Someone asked so I will tell it, In 1996 the VCCC convention was in StLouis hosted by Tom Gasko and Ruth Hollander, we, as usual in those days, had the time of our lives, I drove my 1962 Plymouth fury, and David Watters drove his 65 Chrysler 300!,but ,getting back to the story, We were at Toms house on Saturday night, we were all exhausted from traveling and a busy weekend, so Craig Long, who was without a doubt, the most knowledgeable person I ever met on the subject of vacuums, began telling us about his dream of becoming a drag queen, Tom , Clay Floyd and I all rolled our eyes at each other, Because Tanya was there and we were afraid of offending her with that type of conversation, this, you have to remember, was her first convention, and we really were trying to be on our best behavior as She was our first female member, anyhow, he launched into this description of the maid outfit he wanted to wear on stage and how he wanted to pull a 1961 Lady Kenmore Whispertone with him/her!, I forget what he was going to sing but it was equally funny, well, we all ,by this time, were rolling on the floor gasping for breath, which egged him on all the more as he described in very nasal Brooklynese, all he would do on stage...well, when we finally got over that, Tom brought out a new Thermax for us to see, they had just began to get popular at this time, Clay ,who was tired ,picked it up and began describing what junk it was, he shook it while it was running and water sprayed out all over Toms living room to which Clay exclaimed, "Who in hell designed that Rube Goldberg contraption!, I think he should be in hell with his back broke!"..of course this set us all off into another gale of laughter!..so that is the story of Miss Beverly Whispertone!..Craig was a wonderful person who had a great sense of humor and had a quality few of us have, he could laugh at himself, he loved us and we loved him, the world really lost a encyclopedic mind when he died, never did I ask him about a vacuum that he didnt have an answer, he was the reason I became a club member in 1994, he ran an ad in the VDTA news wanting vintage vacs, I called him, and he put me in touch with Alex and John L , and then Mike Hays and Charles Lester,he also first told me of the Lady Kenmore Whispertone and the Apex Strato Cleaner, so that is the story, nothing can ever equal that meeting in Toms living room one hot Saturday night, I will never forget it...Hans Craig
The story of Miss Beverly Whispertone..
- Thread starter kenkart
- Start date
Help Support VacuumLand:
dysonman1
Well-known member
The laughter was non-stop. Tanya wasn't offended at all. Craig described the entire look he wanted as "Lady Beverly Whispertone". Including a pink poodle skirt and white blouse. He wanted to 'debut' on stage, pulling a Kenmore Whispertone behind him and "presenting it" to the audience. Craig was the least 'lady like' man I ever saw. There's just no way "Lady Beverly" was going to be 'pretty'. He was a great guy. I really miss Craig. And I really miss the old days when the club was small and we were all great friends. Most of the folks who were VCCC members at that time have remained my friends to this day.
Gr8DaneDad
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2014
- Messages
- 660
Hilarious! My first guess was in the right direction, but the reality is so much more
super-sweeper
Well-known member
Kenkart,
My guess was that 'Lady Beverly Whispertone' was the lady Sears had their infamous vacuum line named for, but now I know the story! Thanks for sharing, it brightened my day!
My guess was that 'Lady Beverly Whispertone' was the lady Sears had their infamous vacuum line named for, but now I know the story! Thanks for sharing, it brightened my day!
caligula
Well-known member
Hi Hans, and Happy Birthday.
You have a birthday cake waiting for you in Miscellanea.
As you know I've been in my private corner of hell, dealing with a very sick golden retriever.
Now that I'm back, I'm scrolling through the posts I never got to see, and this one is too good to pass up.
Craig Long, who can forget Craig? I don't know if you're aware that he was our first member. When John Lucia and I decided to form the club, I drafted a form letter to the names on the list Stacy Krammes gave us. This was in October of 82, and a week later answers came back, "yes, form the club!" The only letter I didn't get was from Craig. Why? he'd cut to the chase, the day he got the letter, he called me from Buffalo, and we talked for 4 hours. He was a chatterbox, and I knew by the end of the call, somebody I needed!
