The 1959 General Electric Upright

[unimatic1140]

This morning's blog post on Product Stat features what I have learned is a very rare General Electric Upright Vacuum Cleaner.

General Electric vacuums have always been up there as one of my favorites, at least in the styling department.

 

[eurekastar]

Thank you so much for posting this! What an interesting design too! I really enjoy reading about the design details and seeing the photos. That's an intriguing rear wheel design. I wonder how reliable it ended up being.

 

[caligula]

Thank you Robert.

I have very fond memories of this General Electric upright. I was only 8 years old, and just starting to understand the workings of vacuum cleaners, prior to that it was the overall look of various brands and models, but both this one and the canister featuring the disapearing cord were the breakthrough machines of my young life. If I recall, it was dark green (like the canister.) What impressed me most was that there was a pouch in the back of the bag to store the cord.

Thanks for the information of this one.
Alex Taber.

 

[aeoliandave]

Simply wonderful.
Named the SILOETTE model, those who know will know that this is GE's answer to the 10 years earlier - 1949 - Singer S1 thru 4 upright designed by Raymond Loewy.

I am curious if Singer patents had run out, as the GE is mechanically an almost exact duplicate - in updated '60s styling - of the Singer, right down to the floating brushbar supported on long side arms that are hinged back by the motor; belt orientation presses the brushroll into the carpet. Same double path airflow bottom fill dust bag liner.
The Singer S1 had a cloth dustbag and somewhere between the S2 & S3 inner paper dust bags were introduced.
While lacking the Singer's cord winder in the handle base the GE did come with a brushroll inlet converter plate for a hose and above-the-floor cleaning tools.

I have seen, examined and used the GE (two at the Vacuum Cleaner Museum and one that Chris in Oneida has with the hose & tools) and it is just as remarkable and evolutionary as the Singer was ten years earlier.

All contemporary uprights use the horizontal motor concept although few have the double fans and direct two-sided airflow for maximum efficency.

 

[kenkart]

It must not have been too good,,,,

You surely never see one!!!! I would love to find one, very similar in design to the one stroke Westinghouse, I do have one of those, the GE is much better looking though..

 

[rugsucker]

WOW!!

An upright motor inside a rotating wheel.They must have copied that from the all new Dyson.But wait.Wasn't the GE first??

 

[dysonman1]

The first Twin-Fan design was Air-Way's "DirtMasteR". Singer's S-1 came fifteen years later. The GE, ten years after the Singer.

The GE is fun to use, and has a great suction pull. Far more than you would think. The machine's isn't as 'light' as you would expect today, but for the time, it was much lighter than other uprights. If the brush bar was NOT on the 'arms' which allowed it to float, the machine would pull itself along like a Simplicity Freedom does today. But with the floating brush, it never gets a good 'grip' on the carpet. Feels like it's almost 'wiping' the rug instead of beating and sweeping it. Still, the suction is very strong and it does clean as well as someone would want, who doesn't have a collection of different vacuums.

 

[vintagevaclover]

I have been looking for one like that, or a singer, or Westinghouse one stroke for years. They are incredibly hard to find!

 

[earlieone]

When our model 33 hand bail broke in about 1976, my mom went to my grandmother’s garage and grabbed this vacuum from her. She evidently retired it to the garage in the late 60’s and replaced it with a Hoover convertible. I loved this vacuum as it was so different than the convertible. Especially liked the handle release up on the handle and the pouch for cord storage. If I remember correctly it was no where as good as a convertible. A few months past and my mom got a new convertible and this went back to Grandma’s garage. Scan forward years later I went looking for it. Evidently my aunt also borrowed it in a time of need and then just trashed it when she was done saying it was old.
Wish I could have saved it as it’s the only one I have ever seen

 

[eurekaprince]

Thank you so much for this article Robert.

It really illustrates the evolution of the upright cleaner from bulky, bug-eyed monsters to sleek, slim and simple pieces of industrial design reflecting clean lines and elegant forms. Would love to have had one to clean with.

In some ways, these simple fan-first uprights with the revolutionary side facing motors inspired the arrival of those simple lightweight Orecks and Whirlpools that have been joined by similar versions sold today by Hoover, Tacony and Aerus. Really great manifestations of the simplest carpet cleaning vacuum that is very very easy to use.

Wouldn't that GE be cool with a nice modern halogen headlight?

 

[kenkart]

Wouldnt it!!!

Be cool to find a couple of them new in the box at an old hardware store!!! stranger things have happened!!!!

 

[chan55]

GE

How long was that GE around? How good did the tools work? There seems to be a long time when GE was not making uprights. Am I correct?

 

[pr-21]

Thank you again....

I am really enjoying these vintage vacuum articles.

Thank You Robert


Sincerely,

PR-21
Bud

 

[super-sweeper]

Robert, thanks again for all the wonderful things you do on your websites! 


 


Hey Kenkart, what kind of stranger things?