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Back on March 31, user chicagomike posted in the Super Market department some Kirby replica cloth bags that he had made.
(See Super Market posting entitled "Trade hanging cloth Kirby bags for working Kirby vacuums")
The bags looked stunningly beautiful in his photo, especially the Model C bag with the gold filled-in Kirby logo. In the photo it looked as perfectly original as it could possibly be. The shape. The size and style of the log and solid lines down the front. The jet black color.
I contacted him and worked out a trade for one of the Model C bags. When it arrived, I was so stunned I had to sit down and compose myself.
See photos below and prepare to have the smelling salts at the ready!
The one tiny issue with the bag is that the fabric is not quite right. The original bag was made of herringbone, a fabric with a subtle chevron-shaped pattern in the fabric. You can see it in the first two photos below of an original Model C bag if you look closely. The new replica is made of a very fine corduroy material. I mentioned this to chicagomike and said he was aware of it. In fact, it was he who gave me the proper name for the fabric. He said he simply hasn't been able to find black herringbone fabric of sufficient weight to work for vacuum cleaner bags. He's still looking and hopes to find some.
But believe you me, this is hardly a complaint! I am THRILLED to find such a gorgeous Model C bag and this has definitely pushed my Model C restoration to the front of the line. The corduroy ribbing is very fine and you can't see it unless you put your nose right down to the bag.
One thing I need for my Model C is an original brass belt access cap. The one on mine is black Bakelite, which I believe is wrong for that model, or maybe it was a transitional detail. I'm wondering if by any chance anyone out there has a spare brass plate and, if so, would you let me know what you want for it. I sure do want to do this restoration to be as close to original as possible.
(You can see photos of the brass plate in cb123's posting in the Vintage Department in the thread entitled "Pre 500 Kirby bag designs" -- scroll down to the bottom.)
So as I said, the first two photos below are of an original Model C bag and the next two are of the new bag.
.
Back on March 31, user chicagomike posted in the Super Market department some Kirby replica cloth bags that he had made.
(See Super Market posting entitled "Trade hanging cloth Kirby bags for working Kirby vacuums")
The bags looked stunningly beautiful in his photo, especially the Model C bag with the gold filled-in Kirby logo. In the photo it looked as perfectly original as it could possibly be. The shape. The size and style of the log and solid lines down the front. The jet black color.
I contacted him and worked out a trade for one of the Model C bags. When it arrived, I was so stunned I had to sit down and compose myself.
See photos below and prepare to have the smelling salts at the ready!
The one tiny issue with the bag is that the fabric is not quite right. The original bag was made of herringbone, a fabric with a subtle chevron-shaped pattern in the fabric. You can see it in the first two photos below of an original Model C bag if you look closely. The new replica is made of a very fine corduroy material. I mentioned this to chicagomike and said he was aware of it. In fact, it was he who gave me the proper name for the fabric. He said he simply hasn't been able to find black herringbone fabric of sufficient weight to work for vacuum cleaner bags. He's still looking and hopes to find some.
But believe you me, this is hardly a complaint! I am THRILLED to find such a gorgeous Model C bag and this has definitely pushed my Model C restoration to the front of the line. The corduroy ribbing is very fine and you can't see it unless you put your nose right down to the bag.
One thing I need for my Model C is an original brass belt access cap. The one on mine is black Bakelite, which I believe is wrong for that model, or maybe it was a transitional detail. I'm wondering if by any chance anyone out there has a spare brass plate and, if so, would you let me know what you want for it. I sure do want to do this restoration to be as close to original as possible.
(You can see photos of the brass plate in cb123's posting in the Vintage Department in the thread entitled "Pre 500 Kirby bag designs" -- scroll down to the bottom.)
So as I said, the first two photos below are of an original Model C bag and the next two are of the new bag.
