caligula
Well-known member
There seems to be some confusion as to how this club got started. Our previous web site told the basic story and was 99% correct, though not complete; as the events leading up to how I met John Lucia were missing. In a way this was my fault, because I felt these events weren't important, I now realize they were very important! It still baffles me that we have a club, and what baffles me even more is the size of our club. I certainly can't speak for John, but for me, to know that a great number of people are interested in the vacuum cleaner is amazing.
Our club really began in the Summer of 1980 when my good friend John Henry, owner of The Henry Co. causally asked if I'd ever been to the Hoover Historical Center in North Canton, Ohio. I had not, and said so. "This is a place you must see"! he said and a few days later a trip to Hoover was in the works. That trip was mind boggling. Stacy Krammes personally took the time to give me the grand tour. This was followed by meeting the head of engineering, Skip Marquat. Stacy had made arrangements with Skip to open the Models vault for me. This was a store room that even the top brass were not permitted to enter. For the first time in my life I understood the meaning of term V.I.P.
About a year later Stacy forwarded a letter from a collector in the San Francisco area by the name of John Lucia who was interested in the models 150 and 700. Until hearing from John, I had no idea that there were other people interested in vacuum cleaners. But what really pleased me was that I now had a chance to share all the history I'd acquired over the years; and John in turn could teach me a great deal about Hoover.
In the Summer of 1982, John embarked on a driving tour of the country, and a trip to see both my collection and the Hoover Historical Center was on the list. This time I let John bask in the glory of this vacuum cleaner emporium. Not only did we see the center, but also got a factory tour. This tour included a look at how the disposable bags were made. This was on the third floor and John and I both heard one woman say to another "these people must be very special, nobody gets to the third floor"! As they had done with me, Stacy and Skip took us to lunch then Skip opened the 'vault'! Later that day, Stacy gave us a list of names, people who had toured the center and were interested in vacuum cleaners. Two of those names were Craig Long and Mike Pupek
John and I were not the typical tourists, we spent hours researching Hoover, hunted through archives at the local library, and damned near killed ourselves trying to locate the grave sites of all the Hoovers and the grave of Murray J. Spangler. In the course of conversation I said to John "do you think we should form a club"? his answer was "I doubt if it will get off the ground but it's worth asking"!
As John was continuing on to New York, I returned home and drafted a form letter to the five or six people on our list. By return mail letters came in saying the same thing. "Yes, form the club"! So on January 2, 1983 we published our first newsletter.
In the early days we had no officers, and there was no cost for membership. Back then we were a grass roots operation. I wrote the articles which dealt mostly with vacuum cleaner history, and profiles on various brands like Air-Way, Electrolux, and Kirby. John covered all the Hoover information and shared ads from his incredible paper collection. Basically we were a staff of two. My mother being an executive secretary corrected my spelling, typed my pages, and had the newsletters printed. But more than that, she turned me into an editor. From 1983 to early January of 90, Anne R. Taber was the backbone of the Vacuum Cleaner Colloctor'S club.
After our first issue went to press, John and I felt that we needed a logo and letterhead, so we contacted Stacy Krammes. Her daughter Liz, was a graphic artist who researched a non electric machine for us. What she found was a British machine from 1880 called the Baby Daisy.
In the fall of 1984, Mike Pupek was on business in Chicago and stopped to see me. While talking vacuum cleaner, he suggested a meeting of the five or six club members. I downplayed it saying "nobody is going to travel cross country to see a bunch of vacuum cleaners" Mike's answer was one of profound logic. "Put the question in the newsletter"! I did, and again letters poured in saying loud and clear they were ready to meet each other! Our first meeting was held the first weekend in May of 1985, and it was a huge success. Rules were established that weekend that are still in place today.
Three months later I bought a house in Naperville , Illinois, and made that our club headquarters, I also turned a spare bedroom into the Vacuum Cleaner hall of fame.
