Sir Vac and Bison

[rexairman]

Guys, I've been asked to speak at next year's Convention about Bison. I was briefly one of their distributors in the 1970's and have been thru the factory. Unfortunately, I have next to no Bison "stuff." If anyone has anything related to Bison, which they want to part with, please let me know.
On a slightly different, but related theme, does anyone remember, or have a Sir Vac? I don't think I've ever seen the actual machine, but I remember advertising for them. This was one of the private labeled versions of the Singer twin-fan upright (as were Sunbeam, Kenmore, and other variations). It had a hood, metal, I believe, with a peak resembling the peak on a knight's hood, and its logo was a knight's hood. This was made for, and sold by Dick Schaffer, founder of Bison, after his leaving Kirby, and before the launch of the Bison. I wouldn't mind having one.

 

[ohio_tuec]

Were you selling Bison when the Centurion model was sold? I have one of the last with the original bill of sale, dated 1983, and ironically enough, the buyer traded in a Kirby. I too would love to see a Sir Vac. I've never even heard of it.

 

[rexairman]

I got out of Bison, and went back into Rainbow in 1975. This was just before the Mark II was replaced by the Mark III. We had so much trouble with the machines breaking down, even when they were new, on the demo in customers' homes, that I became discouraged. I had been impressed originally with the Bison's caroet cleaning ability, and got involved with their organization. However, when I left the Rainbow had introduced their Power Nozzle, which did a vastly better cleaning job than the Bison, and without all the mechanical problems. I will be doing a presentation on Bison at next year's convention and will tell you all more.