Need help identifying a Kirby part please

[tidbitz]

Hi,
I for the life of me, cannot find out what this part is or how it was used/attached to a vintage Kirby vac.

It opens, has a glass window on one side, and the logo on the other. It looks like a hose attaches to it, so thought it was a dirt receptacle, but it's small for that.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[caligula]

OMG there's something you don't see every day!

Hi tidbiz:

That's a Dirt Meeter. It's not part of a Kirby, it's a tool used by the dealers in the home demo. Go to 'off topic' and check out the thread 'Have you ever owned or worked for a vac shop?'

Basically, the dirt meter was used in place of the bag. The salesman opened the latch, slipped in a white test cloth, or black one for the mattress test. The dirt from the furniture, rug, mattress etc. As the meeter filled with dirt, the word KIRBY was left untouched. The glass was used to whow the customer what her Electrolux, Eureka, or other vacuum was not getting. During a basic demo 100 or more dirt pads were placed on the couch, coffee table, top of the TV, and everywhere we could put them. The dirt meeter and test cloths were used throughout the entire demo, and the bag was put on only afterward to show the Kirby in upright mode, so the salesman could go for the close. If the Kirby was sold, then the buyer had a new, clean bag.

Personally, I used one of these countless times a day for years. In the training room at the office, in the home and so on. It was the key piece of my demo kit.

 

[caligula]

Hi tidbiz.

Can you post a picture of this in off topic, in the thread I mentioned. This way others will know what I'm talking about.

Thanks, it's great to see one again.

 

[tidbitz]

Thank you so much! I have been searching for days!! I will post it there for you now.

 

[tolivac]

Not only did Kirby use dirt meters in demos,Filter Queen used them,too.I have a Filter Queen demo kit.I als have several Kirby Dirt meters-All came from dealers that went under.TriStar used a transparent lid for their machines and test pads,so that acted as a dirt meter.

 

[caligula]

That's right tolivac.

The process of letting the prospect see what her machine was 'failing to pick-up' was the standard part of the demo. Most companies used some form of dirt meter, but Electrolux did not! As I recall from my early days of selling the 1205, we had a special cloth dust bag to show the dirt. We also put the rest cloths on the end of the hose between the wand or cleaning tool.

 

[shilohair]

where can u get the handle attachment at?

 

[electrolux137]

Electrolux had one too. Here's theirs. It's clear plastic so it's very hard to get a good photo of it. If you look closely, you can just barely make out "ELECTROLUX CORPORATION" in raised letters along one side of it.

Basically, it's two convex plastic discs that come apart by twisting them in opposite directions. Inside is a wire screen upon which a circular test pad was placed. The two halves were then twisted back together.

You'll see two openings -- the one with a metal tip was attached to the cleaning attachments; the one that's just a hole is where the hose handle or wand was inserted.

This is pretty old, according to the Electrolux Man I got it from. Later on, the salesmen would just insert a piece of cloth between the hose handle and the wand or attachment, do some cleaning, pull the cloth out and drop it on whatever he was cleaning. This was called "Digging Dirt." This was a faster technique than having to keep pausing and taking the time to open the tester. The more dirty cloths the salesman could produce, the more dramatic the demonstration -- and the more likely a sale!

In much of the company literature from the 1960s and '70s, you'll see the slogan "DIG MORE DIRT!"

 

[electrolux137]

Electrolux tester -- another view.