Like all clubs we've had our growing pains, but we continued to expand and in 1994 we held our first outside convention. We went back to where it all began. The Hoover Historical Center. The following year Bob Kautzman better known as the Vac-Hunter opened his home, sharing his massive collection with us. A week later I relocated to San Diego, California. That move caused me to leave the club. But that is another story.
Alex Taber
Our club really began in the Summer of 1980 when my good friend John Henry, owner of The Henry Co. causally asked if I'd ever been to the Hoover Historical Center in North Canton, Ohio. I had not, and said so. "This is a place you must see"! he said and a few days later a trip to Hoover was in the works. That trip was mind boggling. Stacy Krammes personally took the time to give me the grand tour. This was followed by meeting the head of engineering, Skip Marquat. Stacy had made arrangements with Skip to open the Models vault for me. This was a store room that even the top brass were not permitted to enter. For the first time in my life I understood the meaning of term V.I.P.
About a year later Stacy forwarded a letter from a collector in the San Francisco area by the name of John Lucia who was interested in the models 150 and 700. Until hearing from John, I had no idea that there were other people interested in vacuum cleaners. But what really pleased me was that I now had a chance to share all the history I'd acquired over the years; and John in turn could teach me a great deal about Hoover.
In the Summer of 1982, John embarked on a driving tour of the country, and a trip to see both my collection and the Hoover Historical Center was on the list. This time I let John bask in the glory of this vacuum cleaner emporium. Not only did we see the center, but also got a factory tour. This tour included a look at how the disposable bags were made. This was on the third floor and John and I both heard one woman say to another "these people must be very special, nobody gets to the third floor"! As they had done with me, Stacy and Skip took us to lunch then Skip opened the 'vault'! Later that day, Stacy gave us a list of names, people who had toured the center and were interested in vacuum cleaners. Two of those names were Craig Long and Mike Pupek
John and I were not the typical tourists, we spent hours researching Hoover, hunted through archives at the local library, and damned near killed ourselves trying to locate the grave sites of all the Hoovers and the grave of Murray J. Spangler. In the course of conversation I said to John "do you think we should form a club"? his answer was "I doubt if it will get off the ground but it's worth asking"!
As John was continuing on to New York, I returned home and drafted a form letter to the five or six people on our list. By return mail letters came in saying the same thing. "Yes, form the club"! So on January 2, 1983 we published our first newsletter.
In the early days we had no officers, and there was no cost for membership. Back then we were a grass roots operation. I wrote the articles which dealt mostly with vacuum cleaner history, and profiles on various brands like Air-Way, Electrolux, and Kirby. John covered all the Hoover information and shared ads from his incredible paper collection. Basically we were a staff of two. My mother being an executive secretary corrected my spelling, typed my pages, and had the newsletters printed. But more than that, she turned me into an editor. From 1983 to early January of 90, Anne R. Taber was the backbone of the Vacuum Cleaner Colloctor'S club.
After our first issue went to press, John and I felt that we needed a logo and letterhead, so we contacted Stacy Krammes. Her daughter Liz, was a graphic artist who researched a non electric machine for us. What she found was a British machine from 1880 called the Baby Daisy.
In the fall of 1984, Mike Pupek was on business in Chicago and stopped to see me. While talking vacuum cleaner, he suggested a meeting of the five or six club members. I downplayed it saying "nobody is going to travel cross country to see a bunch of vacuum cleaners" Mike's answer was one of profound logic. "Put the question in the newsletter"! I did, and again letters poured in saying loud and clear they were ready to meet each other! Our first meeting was held the first weekend in May of 1985, and it was a huge success. Rules were established that weekend that are still in place today.
Three months later I bought a house in Naperville , Illinois, and made that our club headquarters, I also turned a spare bedroom into the Vacuum Cleaner hall of fame.
Like all clubs we've had our growing pains, but we continued to expand and in 1994 we held our first outside convention. We went back to where it all began. The Hoover Historical Center. The following year Bob Kautzman better known as the Vac-Hunter opened his home, sharing his massive collection with us. A week later I relocated to San Diego, California. That move caused me to leave the club. But that is another story.
Alex Taber
