PLANS FOR STAN KANN'S VACUUMS

[marukap]

Dear Fellow VCCC Members:

I am pleased to be able to officially announce that a creative and multi-faceted exhibit of Stan Kann's vacuum cleaner collection and memorabilia IS going to be installed at the City Museum of St. Louis, Missouri!

The project is still in the development stage and is, at this point a collaboration among myself, John Pease, the staff of the City Museum and Mary Strauss. Mary was a devoted friend to Stan and is now the owner of the collection. It will be on extended loan to the museum. The exhibit is guaranteed to be fun and whimsical as was Stan himself. But, rest assured that whatever the final form of the installation, the primary concern will always be for the long-term preservation and protection of the machines.

Club members, both local to St. Louis and visiting either for "mini meets" or conventions will be welcomed to take part in the ongoing care and maintenance of Stan's vacuums in the museum workshop that will be provided for our use.

As of this writing, I cannot offer any estimate of a completion date more exact than "sometime within the next year."

I promise to provide updates just as soon as they materialize over the following months.

I've attached a link to the City Museum's website. It will give you an idea of its unique character.

Sincerely,

Marty Kaplan


http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp

 

[normvac]

Thank you, so much Marty

For sharing this great news, as well as any other updates
that come your way.
I am so thrilled to know now. That Stan's collection will be
preserved and viewed for generations to come.
Plus for any and all of us to have access too.
What a wonderfull gift that Stan as left to us and all who
visit the City Musem.
My thanks again.
Norm Brown

 

[em-tor64]

Marty,

That really is great news!!

Thanks for letting us know......

Michael

 

[luxg]

Marty, this is wonderful news, thanks so much for sharing it with us. Terry

 

[vinvac]

Marty,

Words can not express how happy I am to hear this news. I want everyone who reads this forum to know all the hard work you, John Pease and Mary have put into this project. You all deserve a special Thank YOU!

Knowing that his collection is being well taken care of by people who really appreciate it is a great tribute to his life.

Morgan

 

[crevicetool]

This is really wonderful news. Thank you guys for all the hard work! Think what a privilege it would be to work on some of these machines!!!!

Rick

 

[frkirby511]

What a wonderful outcome! How absolutely right for such a display to honor the memory of Stan. I can't wait to see it.
Bruce

 

[aeoliandave]

Splendid and Karmic appropriate outcome, Marty.

I looked over the City Museum of St. Louis website and I must say, this is a place I want to spend a day at, probably this winter! What a fun place I didn't know about until now. Stan's exhibit will be a Holy Grail reason to return the following winter and often afterwards.

I been to St Louis a few times, done the Train Station and Cathedrals and so on and it is just down the road from Springfield IL where I go to tour the Dana House, usually on my way north to Chicago & Wisconsin.

Dave

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Mmmmm.

...Dana House.

 

[westinghouseman]

Good News!

Glad to hear about this exciting news. Look forward to the opening of Stan's collection.

Ken W

 

[caligula]

Wonderful news

This is fantastic news, Stan deserves to be treated with respect. He was a great asset to our club and was the one I turned to when getting this club off the ground.

Thanks guys, great job!

Alex Taber.

 

[akabent]

Marty, as my Dad would say....

"YOU DONE GOOD!" This is such an appropriate and safe way to preserve and protect the collection while paying tribute to such a life-loving guy! I'm certain Stan wis smiling!
Rick

 

[collector2]

Great news Marty. Thanks for letting us know.

Doug

 

[eurekaprince]

To use a standard Jewish expression.....

Mazal Tov! Congratulations!

I am sure that Stan is watching with great approval from up above in heaven. You are doing a real mitzva (good deed) in protecting and preserving and displaying this treasure trove.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

I Wonder Who Managed to Orchestrate This

I am curious as to just how Stan Kann's collection ended up getting saved following his death.

~Ben

 

[marukap]

How this came about . . .

