Re: Thread Number: 603 (2006) A long winded Electrolux question:

[paul]

In 2006's thread # 603, laspirateur made the comment that his mother was shown a tan Electrolux Model L in 1964 (but no one commented on it in their replies). I have also noticed that the copyright of the tan Model G manual is 1964.

Due to the fact that there are discrepancies on the Aerus product history, I am wondering if the tan Model G and tan Model L made their first appearances in 1964 (late?) instead of what it lists as 1967?

What do you think?


FYI...Here is a copy of part of the the initial post of the thread referenced above:

I just got a vintage beige/brown Model L from the mid-sixties. This machine meant something to me because I clearly remember the Electrolux salesman coming to our house in 1964 to sell my Mother our Turquoise Model G(which lasted well into my adulthood after years of severe abuse from a cleaning lady my Mother had named Sarah Jones, who, although one of the best women of the world, we nicknamed "the white tornado" for everything she broke in a day).

When my Mother balked slightly at the price of the Model G with the new power nozzle, the Electrolux salesman walked back down and back up three flights of stairs to bring us the new Model L which, contrary to all of the brochures, was the beige/brown model. I remember being impressed by the fact that it had the chrome halo for winding the cord, like my coveted E/AE model. But then he whipped out a matching automatic cordwinder from a box and showed us how it was mounted on the front of the unit. All of sudden, I recognized something that looked very much like the Electrolux model AF that this new purchase was replacing.

 

[tig21er]

Model L

came out in April 1963 and was white. My father sold the first one in Indiana. I am not saying someone didn't sell one in another state on the same day just that he sold before anyone else in Indiana.

 

[electrolux137]

And here's a long-winded response!!

I have wondered about the 1964 date in the tan G instruction book, but I am =positive= that model did not come out until 1967.

For one thing, I never saw one until that year, and that's the model my parents bought in the spring of 1967. I lived in a rural area of the country that was heavily saturated with Electrolux. The closest department and appliance stores were over an hour's drive away. So Electrolux salesmen made a killing selling their machines door to door. I'd say that easily 85-90% of our neighbors had one Electrolux or another (and some had several!). I clearly remember the first time I saw a tan G, in the home of a lady my dad and I went to visit, which was in the winter or early spring -- I remember that it was a cold day because my dad and I both were wearing winter coats and hats.

Furthermore, I have a very large collection of "American Electrolux" magazines from 1950 through 1980 with only a few missing issues. I just looked through the years 1964, '65, '66 and '67. Up through December 1967 the turquoise model was shown in all the photos of branch offices, sales meetings & conventions and salesmen's photos.

The first time the Tan G makes an appearance is in the December 15, 1966 issue in one photo and is shown from then on until the December 15, 1968 issue.

While the photos are black and white, it is still easy to tell the turquoise model and tan model apart because of the color of the side bumper -- the turquoise model's bumper is darker turquoise whereas the tan model's bumper is white. This can clearly be distinguished even in black and white photos.

It very well may be that the 1964 copyright date in the tan G instruction was a typo that was either never caught, or it was never felt important-enough a misprint to correct. Back in those days, they couldn't open the brochure on a Mac and edit the copy; it would have to have been done manually with type that was output from a photo-process image setter, which would then be pasted up on the original copy, then a photographic image of that would be transferred to offset printing plates and then new copies of the manual printed. It would have entailed a lot of work and expense. They probably just said, "F@#k it!"

btw, the article on the front cover of the December 15, 1968 issue is about the "NEW" Model 1205. The title of the article declares, "1205 Milestone on Path to Success." The article, by then-vice-president C.A.Mckee states (excerpts), "The introduction of a new model heralds an exciting time in our business .... This new model ... is the first new model in the introduction of which I have not personally participated in the field in 28 years with the company."

P.S.: I don't know when the tan Model L came out but I've always assumed it was at or around the same time as the tan G because they both had the same exact hose and attachments. I didn't ever see very many Model Ls at all, and I do recall the one time I saw a tan model. It was around the same time my parents got their tan G. I was riding my bike around the neighborhood and saw the Electrolux Man's van parked in front of a house. OF COURSE, I had to go running up to the house! The front door was open, and inside I saw the Electrolux man, the "lady of the house," and a tan Model L all hooked up and ready to go. The lady was annoyed at me and shooed me away, but not before I tersely advised her that the Model L was a "crummier" model!!!

 

[tig21er]

Model L

was white from 1963 up to the 1205 at least. I have picture proof thru advertisement of company. Will locate and put on. I don't know when tan machine came out but will check info from my father's papers to see if I can find out.

 

[rugsucker]

Model L

The Mo L was white-tan-blue-gold and could be rebuilt in later colors also.I agree with Charles that we sometimes see instruction books updated with new pictures but not changing the copyright.There was also a later G book with the new Electrolux logo that would be seen on the side of 1205.It is possible that the original persons memory is off by a couple of years.(I once had a customer swear to me the the 1205 he brought in for service was bought in 1959 and a great vac.He was probably taking 3 facts and combining and confusing them in that they bought an Elux in 59,they bought the 1205 in 68 or later and the Elux is a great vac.)It was always possible that the entire 'family'of new color machines might not all be seen at once as existing inventory was sold.

