When did Royal and Electro Hygiene switch from there braided hose to the crushproof one that they had forever, my 63 Pony has the braided hose, the 68 Electro Hygiene has the plastic one??
I know Kirby switched from the braided hose to the vinyl one beginning with model 516 in 1956. The last Kirby vac with a braided hose was model 515 to the best of my knowledge.
Also: what is the serial # on your 880? To find it, it's on the nameplate affixed to the back side of the nozzle by the front wheels. From the back view of the vac, the label can be found on the side of the nozzle, either by the left front wheel or the right front wheel.
Example: 78D-C-12345. "78D" indicates April 1978 build date ("78" is calendar year 1978 and "D" is month of April); "C" indicates the line and shift the vacuum came from; and the "12345" is the sequence number.
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: medium;">WOWWWWWWWWWWWW Hans, that chrome Royal is stunning! I've never seen one!!! Glory Be it's purty!!</span>