Talking floor nozzles -- for straight-suction canisters and tanks back in the day a "dedicated" nozzle for rugs was probably the better thing. Not many associated vacuums with bare floors thus many a brand and model were sold on claims as to what their straight-suction rug tool could do.
That was certainly true for everyday brands like Hoover, GE, and Eureka while straight-suction canisters were popular for quite some time before the power nozzle began to be offered at the very tail-end of the '50s and early '60s. Thus, you needed a tool that was able to surface clean well and rout lint, pet hair, etc., as well.
Hoover's tanks and first Constellations came with swivel-necked and more or less standard type rug nozzles for their day. However, though I'd like to believe they did it for performance's sake and not as a sales gimmick, they changed up on the design to allow for a rubber strip of little red rubber fingers at front to help catch fuzz along with a floating brush strip at the nozzle's rear. That design kept being re-spun until finally they ended up with a vertically pivoting nozzle on wheels. It was covered with a rubber overlay to prevent furniture marring but was nonetheless a clumsy affair despite the good intentions and definitely was not suited for bare floors.
With the entry of the Convertible upright into the market Hoover always seemed to offer two upholstery tools depending on the type of tool set -- one with red lint pickers (the deluxe) and the other softer-bodied one with bristles all around (presumed not so deluxe). "Deluxe" sets also included a bare floor tool and, for a time, an adapter for blowing. The lesser set supplied that one bristled nozzle to combo for dusting and upholstery.
Thinking on it, Electrolux and GE to follow were the first makers to come out with dual-purpose nozzles for rugs and floors. Eureka was a slow follower with a lever pushed one way or the other to let its brush strip be lifted up out of the way for thick carpets, or float or be locked fully extended to do bare floors. However, Hoover got on the band wagon well before with its own spin on the idea. There was a line of rollers (later to be reduced in number to just two) to ease pushing. The lint picker also sat at the front and a single spring-loaded brush strip was behind the suctioning area. It could be allowed to float or locked into place for bare floors by pushing your toe against a metal tab on either side. AND -- from there call the bare floor tool began to fade.
Hoover's edge-cleaning nozzle -- the one with the dial to direct suction right, left or all across was not a biggie nor all that sturdy. I actually bought one to "upgrade" a Hoover canister I had. The results weren't stellar either in regard to carpet or edge cleaning. It was easier to go at edges and corners with the open end of the hose as most of us still do.
