My Kenmore is da bomb!

[jdinstl]

The newest old bundle of joy here is the Kenmore Commander Imperial. Original hose, tools 'n everything with it. As my home is turning into a Noah's ark for vacuums, they always come in pairs. Got a Kirby 514 as well! Whoohoo!

Yay. Major yay. Way yay!

Here's the Commander:

 

[arh1953]

What a fantastic find!

It has the look of yesterday's tomorrow 100 years from now.
Seriously, that is super, and doesn't look like it will take much to bring it back either.

 

[tristar]

Cool! A wheeled model! I've got one that's one of the Ken-Cart models and I think it's one of my favorite machines in my collection.

How do you like it? I find the suction is pretty whimpy in comparison to some other machines I've got of similar vintages (Luxes), but it still cleans like a champ! Well designed tools IMHO...

 

[beerad]

ahhhh ,, ohhhhh...

Is this the same vac that was on an episode of the munsters?? I think the episode was called " Grandpa leaves home"

 

[aeoliandave]

Yes Brad, where Lily's housework includes blowing dust about the rooms. I recall Terry or Alan posted a screen capture still shot of that event...?

Dave

 

[arh1953]

I don't know where the capture came from, maybe Kyle? He posted a few screen captures, I got halfway shots of Dr. Bellows and Alice Ghostley with Captain Nelson's Roll Easy. Somewhere in '08s archives is an entire thread.

 

[aeoliandave]

Found 'em.

Posted March 20 2008 by Kyle Kritchbaum - myvacsrock.

 

[aeoliandave]

and another. Thanks, Kyle.

 

[arh1953]

Thanks Dave, I quit looking about halfway through the forum archives.

 

[jdinstl]

Wow!

Where did you find the pictures of my parents?

That's about what our house looked like too!

Could this be Mom's old vac I have?

 

[aeoliandave]

If those are your parents then we were separated at birth...

...oh wait, my Dad was Gunther Toodey. And I think Gladys Kravitz was my Aunt...or was that Clara with the doorknob collection?

I remember way back in 1986 on a trip to LA I went to the Movie backlot and saw 1313 Mockingbird Lane with the Limo and the coffin roadster as well as the Cleaver home and many other TV favorites. Back to the Future had just been out and the Delorean was on display as well.

Dave

 

[centralvacman]

Yes even looks like...........................

The old German "BUZZZ Bomb"
The munsters pic cool you know they are oppasate of us so they blow dust into the room instead of vacuuming it up. I alwase enjoyed the Munsters TV show

 

[kirbyvertibles]

I always thought it was a Lux XXX on that show.

 

[hygiene903]

Nice Find!

And possibly a rare one--it isn't very often that you find a "torpedo tank" that actually has the "Commander" nameplate on it. And the fact that it doesn't have the door over the exhaust makes it an older one, too. Steve Holvay could give you some good information about this one. He knows more about early Kenmores than anyone I know.
Jeff

 

[aeoliandave]

Oh no! What if the MunsterVac is actually a GE?

This GE badged Kenmore Commander just came up on Ebay.

It would seem to be not quite as 'finished' as the Kenmore - no chrome side spears, ferinstance.

But it does have the wheels & front skid, the rear exhaust door and is painted all over in a silver blue Hammertone, even the dark red bakelite handle!

 

[aeoliandave]

Indisputably the GE logo medallion riveted to the shell. It sure looks like the Economy Model.

 

[aeoliandave]

Ah, sweet mysteries...

There's no mention of GE on my Commander. But what else are we to think now but that General Electric made it for Sears?

 

[hygiene903]

Birtman Electric of Chicago made all the Kenmore vacs for Sears until they were taken over by Whirlpool in the late 1950's.
That gray Kenmore looks like a poor home-made restoration job. In the places where the paint is chipped you can see the original brown, and if you look close you can see the rivets still in the shell where the Kenmore badge was. And it looks like the side trim was originally there but got knocked off at some point.
Jeff