Royal upright model 285

[bee-vac]

Hello all! I picked up a Royal today. The model number is 285, could anyone tell me what year this dates to? Also, what would the original rug plate look like on this? The one that is on it doesn't cover the nozzle completely. And from the pictures I've seen, the rug plates are rounded at the ends and cover the nozzle all the way to the ends.

 

[ornery]

Pre-1980 Royal Upright Model Chart

That is a miserable vintage, that nobody would ever want... You should just sell it to me while you still can!

Search for Royal in these forums, and find the topics by KirbyClassicIII (Ben Edge) and hygiene903 (Jeff Schroff). There will be more info between those two, than can be found on the rest of the entire Web!

I can tell you that is the proper nozzle plate. I'm seriously considering retrofitting mine to take the newer plates, which have rolled up edges on the inner openings. The sharp edge on the old style catches on the carpet as it's sucked into the opening.

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?11457

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Anthony,

What you have is an Electro-Hygiene upright that marked the debut of both the revolving belt-driven brush and deodorizing chamber. It was produced between 1955 and 1987. I would indeed like to see pictures of your machine, so I can help you out on how old it really is.

The motor sizes are as follows:
350 watts: 1955 to 1970
400 watts: 1971 to 1975
3 amps: 1975 to 1985
4.5 amps: 1985 to 1987

Attached here is a pic (from an eBay auction) of what the 285 looked like in 1980.

~Ben

 

[bee-vac]

Yes! It's all making sense to me now.

Thank you both Kirby Classic and Ornery. You know, after I posted that thread, I was reading through a few earlier posts, and was thinking that it was an Electro Hygein. So my guess is someone must have put a Royal bag, and belt cover on it... Well now begins the hard part, locating an Electro Hygein bag and belt cover... Ugh I'm thinking this May prove to be a difficult task to undertake. Haha, Ben, who knows, I may just have to sell it after all.. I admit, I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to Royals, so when I saw the red and black bag, I thought it was an early Royal. I actually had an early Royal when I was a teen. I must have sold it or something. I wish I still had it. I remember it having a red and black shake out bag. I'll be sure to upload pictures of it soon. Thanks again guys!

 

[ornery]

Silver Lining

That bag may be worth double what you paid for the vacuum. What condition is it? While you're searching for a Electro-Hygiene bag, there are others in need of the bag you have. That goes for the belt cover as well.

 

[bee-vac]

Bag

Well it isn't a shake out bag, it's the type that takes paper bags. The condition is fair, the crown and royal are faded, and there is a repair at the base. It is a little earlier than I've seen before, as the nozzle that you slip the paper bag onto is aluminum and not plastic like most.

 

[bee-vac]

Pictures

Here are a few pictures.

 

[bee-vac]

Bag

This is the bag

 

[bee-vac]

Watts

The watts are 350 on this.

 

[bee-vac]

Handle

The way the handle grip is fastened seems early to me...

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Anthony,

That lady-bug scheme Royal bag, worn or not, would surely not be original for this model 285.

The very first model 285 from 1955 had a dark blue shake-out bag on it. If I knew what its serial number was (e.g., 285-12345 before 1971, or 17C-H-29184 after 1971) I might be able to help you out further on details of what it would have had before.

~Ben

 

[bee-vac]

Serial number

Serial number is: 285-27174. Yeah I kinda figured it would have originally had a shake out bag. Thank you for all the information you are giving me by the way!

Anthony

 

[hygiene903]

Anthony,

Sorry I haven't joined in sooner, but am on a shared computer and don't get online as often as I'd like. I actually have 3 model 285's, and your serial number falls between my two older ones. My oldest is 285-24451 and has a shakeout bag, and the newer of the two is #285-32663 and has a disposable bag and the newer style handle grip. Since there were only 2,723 made between my oldest and yours, and yours also has the old style handle grip, I'd say it most likely had the blue shakeout bag.
And John, thank you for the compliment! However, there is still much more I need to learn! Your model 131 is an example--I had never heard of that one until you posted about yours!
Here's a pic of my oldest 285.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

And here's a pic of a newer one, #32663. It had the original baf when the previous owner got it, but it was in such bad shape that he cut out the part of the bag with the logo and had it serged onto a generic replacement. This will give you an idea of what the early outer bag for disposables looked like. I think this one may have been built in the early 60's. Here's a pic.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

And last but not least, my newest 285, built in April 1979, and all original. Looks similar to the pic that Ben posted.
Jeff

 

[bee-vac]

Thank you

Thanks for the information John, Jeff and Ben. So I'm to assume this cleaner was made sometime in the mid to late 1950's? And what's the story with Electro Hygiene, I mean I know it's basically the same as a Royal, but why, why would Royal put out a cleaner with a different name? Electro Hygiene wasn't a "re-badge" was it?

