My First Truely Antique Vacuum

[huskyvacs]

Here is some photos of the first antique vacuum in my collection, received and photographed on 11/25/2017. As Indiana Jones would say "it belongs in a museum!"

I paid $39.73 for this old heap, and it looks to be from my research a Birtman Bee Vac, Model D, sold by a distributor in Milwaukee with their own custom model tag. A mind-boggling 1.5 amp motor at 110v through a wonderful asbestos-braided cord, mmmm gotta love cancerous fibers in my vacuum collection.

It came out of Cashton, WI which is pure Amish country. By the looks of it, it was left in a chicken coop for the past 60 years! That must have been what happened to the bag, chickens ate it, lol

I hope to get it running soon once I learn how to do motor repair. These old vacs are pretty easy to work on as it's literally the bare minimum to function and easy to figure out what goes where for a n00b like me. It did not come with a bag but I hope to figure out a way to jury-rig a bag - any bag - on it eventually by utilizing some plumbing conversion pipes to adapt to the weirdly sized connector port. No clue at all what the bag even looked like IRL aside from magazine photos.

I have no idea what the year is on this vacuum or how rare it is, but none of the photos of them I seen online in magazine photos look anything like this one. I do not believe it ever had front wheels behind the brushroll, there is no mounting holes for them. It looks like the friction brushroll was intended to be the front wheels but the tires have long since rotted off.

Photo #1: The box it was shipped in. No, I didn't order a giant sledgehammer...I wonder what the mailman was thinking when he delivered this!

Photo #2: The vacuum unboxed.

Photo #3: My mouse inspection agent has worked over the vacuum and determined it to be safe

Photo #4: The very old school wooden handle and old fashioned switch.

Photo #5: The strain relief on the cord is feeling very strained these days.

Photo #6: Amazing old bakelite plug - need to get a cardboard insulator for it. I dunno how you're supposed to grab it to unplug it without shocking yourself (outlets back then were rounded and protruded more outwards than the flat ones we have today)

Photo #7: The underside and rear of the machine.

Photo #8: The motor terminals.

Photo #9: The model tag before cleaning.

Photo #10: The fan blades

Photo #11: The rear wheel, it looks like a thread spool!

Photo #12: The "brushroll".

Photo #13: The brushroll wheels.

Photo #14: The model emblem after cleaning. The red ink print started coming off, so I couldn't clean it anymore. All I used was water, so it must be a water-soluble ink...lovely design choice.

Photo #15: Close up detail of the emblem.

Photo #16: A fray in the wire I found hidden at the pinch point on the yoke. This is why you never plug vacuums in without inspection first!

All photos taken on 11/25/2017 3:26-3:54 am

 

[bikerray]

The front wheels inside the nozzle drive the brushroll. The motor should have two ports for oil for the motor bearings. The rear wheel should be made of wood with a rubber tread over it.

Birtman also made parts for Federal, Fedelco and Energex.

If you look at my Federal you will see the wheels that drive the brushroll and the brushroll that I just rebristled.

Other Info
Model D Bee-Vac has friction driven brush and oil bearing motor.
Model G Bee-Vac has outside swinging floor brush and oil bearing motor.
Model G DeLuxe is the same as the Model G, excepting it has Ball Bearing Motor.
Model 301 is motor driven brush model with ball bearing motor.

 

[huskyvacs]

What do you think would work to retread it? Old vacuum belts and construction glue?

 

[bikerray]

Trim the width of the belt to fit the wheel, cut to length, use a little ply-o-bond to bond it to the wheel and use some superglue to join the ends of the belt together so it forms a continuous tread.

Have fun and DON'T glue your fingers together.

 

[huskyvacs]

I just thought I would update this old thread. I just tonight found concrete information as to the age of this vacuum and when it came out.

I found it listed in an advertisement for vacuum cleaners from the New York Times from September 14, 1919.

I then found it again in the June 30, 1921 issue of the Federal Trade Commission's Decisions book.

This lines up with the distributor that this vacuum was specially sold and made for - Gall & Frank Co. - who changed their name to Fred T. Goll & Sons in 1929.

