The English Hoover Commercial, 918

[lillylux]

Hi! I recently picked up an ebay Hoover Commercial model 918, upright vacuum cleaner. I wonder, is there anyone out there who knows something about it. I know that I have seen many of these in public places being used by staff. I notice that the bottom label indicates "Made in England" for Hoover, North Canton, Ohio, USA. I was told by someone that Hoover began in England, and by some that it began in USA. At any rate, the good old Hoover is everywhere! This machine runs beautifully, and I have replaced the vinyl bag it had with a very nice DVC "for Hoover" bag and it looks (and smells) so much nicer. I notice that it has a rather "deep" sound....and I am wondering if a new impeller might be in order, and, would this machine take the same impeller as, say, a Hoover model 63 or 28? And, how would such a change out take place?

Love looking at all your posts!,
Lilly

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Nina,

This cleaner was obviously made by the U.K. subsidiary of Hoover, which was founded in Perivale, Middlesex, England in 1932 (24 years after Hoover was founded here in the U.S.). Although this is a British import, some of the finishing touches were stateside efforts (meaning, finished at our nation's Hoover plant in North Canton, OH) such as the motor switch.



The U.K. equivalent of this commercial cleaner was the 912A. Over here (in the U.S.), prior to the 918 there was the 913. By 1979, the 918 was superseded by the U7037 (U7008 in the U.K.), which was finally dropped after 1983; however, in the U.K., this model continued production as the model C1312 into the early 1990s (the very last examples over there had the orange bag).

~Ben

 

[lillylux]

Hi Ben; I really enjoyed the video of your Hoover! It looks just like mine. I appreciate the information about Hoover's origins as well. It is all very fascinating. I certainly don't care too much for the vacuums of today--all plastic and noisy and such....and my old vacuums I believe work better than the new models.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Nina,

It's not mine... it is the property of the video's uploader.

~Ben