P.A. Geier

[hygiene903]

Got a most interesting and informative phone call last Wednesday evening from none other than the Great-Grandson of Philip A. Geier, the founder of Royal! I'm sure that those of you who attended the North Canton Convention in 2008 remember how awestruck we were when several members of the Hoover family walked into the room. Well, I felt exactly the same way when Sean Lewis told me he was the Great-Grandson of Philip A. Geier. We probably talked for about an hour that night about his Great-Grandfather, the P.A. Geier Company, and Royal Vacuum Cleaners, both of us having questions and answers for each other.
We have since kept in touch both by phone and email, and he has sent me a biography and pics of P.A. Geier, Royal vacs that he or other members of his family own, and pics of other Royal products, including a hair dryer, massager/vibrator, and a forerunner of today's food processor called the Culinaire. It was a unit with attachments that could mix, juice, grind, and chop. I had heard of the hair dryer and massager before, but this was the first time I had ever seen pictures of them. He was in Cleveland this past weekend for a family reunion and got a tour of the former home of P.A. Geier while he was there. He has graciously given me permission to post any info or pics he sends me, so I'm hoping to do so in the near future.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

Portraits and Biography

As promised, here is some of the material about Royal founder Philip A. Geier that was sent to me by his Great-Grandson, Sean Lewis. First is his portrait, followed by a two page biography and 2 more portraits. Hope you all find it as interesting as I did. Thank you Sean, for sending these to me, and for your permission to share them.
Jeff

 

[odavid123]

This is great info , thank you so much for sharing .

 

[lesinutah]

Wow

That's great he's still remembered today. It's great a hygiene vacuum coniesseur gets to talk to geiers heir.

 

[hygiene903]

More!

Glad you enjoyed the info and pics. And as I said before, I was just as awestruck when he told me who he was as we all were at the North Canton VCCC Convention in 2008 when several members of the Hoover family walked in! But as they say on TV, wait, there's more! Here are a few pics of other P.A. Geier products (Also named Royal). First is a vibrator/massager and a pic of the nameplate. I'm thinking he may have started production on this before the vacuum cleaner, as the nameplate shows patent dates of 1908 and 1909. Next is a hair dryer and its nameplate, with patent date of May 1919. One thing I noticed on both of these was how much the logo on the nameplates resembles the logo on the early Royal vacuum cleaners with Quality and Service below the name. I had heard of these products before, but this was the first time I had ever seen pictures of them!
Next we have a Royal vacuum cleaner, with a replacement handle, cord, and bag. At first I thought this was a model 215, until I saw the data plate. It shows RE as the model, and the serial starts with Exp, making me wonder if it was actually an experimental model and the RE might stand for "RESEARCH"? I also noticed the last 4 patents also start with RE. Apparently it was used regularly or the handle, cord, and bag wouldn't have been replaced.
Jeff

 

[lesinutah]

Jeff

The hair dryer and massager pics you acquired or are they from him.
When you said the hoover family walked in could you elaborate? I'm thinking hoover vacuum family but I don't want to assume.

 

[portable]

Great stories and pictures, Jeff!

 

[hygiene903]

Les,

No, the hair dryer and massager aren't mine. They either belong to Sean Lewis, the great-grandson of P.A. Geier whom I've been in contact with, or other members of his family. He graciously sent me these pics and more, along with his permission to share them with other collectors.
As for the mention of the Hoover family, those who were at the 2008 VCCC Convention in North Canton, OH would understand the comparison that I made in the beginning of this thread. But I'll explain in a little more detail here. The theme of the 2008 VCCC Convention was celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Hoover Company. We were all in the meeting room at the hotel, visiting and vacuuming, when several members of the Hoover family walked in. When Morgan Frasier, club president at the time introduced them, the room fell silent as we were all awestruck and honored with their presence. So, the reason I mentioned that in the beginning of this thread was that I felt exactly the same way when Sean Lewis told me he was the great-grandson of P.A. Geier. Glad you are enjoying these. I thought we had more Royal fans here, but now I'm starting to wonder.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

Thank you John, glad you enjoyed them!
Jeff

 

[ohiovacuums]

wow

I didn't know Royal made a massager.....will have to look for one (good luck finding one).
Here's a short summary of the Royal Company:
https://case.edu/ech/articles/r/royal-appliance-manufacturing-co

Thanks for the info. Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

Thank You Dave!

I already have that page from Case-Western Reserve's Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, but thanks for posting the link, as I think others here would also find it interesting. Unfortunately, I think Philip A. Geier would turn over in his grave if he could see what TTI has done to his company and the machines he designed and built.
As for the massager, I'm thinking that it was actually in production before P.A. Geier started building vacuum cleaners, as it shows patent dates of 1908 and 1909, and they didn't start producing vacuums until 1912. The hair dryer apparently came along later, as it has a 1919 patent date.
Where in Ohio are you? I was born and grew up in Mansfield and have lived in Galion since 1981. And by the way, you and I were born 5 days apart!
Jeff

 

[paul]

Fascinating information, Jeff—how incredible that you are in communication with Mr. Grier's great-grandson and were able to obtain some worthwhile historical Royal Vacuum information from him!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[hygiene903]

But Wait--Here's More!

Here are some pics of the Royal Culinaire, a forerunner to the food processor as we know it today. It could be set up to grind, chop, mix, or juice, depending on which attachments were put on. First is the Culinaire set up for either grinding or chopping, next a closeup of nameplate and controls, then a pic of the attachments. Next is a pic of a model 601 Royal and one of the data plate. I think this one is from the late 50's or early 60's. The Culinaire and the 601 both either belong to Sean Lewis who sent me the pics or another one of the descendants of P.A. Geier. Enjoy,
Jeff

 

[ohiovacuums]

Jeff

I'm outside of Cleveland. By the way, there is a Royal PA Geier hairdryer
on eBay now. It is missing a few parts and I doubt it works. I sent the seller a
message but never heard back.