The Machine to Launch an Empire

[hoover300]

Its not the first model, but the first one to be exported out of continental Europe and caused the brand to take off. Scored this off Marketplace!

 

[kirbylux77]

WOW!

You certainly got quite the score there! How much did you pay? And did it include the hose and attachments?

 

[huskyvacs]

Good find! That pistol grip handle is rather intriguing.

 

[hoover300]

It was on Marketplace, in Minnesota... But the seller wouldn't ship. So I paid a guy $25 to get it, $40 for the vac, and $55 for shipping costs. No hose or other tools sadly, just the dinged up wand, wood floor tool, and upholstery tool. But the wand is the special one that makes it possible to use as a stick vac, so it can be used for something as is.

 

[eurekaprince]

Amazing piece of Electrolux history!

I wonder if anyone has researched the details of the infamous sinking of the ship carrying Electrolux vacuums to the USA. Such a sad story when you think about it. What was the name of the ship? How many crew members perished? What caused the ship to sink, and where? It seems that this tragic event was the reason Swedish Electrolux decided to build a factory in the USA, initiating an important part of North American vacuum cleaner history.

 

[rugsucker]

"--factory in the USA--"

First Elux factory in US seems to have been former White sewing machine factory in Ohio,later Old Greenwich CT,then former Monroe calculator factory in Bristol VA in late 60s.