Premier De Luxe vacuum, was this the alternative "budget" vacuum to the Duplex?

[scavenger]

New to the forum! I have a beautiful Premier vacuum that I am trying to date.. what I have so far is that it has the same roller configuration as the Duplex, mine is only marked Premier without the molded "Premier Duplex" on the front, and the immaculate bag is marked De Luxe. If I am correct, vacs were straight suction prior to 1920, unsure about the next 6 years (I read on your forum that the Duplex came about in 1926, waiting on a Hoover patent to run out on the roller/motor).. wondering if this model that I have ran consecutively with the Duplex as the alternative budget vacuum? Model number begins with 37 and this vacuum is insanely immaculate and the motor is strong. I have not touched it since I found it. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[dysonman1]

Very nice machine. Yours has a replacement (non premier made) bag on it. The Premier Duplex was Premier's (GE) first model with a motor-driven brush. The word "Duplex" referred to the action of suction plus motor brush. By the late 1920's, the Premier "Master Model" was the top of the line. Yours was made in the mid 1930's. Certainly a better looking cleaner than it's GE counterpart (the AV1).

The first time the Premier "37" was reviewed was in 1936 (December) by Consumer Digest. It was the number 2 ranked cleaner, right after it's GE counterpart. It came in number 2 because it cost more than the GE but performed the same. The Premier was GE's version of today's Riccar. Today's Riccar is prettier than it's Simplicity counterparts and sells for more money. At that time, GE sold in General Electric stores, and Premier was in high end department stores as well as Independent Vacuum Stores.

You have a great example of a very nice cleaner. Take care of it. It sure is a pretty one.

 

[scavenger]

Premier vacuum

Thank you for all the info! Many hours spent researching this vac, not much info out there! Glad I landed on this forum.

 

[bvac6]

Very nice! Heres my 37 I finally finished the restoration on. I love Premiers!

 

[scavenger]

Premier vacuum

Looks great! Does your badge say "37" in the middle? Mine does not have that. Hmm

 

[bvac6]

Yep, it's got a 37 in the middle of the belt cover and also on the bag.

 

[scavenger]

Premier vacuum

I also noticed that the cord on yours comes out of the top of the head and mine comes out by the handle. The 37 and the cord, are these original? Wondering why mine is different. Mine came from an avid collector, could mine have restored parts? Thank you for any info

 

[lesinutah]

Bvac

Is this the vacuum you needed parts for to finish restoring?
There all nice vacuums. the 37 is beautiful.
Les

 

[madman]

Nice machine. I'll second on the bag being aftermarket. It's obviously an old aftermarket though. The giveaway is when they do everything in their power to not *actually* have the brand name on it. Kind of reminds me of car keys. You ever seen a duplicate car key that says "GM" but if you include the fine print, it's "For GM cars."

A lot of early vacs seem to have had lots of design changes. I have two identical Eurekas with two completely different handle designs. Wouldn't put much stock into the differences, it just means it's earlier or later design.

As for the early straight suction vacuums, yeah, I believe Hoover held the patent for a motor powered brush. But other manufacturers tried other workarounds. Many had brushrolls powered by the wheels when you pushed the vac across the carpet - like a carpet sweeper. There were one or two that had gear driven brushrolls, as opposed to belt. Patent workarounds in machinery always yield some interesting products.

 

[bvac6]

Lesinutah

Yep, that's the one! I purchased the GE AV1 off ebay and was able to swap the armatures. There's a really cool Premier on EBay that's a Special model with the sales demonstration bag.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/283657881240

 

[scavenger]

Premier vacuum

Well I didn’t see your 37 pre restoration but it’s a beauty now, nice job! Thank you everyone for all your help!