My wife thinks this makes me "certifiable"!

[danielsand]

So,.......I've been bitten by a "Kirby bug", and my wife thinks I need a 'cure" ASAP!

As I said before,.....I knew about Kirbys, ...I knew the "spiel", ....and I knew the pricing, negotiations (much like car dealerships, and I owned two of them), and I knew the "lure and lore", but I never owned one. Since I was "infected"....I got few of them (and still looking!!).
Does this "trifecta" make me a "collector", or just a dude that appreciates the fine workmanship, when he sees one?

You tell me.

Omega was the first one that started it all. Didn't need much, besides polishing, and TLC. 515 was a second, and ALL it needed was polishing, and a new bag. Then came Heritage 2, and it needed: polishing, cord, scuff plate, hubcaps, and emtor with the tube. All three were less than $100 (with my labor on the top). I've never spent 100 bucks that made me so happy and proud of my accomplishment, in my life! In the past I restored antique furniture, cars, motorcycles, guns, watches, and airplanes. Vaccum cleaners were something I used on the daily basis, but never considered them to be "desirable", "collector" pieces, ....until running into the abandoned Omega.

Pic was taken with my phone camera, and it's not as good as I would like,.....but I guess you'll see what I've been up to.

Had a dinner party last night, and few friends asked me to get them some of these (they loved them!). One guy offered me $300 for the Heritage, and I said no. The other one wanted 515, and offered $500, and I declined. Told them to look for them as I did, and then contact me for the tips on restoring them. I will not do this for other people,.....just for my own relaxation.

And here they are!!

 

[kirbyloverdan]

Wow Daniel

Love that name gee it's my name

You do such wonderful work your KIRBYS look brand new I can see why everyone wanted to buy them from you .

Dan

 

[danielsand]

Thank you Dan (BTW, I insist that they call me by my full name, I dislike "shortcuts"!). Now I'm on the prowl to buy Sanitronic 80 (built in 1967, for my wife's birth year)!!

"Addictive personality"? Maybe. But it's a good addiction (as opposed to drugs, tobacco, and alcohol). OCD to the core,.....but in a good way! LOL

 

[smow69]

Daniel

My whole life my family thought i was nuts for the same reason now who do they come to for vacs or repair? you guessed it not so nuts anymore. I have 5 kirbys I have the green d80 the brown omega the red classic 3 the blue tradition the maroon legend 2 with all attachments and shampooer the green one I might have sold the maroon one is still up for sale $ 50.00 plus shipping has everything even books.

 

[suckolux]

I get this from family at times too, until they need theirs fixed or to borrow / keep one.

 

[kirbylux77]

Daniel, if your wife thinks & calls you certifiable, there's one easy way to cure that....tell her that SHE gets to push the Kirbys around & vacuum the house with them. And tell her that as long as YOU are using the Kirbys & vacuuming the house, she should watch who she calls certifiable. I think the thought of having to use a Kirby would make her change her tune quickly....just watch how quickly she says "no dear, you're not certifiable, I'll never say that again & you can vacuum all you want & have all the Kirbys you desire".

Rob

 

[danielsand]

Thank you for the words of encouragement guys! Wife says that half jokingly, for she knows I can not have just "one" of anything (just in case!). LOL

"smow69"......I didn't fully understand your post.....are you saying that you have DS80 in avocado green for sale? If so,....I'm game! Let me know.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

Daniel

I used to ask people to call me Daniel some do some dont most call me Danny or Dan which is fine by me

I may have a Kirby Dual Sanitronic 80 to sell that was factory rebuilt all it needs is touch up polishing my Uncle had a few and he kept them in the garage . Just gotta find it ...

Dan

 

[danielsand]

Lucky for both of us that we were not named Richard! I would hate that. LOL

Another member also offered SD80, and I found one locally, about 45 min away. Neither provided pics yet (which I requested). Not to look at "vacuum cleaner porn", but to try to determine the amount of my elbow grease needed, in combination with price. The one that was advertised locally is tempting (with all attachments/accessories), and the price is VERY GOOD (no pic yet, and no response to my email). But I can't commit to buy until I see what am I buying (drove HUNDREDS of miles over the years to look at some cars described as "mint", only to find a POS!).

