My latest thrift store find

[jfalberti]

It's a Royal 880 complete with attachments. It even came with a folder with the instruction booklet, service document and the original sales certificate. Turns out it was bought here in Visalia in February of 1979. How cool is that? It runs great, but is missing the brush roll and plate. They shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[vac_whisperer]

Nice find! I love royals, but theyre not too common up here. Mainly just Kirbys, Hoovers, and Eurekas.

VW

 

[hygiene903]

Beautiful!

That's a nice 880, and the full set of attachments and paperwork is frosting on the cake! And by the way, that looks like the original attachment box as well! It's the same box the attachments were packed in for the 903 Electro-Hygiene when I used to sell them. Wands were in plastic sleeves and packed in the large box with the cleaner and the box of attachments.
I'm thinking your brushroll will probably run around $20, and the rug guard (plate) around $10, but might be more, been a couple years since I have bought either one. Congratulations on a great find!
Jeff

 

[suckolux]

WOW, very nice find indeed! Beautiful!

 

[eurekastar]

That's very nice! I really like that bag design too.

 

[jfalberti]

Thanks everyone!

It's really weird how things work. Last week, I was looking for a set of attachments for the Royal I bought from Phillip Muller, and found a set on eBay for $80 + shipping. Money is tight right now so I passed on them. I went to my favorite thrift store where I have found a few of the machines that are in my collection. While wandering through the store, I started to get Davy's twingle. When I went back by the small appliances, the twingle got stronger. I look on the bottom shelf, and there were the wands taped to the top of the box, and one end of the hose was sticking out of the box. I thought to myself, I can't be that lucky, but there they were. I picked up the box, and there is a note on it that said they were to be included with the Royal vac. Well, I had already looked where the vacs were normally kept and there was no Royal in sight. So the search was on. Couldn't find it. I was beginning to think someone had bought the vac and left the attachments so I was getting ready to leave. Then a little voice told me to check out the large appliances. (I didn't know the twingle could talk!) so over to them I walked. There buried in a corner I saw the handle of the 880 sticking out. I pulled it out, and it looked in really good condition. I plugged it in and turned it on, and it ran nice and smooth. A sticker on the machine said that it needed a belt. The price was $35 for both the machine and attachments. The machine doesn't have a scratch on it, and the bag is in perfect shape. No fading, no snags or tears, and the logos are not faded or pealing. I paid for it and took it home on the bus. When I got home, I dug out a belt for it and turned it over and discovered the brush roll and plate were missing. I was a little disappointed at first, but then when I found the docs for it and the attachment set is complete, I figured it won't be a problem to replace the missing parts. Whoever owned it before bought it here in Visalia, so it never left the city it was bought in. the owner also seems to have taken very good care of it, since it is not beat to hell, like some others I have seen. All of the attachments have seen their share of use, but are complete and also used but not abused. I think I was really lucky to find this, and it is already a favorite. Have you ever noticed that vacuums seem to show up in pairs? It seems that once I find a vac I was looking for, not too long later I find a second of that maker. I now currently have 2 Kirbys, 2 Royals, and 2 Dysons, as well as a few others. Crevicetool was right. I swore I was gonna stop buying them, but everytime I say that, something else pops up that I can't resist buying. If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to find a bigger place to live!

 

[intv1980]

Nice Find!

 

[djtaylor]

I had one just like it...

I had a Royal just like that. I changed out the bag with a newer one that was the Scafitex(?) in Magnum Blue. The original bag was tattered. It was one of the vacuums I had to give up when I moved into my present apartment.
Good vacuum, I miss it.
Justin

 

[Sablekid]

Ive always loved the bright blue color Royal sometimes uses.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

Very nice, I love that model.
I used to have the same one with the attachments but I sold it on ebay for a GREAT price before I was a collector.
Kind of sorry I did that lol.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

The serial # on this machine is K78-C-24357, a mfg. date of October 1978.

~Ben

 

[jfalberti]

Thanks Ben,

I am so happy to have it. I am going to Sella Vak tomorrow and get the parts I need to make my Royal complete. Royal and Kirby are my favorite vacuums. I used to have an Electro Hygiene with the removeable nozzle, like a Kirby, that I traded in on a Tradition, with the deluxe attachments and the extra equipment kit that I sold to a customer that really liked the Tradition, but couldn't afford to buy one. They ended up vacuuming up trash and destroyed it, and they blamed it on me. That just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished, :-(. I used to manage the repair department at the Kirby office I worked for in the early 80's. I could tell some stories.

 

[electrolux~137]

"I could tell some stories."

Well, let's hear 'em!"

 

[jfalberti]

There was this lady that came in one day

with a model D80 that was in really bad shape. The field coil in the motor shorted, and took the armature with it. It needed bearings, brushroll, the whole nine yards. She was the original owner of the machine as well, and it was bought from an authorized dealer. Well, after I tore the machine down and figured out the estimate for repair, I told her she had two options. I could do the repair, but it would be expensive, or she could send the machine back to Kirby for a factory rebuild. I told her the rebuild would probably take about two weeks round trip. She decided to send it back for the rebuild. She was an older lady, and seemed really nice, so I packaged up the machine for her and filled out the rebuild form. All she had to do was take it to the post office and ship it. She was concerned about not having a vacuum for two weeks, since she vacuumed every day. I went in the back and pulled out a decent trade in for her to take home and use until her machine came back. I told her when it came back, bring it in and I would reassemble it for her. Well, about 10 days later she returns with the loaner and her machine in the box. I opened up the box and set the Kirby up for her. It was beautiful. You would have sworn that it was a brand new machine. Well she got irate. She swore that it was NOT the machine she sent in, and that we (me) were all crooks and she was going to tell the world. After she finished screaming at me she took her machine and left. I never charged her a penny for the estimate, packaging or anything. I thought she would have been happy, but no. I, to this day, can't figure out what her problem was.

 

[jfalberti]

On a happier note

There was another lady who brought her Tradition in that had problems. It was Christmas Eve (Yes, we were open) and I discovered that the brushroll was bound causing the machine to burn through belts. I sat down with her and showed her what was wrong, and how to fix it. I cleaned out the brushroll bearings and gave her three new belts plus a belt that I installed to fix the problem. She asked me how much she owed and I told her "no charge". I thought she was gonna pass out. When she recovered she raised her hands and said "Praise Jesus" and thanked me for doing my job. I know a lot of Kirby dealers have a bad reputation, and if my "boss" knew I did that, I would have been in trouble. I guess I always tried to make the customer happy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.