More new additions

[vacbear58]

Hoover 262

 

[vacbear58]

262 Ensemble

For some reason, and I cannot really say why, I have never really liked this model of Hoover, but when I good example came up I thought I would add it to the collection

 

[vacbear58]

The only snag

with this cleaner was the flex (cord). The rubber outer coating seems to have reacted with itself, especially around the cable hooks. The inner cores appear to be OK, although i was very cautious about running the cleaner, just in case. Unfortunatly the flex appears to be unique to the cleaner, so replacing it might be a problem - I dont really want to use black cable.

 

[vacbear58]

Of similar vintage

Morphy Richards

 

[vacbear58]

other side

Still would be interested to knoe the origin of this design

 

[vacbear58]

Up front and close

There were at least two colourways of this cleaner - this minty green and burgandy/chrome - i have already posted pics of the other one which i had restored a couple of years ago

 

[vacbear58]

handle detail

Nice bit of styling

 

[vacbear58]

Something even older

Unit Appliances 1937

I think the hose and the large floor nozzle must be replacements.

 

[vacbear58]

Logo

This is, so far the only model of this brand of cleaner to emerge

 

[vacbear58]

Cable connection

The on/off slider is made of wood - I thought twice about touching that! Grounded or not!

 

[vacbear58]

I like the mottled finish

although not so keen on the runners

 

[vacbear58]

Money shot

Looking inside

 

[vacbear58]

Behind front cover

looks like some sort of air freshner

 

[vacbear58]

Close up

Felt ring

 

[vacbear58]

Moth Crystals

packet stil not opened after 74 years

 

[vacbear58]

Connected up and ready to go

Unfortunatly there was no instruction book with this cleaner, although there was some of the purchase documentation. Apparently an electrolux was traded in for it, which raises all sorts of thoughts. Back then a cleaner would be expected to last for years and years (and there are plenty of Electroluxes from that period still around and running) so could it have been a model V? Or was it a later model that gave trouble? Lost in the mists of time I am afraid

 

[vacbear58]

Lets come right up to date .....

with a cleaner from the late 1960s! The (second version) Hotpoint Light and Easy

 

[vacbear58]

Side on

The main competition to this cleaner was the Hoover Junior. This cleaner is noticeabley lighter than the Junior and, although it used similar bags, they filled from the top. Introduced in 1963 it took Hoover until 1975 to catch up with that particular innovation.

The white lever at the bottom is the carpet height adjuster and rather than cord hooks this cleaner had a pocket on the back of the bag to store the cable in. Not such a good idea as the cores of teh cord tend to twist a lot more that when using hooks

 

[vacbear58]

Tools connected

This picture always underlines the necessity of looking at ebay auctions closely. This was included in a lot of multiple items and was not even included in the text - I bought these two or three years ago, long before i had the cleaner, as i have never seen another set of these tools