Obviously,...the goal is to find an all original machine (with, or without attachments), for a good price, and a least amount of work/parts needed.

My email is in my profile, and shoot me a pic/price of your DS80 when/if you find it, please.

 

[caligula]

Hi Danielsand

Richard isn't that bad, try Robert! (God how I hate it!) or worse 'Bobby' grrrr!

I'm named after 2 grandfathers Robert, and Alexander. Robert was never part of my life as a child, and Alexander helped raise me. (Also let me play in storerooms where hundreds of vacuum cleaners were stored) So I dropped Robert, Bob, Bobby and so on in 95, and go with Alex.

Alex Taber

 

[danielsand]

Alex,.....

what can I say? Please forgive me, but I'll save the picture of your collection, and email it to my wife (as a proof that I am FAR from being "certifiable"!! LOL).

Seriously,.....that's one GREAT looking group. Congrats.

Regarding Richard,......one of the generals I was serving under, was Richard Dixon. Needless to say,....I refer to my "little friend" as "General" to this day (after the last wife I HAD to promote him anyway,....scary story!). ROFLMAO!

 

[caligula]

Hi Danielsand

Forgive you for what? I was simply making the statement that Richard isn't as bad as Robert.

I was interjecting a thought after reading your post, it was meant to be funny, but was in no way a repremand.

By the way, you have some great Kirby's, enjoy them.

Alex Taber

 

[danielsand]

I meant,......forgive me for using the pic of your collection to prove to my wife that I am not as bad as some of you.

 

[caligula]

Hi Danielsand

No problem my friend, and if you want to show you're wife somthing that will really gasp try these.

This is what happens when a room get to crowded. The picture I posted last might was the meeting room of the Vacuum Cleaner Collectors Club back in 1992, that became the official V.C.C.C. museum in August of 85, and by 94, was given a building of it's own. A former, 3 car garage.

This was located in Naperville, Illinois where we held the 'official anual meeting from 86-93. The first meeting was in Chesterton, Indiana (then club headquarters) May 4-6, 1985. (The club began on Jan. 2, 1983).

So here'the museum, and a look at some of the key members and founders over the years. These are not in croninological order.And yes, there IS the WRONG bag on the Kirby Tradition, the original owner didn't want the disposible bag set up, and kept the bag of her Classic 111.

And finally, a few of the oldest known vacuum cleaners. The one resting against the Hoovers, is the Whirlwind, the first known vacuum cleaner. it hand cranked, and dates back to 1869.

Alex Taber.

 

[danielsand]

This is great! I'd like to have more vacs (maybe ONE more!), and then I need to stop "collecting". I'm mostly joking about the wife, but the fact is,.....there is no time to pick up some more. See,.....I am "sick" (LOL). Since I have four dogs living with us in the "big house" (that's what we call the main house) on the ranch (there are two more houses here that are rented out to the ranch hands), the dogs sometimes sniff the vacs (and leave their nose prints on them!), and I go and wipe them down right away!

If I use the ones with shakeout bags, I empty the bags right away, and I dust them off DAILY! I can not tolerate a speck of dust, or a dog hair on the rug! I dust, vacuum, and clean daily. I had several cleaning ladies over the years, and I was not able to find one that can clean, and keep the house up to my expectations, so I do it myself!

I could not take care of all those machines! They would get dirty/dusty, and that would drive me nuts! My vacs are kept in the main hallway (on display with other antiques), and look/perform like they came out of the factory yesterday.

My wife is an OR nurse, and she says that her OR is not as clean as our house (jokingly of course). I've spent 20+ years in the uniform, and "they" did something to my brain! LOL Before military, I was just a "normal", long haired, rock band drummer, riding/racing motorcycles!