The Whirlpool Imperial Vacuum Cleaner

[unimatic1140]

Hi everyone, this week's Product Stat Blog vacuum related post is up and the pictures are beautiful, I suspect that were press release photos from 1958...

The Whirlpool with it's first Power Nozzle

Enjoy

 

[suckolux]

Nice one Robert

 

[eurekaprince]

Who knew you could store a vacuum in a drawer?

Beautiful piece of great industrial design.... Thanks Unimatic!

 

[suckolux]

Is it just me,or does that power head look a bit like the ABC

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

I think I'm in love


 

 

[DesertTortoise]

Surprisingly light by modern standards. Didn't Eureka use a horseshoe shaped bag like that in some of their canister vacs?

 

[electrolux137]

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This is among the most beautiful of all vacuum cleaners. Here's a full-color advertising brochure for it along with a one-page advertisement from one of the homemaking magazines.

 

[dysonman1]

It is NOT something I would call "light weight". In fact, the RCA Whirlpool Imperial Mark 12, along with it's sister, the Kenmore Whispertone, are among the heaviest cleaners when loaded with their attachments and wands.

I love the brochure Charles posted. While RCA Whirlpool's claim to be the "first" power nozzle canister isn't actually true (Lewyt beat it by a year), it was indeed the second (Electrolux was third).

I notice the Brochure and the magazine ad were from different years. The last photo is the magazine ad, AFTER the electric hose had been invented. Probably from 1960, which is the first year SEARS had the electric hose. Whirlpool made Kenmore vacuums for Sears.

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

Charles,


 


Thank you for posting the brochure and advertisement, I now MUST add one or two of these to my collection.


 


Tom (the other one of many ;-)

 

[DesertTortoise]

Dysonman1, the original article says the canister is 15 1/2 lbs and the brush another 5 1/2 for a total weight of 21 lbs. That is lighter than a current year Progressive or Elite canister from Kenmore.

 

[dysonman1]

They never add in the weight of the cord, the on-board wands, nor the full compliment of attachments. I actually have one. It's far from "light " but certainly far more desirable than modern Kenmore vacs.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Two questions. Isn't the weight of the wand part of that 5 1/2 lbs for the weight of the powered floor brush? Second, aside from the cord which is now incorporated into the vacuum on a reel, do modern vacs include the weight of the hose and tools in their specified weight? And, is this consistent across brands? Not trying to be contentious, just asking.

 

[dysonman1]

The weight of a vacuum is usually measured without the cord, and certainly without the attachments. Unlike modern vacuums, Kenmore/Whirlpool cleaners of the 1960's had a separate set of wands for use with the bare floor tool. The Kenmore/Whirlpool designs allowed the non-powered wands to store underneath the cleaner, along the sides. All four tools and the cord were stored in the covered compartment. When making a brochure, most manufacturers do not include the weights of cords or tools. For example, the Oreck 8 pound upright isn't 8 pounds with the cord wound up. The Maytag M500's weight of 9 pounds is weighed without the cord. The 10 pound Hoover Air Cordless is only 10 pounds without the battery attached. This is just how things are. Consumer Reports called out the discrepancy in weights decades ago, calling out the weights WITH the hose and attachments.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I have a couple of sets of those floor tool wands you mention and they were different from the Powermate wands. Very useful to keep a nice horse hair floor brush attached to a set.

Obviously a vacuum with a cord winder built into it has to have the weight of the cord included in it's weight but do modern vacuums publish weights minus the tools the normally carry?

 

[gsheen]

What I enjoy the most about Roberts blog post is were it says "[COLOR=#444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px]was the task Whirlpool Corporation set when the St. Joseph, Michigan firm decided to add vacuum cleaners to its appliance lines."[/COLOR]


 


Oh what a lovely time it must have been when a appliance manufacturer wanted to add vacuums to their line they designed their own, Not sent out a email to china source to see what is available. 

 

[dysonman1]

Gareth: Whirlpool only added vacuums because of the deceitful Sears Corporation. Sears didn't want Birtman Electric to make their cleaners any longer, as Birtman made their own motors (some of the best motors ever made). Lamb Electric had the far less expensive 'drop in' motor. Sears already bought their Kenmore major appliances from Whirlpool. Sears organized a hostile takeover of Birtman, but having employees buy Birtman stock and resell it back to Sears, until Sears had enough to put Birtman out of business. They told Birtman to make 5 years worth of repair parts, and then shut it down. Whirlpool's cleaners were MUCH less expensive to make, meaning Sears could buy them for less money. They all used the new "drop in" Lamb motor. The vacuum industry is full of dirty deads, done dirt cheap.

 

[rugsucker]

Whirlpool

Great article.Interesting to know that the robot WP came first and then the Imperial.The WP has to be in any top 3 list of 50s vacs along with Roll-Easy and ? for styling and practical use.
Charles-Great never seen literature.
DT-The Eureka Type H bag for standard canisters of the 60s and beyond was similar.
Tom-I think only the Sears stored wands.
As above the Sears had same power nozzle,attachments and cleaning power and ability but beside the WP the Kenmore is the 'ugly duckling' even though better known and many more sold anywhere a Sears catalog could go.The last WP was brown colors with L shaped nozzle.And then along came Mr. Oreck.
I have 1 or 2 or 3 or ? WPs (but none are without problems or complete)and even though I want most vacs GONE the WPs will stay!

 

[kenkart]

Tom is right again,

The hostile takeover of Birtman and Seeger refrigeration was engeneered by Sears to get more manufacturing under one management, Birtman was a fairly small company who also made Sears blenders and mixers,somehow in the deal these got farmed out to Hamilton Beach, along about 58 the Kenmore mixers started showing up with a 400 prefix denoting HB, if you see one with a 116 prefix, thats Birtman, you can tell at a glance a Seeger Coldspot fridge, along with having a engraving on the back saying Seeger Refrigerator Co, Evansville Ind, you will notice the big round compressor built by Seeger, which, along with Frigidaire and Norge, was a rotary unit, no pistons, the vacuums changed along about the last of 57 first of 58, they look the same, but have the Birtman built motor which was as Tom said, really good, with a distinctive "Bark" on startup,..if I can find it, I will post pictures of one of the very last Birtman /Kenmores..The first pic is a 56, Birtman built KenKart,the second is a Birtman built blender, the 3rd 4th and 5th are of a 57 Kenmore Horizon, with the very last of the Birtman motors, the last picture is a 56 Birtman built Kenmore stand mixer and a 60 HB built portable.."The one on the wall is a mid 50s GE.

 

[electrolux137]

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I love that "bark" that the older Kenmores make when starting up. They did this even back to the old 1930s uprights such as the Imperial.