 

[hygiene903]

Actually There Were Many

Years ago Royal (formerly P.A. Geier) built vacuums for several companies besides their own. Vacuums with the names Good Housekeeper, Regal, Hild, Modern Hygiene, and Stark were all made by P.A. Geier. Hild was a janitorial products company and Stark is a large vacuum dealer in Oregon, both of which wanted vacuums with their own name on them. Anyone could contract with P.A. Geier to have vacuums built with their own name on them.
Before Filter Queen, Health-Mor sold uprights with the Health-Mor name which were made by P.A.Geier, who also built Filter Queen for them until Health-Mor won their famous lawsuit against Lewyt, the proceeds of which were used to build their own factory.
However, the Electro-Hygiene story is different from these others. I'll get into that shortly. But first, here is a pic of my Good Housekeeper model 189.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

And here is a Health-Mor Sanitation System, also part of my collection. Original bag was in bad shape, so the previous owner had the Health-Mor logo embroidered on a replacement bag. You'll notice that other than the nozzle and foot switch it is almost identical to a straight suction Royal.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

And Now, The Electro-Hygiene Story

Although the P.A. Geier Company was established in 1905, they were originally a job-order machine shop, and their first products were parts for punch presses. Philip A. Geier built his first vacuum in 1910, and named it the Royal. It was an immediate success and by the late 1920's had developed into 3 models: the Standard, the Super, and the Purifier, which had a deodorizing chamber in front of the fan case.
Arthur Frankenfeld was a salesman who could sell the Purifier like no other and eventually he and Philip Geier came up with an idea. In March of 1934, the Purifier became the Electro-Hygiene and the Electro-Hygiene Co. was started as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the P.A. Geier Company, led by Art Frankenfeld. Then in August of 1941 Electro-Hygiene filed for incorporation as a company in their own right, with Arthur Frankenfeld, F.J. Gottron, and James Farrell listed as the incorporators, and their vacuums continuing to be built by the P.A. Geier Co.
Although P.A. Geier began building Royals with revolving brushes in the mid to late 30's, Electro-Hygiene remained a straight suction machine until 1955. The reason was that the deodorizing crystal chamber was what set it apart from Royal and was an intregal part of the sales demo, and they didn't know how to incorporate it into the revolving brush vacuum. Then in 1955, they came up with a crystal chamber that would snap on in place of the adjust-o-rite cover, and the model 285 was introduced. Then in 1966 the model 880 was introduced with a flip-up headlight, and the crystal chamber in the nozzle below it, followed by the 890, then the 903, which was the current model when I sold Electro-Hygiene in 1974. During that time I had the priveledge of meeting Art Frankenfeld, who by then was 67 years old but still had all the vitality and charisma he had when Electro-Hygiene was first launched.
Here's a pic of the first model of Electro-Hygiene, the model 80. Note the inline switch on the cord. This was so it could be broken down with a small handle and bag and used as a hand vac. This was my first restoration project.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

The second Electro-Hygiene model was the 94, which was made until production was stopped for WWII. With this model the switch was put in the handle and there was a pigtail connection at the motor so that the short handle, small bag, and cord with inline switch could be installed for hand vac use. Also note the hammered finish--not hammertone, but actually hammered finish on the metal. This was the only model with it.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

After WWII was over, production was resumed, and the model 230 was introduced. It was identical to the 94, except they had gone back to a smooth finish and the bag design was changed. This 230 is all original, but I forgot to mention that the 94 in the preceding pic has a replacement cord, and the previous owner had a section of the original bag serged onto a replacement bag.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

And the final straight suction Electro-Hygiene, the model 2-230. Only differences between this and the 230 are the bag color changed from black to blue and the motor housing was more streamlined, although it can't be seen in this picture. All original with attachments, only missing the wands, crevice tool, and floor brush.
Jeff

 

[ornery]

Nice Booklet

So ends the "re-badge" chapter of Jeff's future book "The History Of The Royal Vacuum".

Honestly, I should just comb through the archives here and gather all of Jeff and Ben's posts and compile the book myself. Wouldn't take as much work as they did researching, typing and posting the pictures.

I get the feeling, behind that garage door, is the beginning of the "Royal Vacuum Museum". I'm only a few miles from the Royal headquarters in Highland Hts., Ohio, but I'll bet Jeff knows more about their history than they do! He's only about an hour away.

 

[bee-vac]

Jeff

Thank you SO much, for all that information! I had an Electro Hygiene straight suction, but lent it to a friend to use. It's now in Las Vegas. I don't remember the model number on it however. That Good Housekeeper model 189 is really beautiful, I especially like how the arm is painted black.

 

[hygiene903]

Thank you John and Anthony, for the compliments. However, there's still a lot that I DON'T know, and a lot of models I'm not familiar with, but I am always glad to share what knowledge I do have. I am also thankful for the help I've had along the way. I learned most of what I know about early Royal history from Tom Gasko, and a couple years ago Ben posted a list (think it was on one of the Yahoo clubs) of postwar Royal models and when they were built. And I also learned quite a bit from the history section of Royal's website.
Jeff

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

1987 Royal 285

If anyone has a 1987 Royal 285 I'd love to see that. By that point in time it had a 4.5 amp motor and the angular fan case.

~Ben

 

[hygiene903]

Sorry Ben, my newest 285 is the one pictured earlier in this thread from 1979.
Jeff