 

[electrolux137]

I'm with Rugsucker regarding the color/chronology of the Model L. The white L did come out in late 1962 or early 1963 [probably depending on the area of the country], but there was a tan model in there somewhere before the dark turquoise model that came out with the 1205.

While I am not 100% sure, my very good guess is, again, that the tan L came out with the tan G since both machines have exactly the same hose & attachments. (And note that this was the first time for this -- in the past, the economy models [E,T,S,R] had different colors of hoses than the upper-tier models.)

Here are my four model Ls, shown left-to-right newest-to-oldest, and an odd salesman's accessory made from the body of an L and painted in the same color as the turquoise G.

 

[williamr1248]

Re: Thread number:603 (2006) A Long Winded Electrolux

John,
I know you are correct as I started with Electrolux in the Indianapolis branch in spring of 1969 and was trained on the NEW 1205 machine. They did not have the tan G or L out on the show room but they still had a new supply. I had the price list of the discount on the Tan machines.
I remember during training some of the salesmen had the new in box tan machines in their cars.
It is funny but I preferred the older tan machines at the time and thought they were more interesting looking but was NOT allowed to have one out. The whole idea was to push the NEW 1205.
So you guys are right about the date

 

[tig21er]

Model L

colors were White from 1963-1966, Beige 1967-1968 , Blue 1968 -1974, and Gold 1974-1979.
Replaced by Special Model 1979 - 1982 Olympia One Brown followed by Silverado Light Sand Grey 1982 -1987.

 

[kenkart]

One thing!!

We can ALL agree on...They ALL were better than ANYTHING built today!!!LOLIn my hometown, it was a status symbol to have an Electrolux, I begged my Mother to buy a Super J in 1978, She thought paying 375.00 was absurd!! I reminded her in my 14 year old wisdom that she payed 99.95 in 1952 for a GE swivel top!..but my logic didnt work, she bought a Hoover Celebrity 2 Powermatic that I loathed!!!2 of my Aunts had model Gs that I thought were the best vacuums I had ever seen!I never saw a Rainbow until I was grown, and only one or two Filter Queens, a bunch of Compacts and Airways and an occasional Hoover or Eureka.

 

[paul]

Thanks, everyone, for your long-winded and not-so-long-winded responses. You all seem quite knowledgable about the color change, so you must be correct. I can understand the issue of the more labor intensive printing of the past as well as being mistaken on years as the person who posted must have been.

Charlie, I like your collection of Model Ls as well as their arrangement in the photo. Thanks for posting the photo of them. I have an ivory one and would one day like to have all four colors, too.

 

[paul]

Charlie,

I forgot to comment on the unique salesman's accessory...cool! I am taking for granted that it's a carrying case. Let us know if it has/had another use.

 

[electrolux137]

The "Mystery Device" was used to demonstrate the Electrolux commercial models CA and CB. See thread below.

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?232

 

[tig21er]

CA

demo piece I have is the stainless steel cover for the large cloth bag of CA and it has a place to put regular cloth demo bag that fits regular cleaners. Will post after I get a picture of it.

 

[rugsucker]

Thanks in advance-

-for pics of CA demo lid and bag.For most if not all of us it will be one more unknown piece of info on what has to be the finest ever comm vac.

 

[tig21er]

CA Demo

Bag Holder.

 

[tig21er]

Demo Bag

with a paper bag. When big bags were no longer available the Demo Bag Holder was a sought after item. I don't know of any more around.

 

[kenkart]

It would be easy...

For a sheet metal shp to make that thing, If I had the tools I could very easily.

 

[tig21er]

Demo

bag cover for CA. I am thinking of making some paper templates for anyone with a CA that needs one.
I also wanted to bring up and ask if anyone had seen or heard of the Prototype G that had a sending/receiving unit in it. You could go to the door and if the customer had a plug in outside, you plug in a special unit and the cleaner would receive signals for up to 50 feet away with no cord to run it. My father told me about using it with a man from the factory . He said to bring it out on the market at that time would be $1000 or there about. He said it shock the housewives he talked to and got positive response except price. Where is the technology today? My father was an engineer at Allison in expiramental and said different things like that pop up every so often.

 

[paul]

Thanks for the info., Charlie and John. I enjoy learning about salesmanship techniques and methods used back in the day!

I recently corresponded via email with a vacuum shop owner who took the business over from his dad. He pitched a bunch of vintage supplies (e.g. attachments, manuals, et cetera) thinking that no one would be interested in purchasing them! Later he learned, to his chagrin, that he could have made some money on the items with collectors.

My point is that there may very well be other vacuum shops/longtime Electrolux stores that have items such as the CA demo bag holder and Model L demo bag holder in their back rooms or basements; much like the basements of independently-owned hardware or five-and-dime stores' storage areas.

Regarding the model ids of Electrolux machines, it seems plausible that the C in CA and CB stood for 'commercial'; and the B of the B-6s, 7s, 8s, et cetera stood for 'beautifier'. This would correspond with the Model T (for thrift) and Model S (for Special) canister designations.

Hmmm ... the Model E could have stood for 'efficient' because of its lighter weight than the LX and LXI; the Model F could have stood for 'full-cleaning power' or 'fantastic'; the Model R could have stood for 'rudimentary' or 'remarkable'; Model G - 'gentle' or 'groovy'; and Model L - 'limited' or 'lovely'. Or maybe they were the first letters of the names of the designers, their spouses, or children--haha.