Hi Ben:

Here's an excerpt of the announcement I made about all of this at the Chicago convention this past June. I think it pretty much answers your question.

Yours,

Marty

An owner of the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis where Stan Kann played the legendary Mighty Wurlitzer is one Mary Strauss. She was devoted to Stan’s well-being as a colleague and friend and she remains committed to the preservation of his memory. John and I are happy to be able to count her among our friends as well.

Here’s the good news . . .

Mary has, just in this past week, purchased Stan’s vacuum collection in its entirety from the party that initially bought it from Stan’s Estate several months ago.

It is her intention in making this purchase to protect and commemorate Stan’s legacy.

Some of the machines will be displayed at the Fox Theater as part of a memorial to Stan.

Plans and negotiations are in the works for a larger exhibit of the collection, in tandem with Stan’s organ, to be installed at the St. Louis City Museum, just a few blocks due east of the Fox.

The St. Louis City Museum combines fantasy, performing and visual art, urban archaeology whimsy and adventure in a multi-story converted warehouse building in the downtown area. It is a fun and fitting setting for a tribute to Stan, his organ and his vacuum collection.

 

[portable]

This is so wonderful...

I'm glad this was able to happen. I hope I speak for all of us that knew Stan by saying that we sure miss him. There was no one in the world like Stan Kann. It's hard to believe that in about 3 weeks it will be a year that he has been gone. One day I hope to get to Saint Louis to see the collection at this great museum.

Thank you Marty, John and Mary!!

John Lucia

 

[aeoliandave]

The dirt on what’s happened to Stan Kann’s vacuum cleaners

I was noodling around on Google this morning and came up with this breezy article on St Louis Today:

Home > Blog Zone > Deb Peterson's Breaking Schmooze >
09.02.2009 5:15 pm
The dirt on what’s happened to Stan Kann’s vacuum cleaners
By Deb Peterson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

DO THE KANN CAN: When a colleague asked recently if I knew what had happened to the late Stan Kann’s fabled vacuum cleaner collection, I said I didn’t but I knew who would.

I called Mary Strauss, doyenne of the Fabulous Fox Theatre where Stan played the mighty Wurlitzer organ for 22 years prior to restoration and then for another 10 years after Strauss and her late husband, Leon Strauss, finished one of numerous renovations in 1998.

“I bought it,” Strauss said today. She said that by the time she got to the collection, only about half of it was left. “I have 60 or 70.” Stan’s collection was said to include about 150 vacuums and carpet sweepers, with one that dated back to the Civil War.

Strauss, who also counted Stan among her closest friends, said she has installed a permanent Stan Kann exhibit on the fourth level of the Fox Theatre, next to Peacock Alley, which features photos and memorabilia from the stars and shows that have been at the Fox over the years.

“It’s a great display celebrating his life,” Strauss said of the exhibit. She said one of her favorite pieces was a life-size stand up of Stan with one of his vacuum cleaners. She said there were also photos of him with the many gadgets he brought with him to television programs and that he used as part of his comedic performance.

Stan appeared on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” 77 times; “The Mike Douglas” show 89 times; “The Merv Griffin” show numerous times; was a co-host of “The Noon Show” with Marty Bronson; and was also on the sitcoms “Gimme A Break,” with Nell Carter and as Cal Headcheese in “The Two of Us.”

Strauss is also in negotiations with the City Museum to create a permanent Stan Kann museum display. She said she expects that plan to unfold over the next few weeks.

“Stan just never stopped going during his lifetime,” Strauss said of her friend, who died in September of heart-related problems. “He was an Energizer bunny.”

Interest in Stan’s vacuum cleaners doesn’t end with Strauss and my colleague. Last Thursday the Vacuum Cleaner Museum opened in St. James, Mo. Tom Gasko, who describes himself as the museum’s curator and a national dean of vacuum cleaner history and appreciation, opened the museum in the Tacony Manufacturing company, which produces a couple of lines of vacuum cleaners.