Craig didn't make the first meeting in 85, but did make the next one, our first held in Naperville, Illinois, and he was the life of the party. He was also the only member to stay in my home. I knew money was tight for him, and saved him the expence of going to the Stardust motel on my corner. He slept in the vacuum cleaner display room, (see picture) where else? and did I say slept?, there was no sleep with Craig in the house. We were up all night, with him making lasagna so it would be ready for the members the next night, and he made enough to feed an army. In fact, I froze some of it, and was eating lasagna for weeks!
You can't remember what he sang? most likely it was 'Shuffle off to Buffalo,' that he did in falsetto. But my greatest memory was of the day before, his getting off the plane at O'Hare, carrying an Air-Way tank/canister from 1952 (see picture) and he refused to let them put it in the overhead compartment, let alone in cargo. It was at his feet, and was a thank you present to me.
I dislike queenie people, and drag queens even more. Craig knew this, and respected that. Only once did he mention the pink poodle skirt. He showed me great respect, never made a move of any kind other than a friendly hug.
Last year, or earlier this year, I forget which, I did a search on Ancestry.com, learned that Craig passed away. No doubt he's in heaven chatting away with Jim Kirby, Boss Hoover, Axle L. Wenner-Gren and any vacuum cleaner inventor he can talk to.
He was strange, but lovable, and God how I miss him. [this post was last edited: 9/3/2014-00:38]
You have a birthday cake waiting for you in Miscellanea.
As you know I've been in my private corner of hell, dealing with a very sick golden retriever.
Now that I'm back, I'm scrolling through the posts I never got to see, and this one is too good to pass up.
Craig Long, who can forget Craig? I don't know if you're aware that he was our first member. When John Lucia and I decided to form the club, I drafted a form letter to the names on the list Stacy Krammes gave us. This was in October of 82, and a week later answers came back, "yes, form the club!" The only letter I didn't get was from Craig. Why? he'd cut to the chase, the day he got the letter, he called me from Buffalo, and we talked for 4 hours. He was a chatterbox, and I knew by the end of the call, somebody I needed!
Craig didn't make the first meeting in 85, but did make the next one, our first held in Naperville, Illinois, and he was the life of the party. He was also the only member to stay in my home. I knew money was tight for him, and saved him the expence of going to the Stardust motel on my corner. He slept in the vacuum cleaner display room, (see picture) where else? and did I say slept?, there was no sleep with Craig in the house. We were up all night, with him making lasagna so it would be ready for the members the next night, and he made enough to feed an army. In fact, I froze some of it, and was eating lasagna for weeks!
You can't remember what he sang? most likely it was 'Shuffle off to Buffalo,' that he did in falsetto. But my greatest memory was of the day before, his getting off the plane at O'Hare, carrying an Air-Way tank/canister from 1952 (see picture) and he refused to let them put it in the overhead compartment, let alone in cargo. It was at his feet, and was a thank you present to me.
I dislike queenie people, and drag queens even more. Craig knew this, and respected that. Only once did he mention the pink poodle skirt. He showed me great respect, never made a move of any kind other than a friendly hug.
Last year, or earlier this year, I forget which, I did a search on Ancestry.com, learned that Craig passed away. No doubt he's in heaven chatting away with Jim Kirby, Boss Hoover, Axle L. Wenner-Gren and any vacuum cleaner inventor he can talk to.
He was strange, but lovable, and God how I miss him. [this post was last edited: 9/3/2014-00:38]
hooverlover
Member
I will never forget that night!
The thought of Craig transforming into Beverly Whispertone made him want to burst into song and dance. He also pictured himself with a long flowing scarf, blond beehive hairdo,in the back of a convertible.(Ford Thunderbird??) He begged Tom to give him the Lewyt Electronic that I was trying to adjust so the elctrical connections would work. I can still hear him say "Lewwwwwyt Electronnnnicc" Tania and I kept looking at one onther thinking he was coming unglued right brfore our eyes. We where kinda holding our breath but giggling at the same time.It was the most histerical night of my life. Craig could tell you what catalog, what page, what models, what brands where in any publication. He was truly a walking library. He was amazingly smart like a savant.
Good times for sure!