The vacuum cost a whopping $46.00 for the vacuum with attachments in 1919!

Now I thought that Birtman's Bee Vac was meant to be a budget cleaner, no-frills for the less well-to-do's of the time. But when you factor for inflation what $46.00 cost in 1919, that would be [choke] $676.88 in 2018 dollars! Now at that time a standard rickshaw horse buggy cost $29. So that was quite a price to pay if you were a farmer on a budget at that time.

Also just as an update as of 2019 it's still not been repaired or plugegd in yet. I just bought a workbench to do vacuum repairs on last month, but my garage needs to be cleaned up so I can set it up and get working. All in due time.

I added the two photos I downloaded from the articles.

 

[huskyvacs]

Oh I found another. It doesn't say the model but the shape matches my Model D.

 

[RugPileDial]

Wow! Great photos. I really enjoyed seeing that antique. Would you be willing to post another photo, or two, of the plug- showing the other side? Thanks!

 

[huskyvacs]

Yeah I can get it out and make a couple photos. The plug and cord I do believe are original as the cord is asbestos. I think the plug due to the way it is shaped might have originally fit in a light socket adapter plug, because if you tried to plug this into the wall, there is no way to remove the plug without risk of electrocuting yourself by getting your fingers touching the prongs by accident while it is still in the outlet.'

 

[madman]

You were supposed to electrocute yourself! That's how you knew the pixies were still working.

I thought this vac looked like the one in my 1927 Sears catalog, but it's a bit different - both are straight suction, no revolving brush. Birtman was Sears' vacuum company, though. The two offered were bronze bearing and ball bearing, but otherwise nearly identical. They were $19.95 and $24.95 - of course in 1927 monies.

Also, the illustrations clearly show that particular plug, plugged into a light socket adapter. The bag clip is strange, kind of like it has a big thumbscrew on the end of it.

 

[huskyvacs]

Nice ads! Yeah those Energex vacuums look identical. I don't know enough about Birtman but maybe they rebranded them and sold them through Sears too.

And yeah that confirms it, mine needs one of those ribbed socket plugs, I'll add that to the repair list.

The handle on mine is entirely wood and it has a long trench routed into it top to bottom to let the cord run through to keep it tidy.

 

[madman]

Birtman was Sear's vacuum manufacturer from the '10s all the way up to the '70s, if I'm not mistaken. The catalog pages above are simply from a time before Sears branded all their appliances as 'Kenmore,' and apparently gave them whatever names they felt like.

 

[huskyvacs]

Well mine was distributed by Goll & Frank Co. out of Milwaukee who put their name on it, and the vacuum was sold on eBay not too far from there in Cashton, WI. They must have rebranded it with their name or something and made their own nameplate for it.

Here's a history on those guys:

 

[rodknock95]

So I heard

I heard from a old timer that vacuum headlights actually became a thing because they use to have to be plugged into a light socket, so they started putting lights on them because you had to vacuum in the dark.

Blaze

 

[huskyvacs]

Just updating everyone I found another ad from March 5, 1918 from the Indianapolis Times. This one was being sold by the W&H Block Company.

 

[dysonman1]

Birtman Electric made vacuum cleaners in Chicago. Sears was in Chcago. Birtman were experts at private labeling. Not only did they sell their own versions as "Bee" and "Bee Vac", but they also labeled them as Energex for Sears (which later became the Kenmore brand). They sold their tank cleaners as "Commanders". The Federal Electric Company in Chiago had them make uprights as Federals and Fedelco (along with other manufacturers who used those same words on their private labeled uprights as well). In 1958, Sears ordered a hostile take-over of Birtman and put them out of business so that Whirlpool could make the vacuums with Lamb motors (Birtman made their own motors) in the factory in Michigan that made other Sears major appliances.

 

[royalsuper]

I am surprised that already at that time the manufacturer of this brand of vacuum cleaner already used ball bearings for the motor ( no need lubrication )rhuskyvacs I would love to see your vacuum cleaner in operation!