Need information about this Hoover 115

[professorkiwi]

Hello everyone,

A friend of mine and his grandparents has nice old Hoover sitting at their house. Does anyone have more information about this vacuum? I was asked about the history of it, and I told them I was pretty much clueless since I have limited knowledge of vacuums made during that time period. I said I'll post it online. Maybe you guys can help?

Many Thanks!

~k

 

[gottahaveahoove]

A HOOVER Junior

Very popular in apartments. I have 2. Nice veriflex hose and nice attachment set. Later replaced by the "Lark". I'm pretty sure this is correct info. A strong little machine. I also have (I think), a brand new motor.

 

[vacbear58]

A lucky find

for you in the US, particularly as it appears to have the original bag. Known here more commonly as The Junior it had a very long and illustrious life and probably more than any other cleaner was the cornerstone of Hoover's success in this country. The first Junior was introduced in 1935 in the UK (Model 370) with a styling update in 1937. That model carried on until 1950 in the UK when the 119 (identical to yours) was produced - again largely a styling change, and most particularly in the use of a footswitch and cable which ran along the oustide of the handle. I have been told that these where introduced in the USA some time BEFORE 1950 although always of UK manufacture.

In the US this cleaner was updated to the Lark model 12 and later 14 with wider brushroll - I would be interested if anyone could supply the dates of these machines. Although these were also of UK manufacture we did not have them in the Uk, but we got a 119 with a paint job (similar scheme to Lark 14) in 1955 now numbered the 1224 which carried on until 1958 when the completely re-designed 1334 was introduced.

In the UK 115/119s still appear on ebay very regularly and seem to go on forever, I have two which both run very sweetly with practically no maintenance. The bags can be prone to rotting especially around the connector to the machine as that is where the dirt gathers when the machine is switched off and the bag is not regularly emptied. If any holes have appeared it is well worth while to get a compenent seamstress to "darn" them, the bag can be fairly easily adapted to accept paper bags without damaging it, although emptying them is not that convenient. It appears that yours has the tools as well, and the caddy makes them even more valueable. As long as the wiring is safe, the motor good and belts and brushroll brushes are in good condition (maybe not easily found in US now but still on UK ebay) this cleaner could still be an efficient "daily driver" for many years to come, although probably of more interest to collectors.

The link below is to Jack Copp's website which shows more or less the complete range of this model line

Al

http://www.vintagehoover.com/junior.htm