
There used to be a Viking Sewing Machine store in Kansas City back in the late 70s-early 90s,,and they used to sell those vacs there. My Mom has always used Viking Sewing machines, and she would go there to get parts and service for her machine. I remember going with her once and they had a model on display that looked like the British model Electrolux that is a brown/burnt orange color,,and like you said, it had a Eureka style PN. It was labeled Viking of course. Have never seen once since, either.
They also sold a Viking upright that looks exactly like the British/European small box hard cover Electrolux's of the late 70s, early 80s. They must have sold the bags, belts, ect for them also.

 

[collector2]

Hey John, Brian:

No there is no relationship between the Eatons Viking and the Viking/Husquavarna (or how ever you spell it) in the US.

Eatons department store (Timothy Eaton Co.) had a number of house brands for their vacuums including Eatonia, Gleneaton, Viking, and Valliant. They were all rebranded machines made by Eureka, Remoco, Royal, Switson, and Universal as well as several others.

Viking/Husquavarna is a subsidiary of Electrolux Sweden.

Doug

 

[briankirbyclass]

OH, OK,,,thank you for clearing that up,,ha, sheesh, you really do learn something every day!,,,i had no idea that Viking/Husquavarna was a sub. of Electrolux Sweden.
That accounts for the Viking vacs that i saw at that Viking Sewing store reminding me so much like the European Electrolux's,,they ARE European Electrolux's!

 

[collector2]

Just thought I would update this as it is a very neat machine. I've manage to find most of the parts for mine now (Though the dusting brush is the wrong colour). And it was made by Panasonic for Eatons.

 

[gsheen]

I was about to say the floor tool looks very Panasonic, although Sanyo uses a almost identical one

 

[eurekaprince]

Looking back, it seems that Japan's National Panasonic (Matsushita) company was exploring ways to enter the North American vacuum cleaner market in the late 1960's. With the success of Japanese home entertainment products on the North American market, they must have sought to expand their sales by exporting home appliances as well.

This Viking for Canada's venerable Eaton's department store chain was one example. Panasonic was probably already making Viking televisions and radios and stereos for Eaton's and so expanding to vacuums was probably an easy step to take.

The other example was manufacturing Eureka's Emperor upright probably around the same time - late 1960's, early 1970's. I think they were also involved in the making of that unique Eureka Easy-Glide electric carpet sweeper. And maybe some Sears Kenmore uprights at the time.

In the end, National Panasonic made a move that would revolutionize the kind of upright North Americans would soon see in their stores: they bought the rights to Hoover's Dial-a-Matic concept and made it 100 times better than the original. This happened in the early 1970's I think. The Panasonic "bag first" upright concept really took off and was a very successful corporate move. By the 1990's, they had bought the Whirlpool vacuum plant and began making all those Kenmore uprights and canisters for Sears.