Gasko said in a news release that he had been collecting vacuums since childhood and that his collection includes many items from Stan. I tried to reach Gasko to suck him deeper into conversation today, but he did not return a call.

----------------------------------------------------------


Hello Everyone:
Stan Kann and I were friends for more than 4 decades. I spent most Sunday mornings at Stan’s home helping him polish and restore his collection of vintage cleaners. As a vacuum collector myself, Stan would pass on many of the vacuum he aquired which he did not want (anything made after World War II did not interest Stan - as he himself was made before World War II). I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of many cleaners from his personal collection during the last year of his life, including most of the vacuums that appeared with him on his first “Tonight Show” appearance. Those vacuums, and others from his collection as well as my own (544 in all) are at the Vacuum Cleaner Museum in St. James, Missouri. The museum is open to the public seven days a week, 9 to 5, free admission. Sorry I didn’t get your message - I’m always in the mood to talk vacuums (especially vintage cleaners) at any time.
— tom gasko
12:48 pm September 3rd, 2009

 

[aeoliandave]

I wondered when the Tacony Museum would open and now it is, in St James MO about an hour south-west of St Louis.

Has anyone been there yet?

I will certainly make that detour to St Louis from Springfield IL on my next road trip to Winnipeg this winter.
-----------------------------------------------------------
News Release
08.20.2009 11:26 AM
Vacuum Cleaner Museum Grand Opening in St. James on Historic Route 66
By: Tacony Corporation

ST. JAMES, MO - Historic Route 66 is the perfect location for its newest roadside attraction - a vacuum cleaner museum. This Mother Road is known for entertaining and educational venues and the new museum will deliver both in great fashion. The Vacuum Cleaner Museum will celebrate its grand opening on Thursday, August 27th with a ribbon cutting ceremony and ice cream social. The celebration begins at 1:30 pm. The museum is located at Tacony Manufacturing, home of Riccar and Simplicity vacuum production.

This extensive collection includes 500 vacuums spanning a century of progress. The museum displays vacuums from the 1910's to modern times in decade-themed vignettes complete with period furniture and memorabilia from that era. Visitors will discover a glimpse of Americana through the evolution of the vacuum and accompanying newspaper and magazine advertising displayed in each decade.

Tom Gasko, Museum Curator and National Authority on Vacuums, donated his collection to museum, which includes many from Stan Kann, legendary organist for the Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO. A collector since childhood, Gasko's passion has allowed the former Festus vacuum retailer to appear in USA Today, the HBO's documentary This Is America, and other national media. He has also served as president of the National Vacuum Cleaners Club.

"Tom is perfect at blending entertainment with education", says Joy Petty, Director of Marketing for Tacony Corporation's Floor Care division. "He has such an extensive knowledge of about how the vacuum cleaner has evolved, and how each was directly related to changes in America. You have no idea how exciting vacuums can be until you visit Tom at the museum".

There are also a few "celebrity" vacuums on display including the official vacuum cleaner of Air Force One and the childhood vacuum of Emmy nominated actor, James Earl Jones.

The Vacuum Cleaner Museum and factory outlet are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission. The museum is located just off of Hwy. 44 at exit 195, at #3 Industrial Drive, St. James, MO. For more information, visit www.vacuummusem.com.

Tacony Corporation brought production of Simplicity and Riccar upright vacuums to the United States in 1997. At the time Tacony Manufacturing opened its doors, the entire vacuum factory consisted of only five employees. Almost a decade later, in 2006, the 120 employees of Tacony Manufacturing proudly watched as the first 1 millionth vacuum rolled off the production line.

Headquartered in St. Louis and found in 1946 by Nick Tacony, Tacony Corp. is a privately held manufacturing and distribution company operating in four strategic business units: household vacuum cleaners, commercial floor care products, home sewing products and ceiling fans. With more than 650 associates in 12 offices around the world, Tacony's mission is to create long-lasting relationships that are based on trust and feel like family. For more information, visit http://www.tacony.com.