My Latest Find: A Hoover PortaPower!!

[thatwasherguy]

Hi everyone! This was just given to me by my neighbor! The pictures you see are of the machine as found, I haven’t touched it yet. She said it belonged to her mother-in-law, and then she used it in her office for several years up until about 11 years ago. It still runs like the day it came off the line, with no bearing noise to speak of. Does anyone know the era that this thing was made (I’m guessing late 60’s), or how much it would have cost when new? I don’t usually post every time I find a vacuum, but I figured that this one was cool enough to warrant it. Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Nice

Looks like it saw a good time.

 

[bnsd60m9200]

that porta power was the first under that moniker. it was made in that colorway from 1974-76

 

[thatwasherguy]

A few more pictures...

I just spent about an hour cleaning it up. It seems like a fun little machine to use. It reminds me a lot of the little handheld Oreck that my grandma has. This seems a bit more powerful though.

Gottahaveahoove...
It certainly has! From what I was told, it was regularly used up until about 11 years ago. Still runs like new. (Wouldn’t expect any less from a vintage Hoover).

bsnd60m9200...
Cool, thanks for the info! Were these around before the portapower name, and if so, when did they come out, and what were they called?

Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[jo]

Made for several years

That was Hoover’s little canister made for several years…they made a wheel carriage for these too perhaps on later models. The couple next door to my parents had one and they upgraded to a new one when one of the knobs on the hose broke. I rescued it and Dad bought the replacement part and we fixed it. I took it with me to college and then equipped it with a an Electrolux pn-1 power nozzle by wiring in a power nozzle cord by the switch. It did well and I gave it to a friend when we were all graduating she took it to her Mom’s bed and breakfast. The neighbors who I got it from replaced it with a newer version which used disposable bags instead. I think that one had permanently mounted wheels instead of the clip on carriage. The new one they got had a newer version of the floor tool.

Jon

 

[gottahaveahoove]

It started out as

"Swingette", then, changed to Portapower. It was advertised as Hoover's 'great little sucker'.

 

[blackheart]

Little trick

In reading some of the old threads you can stick a portapower to a wall. It was used as a sales tactic. Is it useful? no. Is it interesting? Kind of.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

That's demonstrated at THe Hoover Historical Society

The Hoover museum in N Canton, Ohio. It's fun to see.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Nice score! Even better you got the attachments. Definitely seen some action but should keep on running - these are little workhorses. We had an orange Portapower at work back 20 years ago.
Honestly I never paid much attention to these until I scored one at Goodwill for 4 bucks back in November.
It is the exact model as yours. Looks the same except mine has a black switch.
Pics are in this thread.
https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?42724_4
I tore it down and washed it up but still want to disassemble the motor as the air it blows is musty. I had got it with a full bag, but nothing nasty or pet smelling. Smell must have soaked in to the motor
Not sure how it comes apart yet...

I would like to put this machine up to my dumpster-find Oreck canister to see how they compare. The Hoover is bigger and heavier with a nice big motor, so I expect it to suck up the Oreck...