The thought of Craig transforming into Beverly Whispertone made him want to burst into song and dance. He also pictured himself with a long flowing scarf, blond beehive hairdo,in the back of a convertible.(Ford Thunderbird??) He begged Tom to give him the Lewyt Electronic that I was trying to adjust so the elctrical connections would work. I can still hear him say "Lewwwwwyt Electronnnnicc" Tania and I kept looking at one onther thinking he was coming unglued right brfore our eyes. We where kinda holding our breath but giggling at the same time.It was the most histerical night of my life. Craig could tell you what catalog, what page, what models, what brands where in any publication. He was truly a walking library. He was amazingly smart like a savant.
Good times for sure!
dysonman1
Well-known member
Hey Michael:
Do you remember after you got the power nozzle working on that Electronic, Craig took it into his hand to use it and it shocked him pretty bad? That night was a riot, one of the longest continuous times I've ever had laughing. Good times.
Do you remember after you got the power nozzle working on that Electronic, Craig took it into his hand to use it and it shocked him pretty bad? That night was a riot, one of the longest continuous times I've ever had laughing. Good times.
hooverlover
Member
Electrical shock therapy
Tom, your right! I do remember something about the shocking. I mostly remember all the laughter. What a great night.
Tom, your right! I do remember something about the shocking. I mostly remember all the laughter. What a great night.
What a great time..
That Lewyt Electronic was something, I remember you working on that thing, it seemed like an hour or more, I remember you had to clean the contacts on the wands to get it to work at all, I remember Craig yelling..OHHHH IM SHACKED!!!!!LOL
That Lewyt Electronic was something, I remember you working on that thing, it seemed like an hour or more, I remember you had to clean the contacts on the wands to get it to work at all, I remember Craig yelling..OHHHH IM SHACKED!!!!!LOL
dysonman1
Well-known member
As if it was possible for Craig's hair to stick out any further, I think it certainly did while he was holding that thing. After Mike got it running (and he did work for more than an hour on it), I remember us all being amazed at how quiet the Power Nozzle ran.
Craig grabbed the thing and started cleaning with it. I believe we threw down some dirt, and as he was vacuuming it up, the rectifier on the motor failed. It sent 120 volts into his hand, and I believe he was not able to make the muscles let go. We had to pull the plug.
Many people will be horrified to read that he got shocked, but it was only for a moment and he was fine afterwards. I think he actually laughed the hardest at it.
I gave the machine to Jimmy Martin, because if anyone deserves to be shocked, it's him. As Cher once said "snap out of it". Good times!!!
Craig grabbed the thing and started cleaning with it. I believe we threw down some dirt, and as he was vacuuming it up, the rectifier on the motor failed. It sent 120 volts into his hand, and I believe he was not able to make the muscles let go. We had to pull the plug.
Many people will be horrified to read that he got shocked, but it was only for a moment and he was fine afterwards. I think he actually laughed the hardest at it.
I gave the machine to Jimmy Martin, because if anyone deserves to be shocked, it's him. As Cher once said "snap out of it". Good times!!!
rugsucker
Well-known member
Shocked?
I may have been shocked by life many times since but,so far, not by the Electronic.It has been part of my 50s display as seen in the April 1959 McCalls 2 page color article'The News is in the Nozzle'.(Except the Lewyt Tom gave me is blue,not green.)This was at the end of the 50s and everything that we know had been tried at some time was again 'NEW'.Interesting in that this article on new nozzles did not include what would be the 2 best ever-Electrolux and Kenmore/Whirlpool.(Other good nozzles such as Rainbow/Eureka came much later.)And what might tie for first place of 'worst'-Lewyt & Vibra Beat were soon forgotten.
I may have been shocked by life many times since but,so far, not by the Electronic.It has been part of my 50s display as seen in the April 1959 McCalls 2 page color article'The News is in the Nozzle'.(Except the Lewyt Tom gave me is blue,not green.)This was at the end of the 50s and everything that we know had been tried at some time was again 'NEW'.Interesting in that this article on new nozzles did not include what would be the 2 best ever-Electrolux and Kenmore/Whirlpool.(Other good nozzles such as Rainbow/Eureka came much later.)And what might tie for first place of 'worst'-Lewyt & Vibra Beat were soon forgotten.
Similar threads
