mystery machine

[old_wheels]

Hi - the attached photograph came into my possession very recently, it was acquired as an unusual item to augment my road transport photo archive. I have no idea what the machine was used for. Someone mentioned that it might be a fire-fighting handcart but I am not convinced. There are a few images of Edwardian motorised and horse-drawn vacuum cleaners in my archive so I wondered if this handcart might be a mobile industrial vacuum cleaner. Any help would be much appreciated. Peter

 

[hismastersvoice]

I seem to recall large vacuum cleaners similar in appearance to this being used to clean passenger train cars, though I could be mistaken.

 

[dysonman1]

If it were a vacuum cleaner, it would require some kind of power to operate it. Those first horse-drawn cleaners used gasoline engines, and would turn over in the streets while long hoses went into the homes. If it were used for cleaning railway cars, again, it would need something to power it. I do not believe it's a vacuum cleaner - perhaps a primitive air compressor. I do know that railway cars were usually cleaned by the Blowing method, which is why Cecil Booth decided to 'invent' suction cleaning - to keep down all the dust and keep it from resettling.

 

[caligula]

This is NOT a vacuum cleaner.

While this resembles the hose, and other 'equipment' that went with the industrial vacuum cleaning machines of the late 1800's early 1900's, that's not what this is.

If you notice the thick hose on the ground, that's a firemans hose, and the cart in this picture is a hose cart used for extinguishing fires. There also seems to be a knob on the tank used to control the water flow from the massive tank on the cart, this also coinsides with the firefighting aparatus.

Looking at the condition of the street, I'd say that this is sometime around WW1, as there seem to be demolished buildings.

Have you any date on this photograph?, that would help clear up a myriad of questions.

Alex Taber.

 

[super-sweeper]

His master's voice....RCA VICTOR! 

 


Mr.Taber, nice seeing you here again! 

 

[caligula]

Hi super-sweeper

Personal problems like the death of my golden retriever kept me away, but I'm among friends, and glad to be back home in VacuumLand.

 

[cb123]

Hey Alex, are you talking about my victrola again?

 

 

[hismastersvoice]

Actually, it's "His Master's Voice" as in Victor Talking Machine Company ;-)

I collect pre-1930 antique phonographs, none of that RCA business.

 

[super-sweeper]

Oh, sorry about that! I didn't know there was only a Victor! I'd love to learn the story of how they became 'RCA Victor' if you don't mind telling it! Just nice to see another fan out there! 

 


I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Mr.Taber! I wish you the best!


 


Calem, not this time around! 

 

[hismastersvoice]

Short story: In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America (founded in 1919) purchased the Victor Talking Machine Co. (founded in 1901), thus forming RCA-Victor. At this time, many of the early radio/phonograph combinations were produced. The Victor RE-45 Radiola-Electrola was the last Victor Talking Machine Co. branded product made in 1929. Even though RCA had already taken over operations of the company at this point, the RE-45 was designed by Victor, and is considered superior to any of the models produced after the merger. My RE-45 was stored in the attic of the original owners family home for over 70 years and it turned on and worked perfectly without doing a thing to it! How's THAT for quality? It's currently in competition with my GE Monitor Top refrigerator to see who can last the longest without repair...

Sorry to de-rail the topic, but since it turned out not to be a vacuum anyway, why not?

 

[super-sweeper]

Thanks! and that's cool about the Monitor Top, but the true question is will either of them ever stop working?