UK Halloween Meet - The Cleaners

[hooverbaby]

Nice Vac Trick!! or should that be Vactric?

Al, I especially like your yellow Vactric Junior Upright. Whilst not quite on a par with machines such as the Hoover Junior 370 I don't think I've seen one quite so splendid before, though I do have a similar one somewhere with a maroon bag.

Presumably, the red machine next to it is the relatively rare Morphy Richards upright, which was recently revamped?

Stephen

 

[vacbear58]

Vac-trickery

Time for some quick photos of the Vactric upright - from the front.

And yes, the TV DOES need dusting!

 

[vacbear58]

Close of the bag graphic

I rather like this, it betrays the cleaner's origins in the 1930s

 

[vacbear58]

The business end

The cleaner is a bit battered from years of use. Height adjustment on the right hand side

 

[vacbear58]

And round the back

The flex does not go round the forks (as it would on a Hoover Junior)- but emerges near the bottom of the handle. The Goblin of similar vintage was similar

 

[vacbear58]

It does owe something of its design

to the Hoover Junior 370, although it is not so tall (more like the later Juniors without forks and is somewhat lighter

 

[vacbear58]

Switch

On the front of the handle - rather like that on the Dustette or Hooverette/late Lark

 

[vacbear58]

In action

Having had this cleaner for several years, it was only recently that I put a plug on it and powered it up. Worked fine straight off. The bag is shaped at an angle - its not just the angle of the photo

 

[vacbear58]

And from the side

No matter how superior later "hard bag" cleaners might be, there is always something special about a well inflated cloth bag

 

[vacbear58]

No edge cleaning here

and quite a small cleaning area given the overall footprint, which is a marginally wider the the Junior, but the Junior brush roll and cleaning area are much larger

 

[vacbear58]

And the brush roll

Very simple and made of wood - just two spirals of (quite stiff) bristles. It does work quite well though

 

[vacbear58]

I have only seen one other

of these in real life - Mike has one as well. But this was the first time one has been seen in action - and I am delighted that it does actually work. The cleaner was produced from 1936 until 1958 apparently largely unaltered. There are more pictures and information on Paul Linell's excellent site (see link) - his is in better condition too.

That's all for tonight folks

Al

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.linnell/sso/vacuums upright.html

 

[vintagecanister]

What is the

machine on the first picture posted, top shelf, all the way to the right?

It looks quite interesting. Any close-up's for us guys across the pond?

 

[vacbear58]

That would be the Electrolux 160

Yes, there will be some more pictures of this one, later in the week

Al

 

[hooverbaby]

Thanks for the extra pictures of the Vactric Al!

I do have one like it in storage and also some of the similar National upright machines with the rectangular front covers.

Mine also worked when I tried them but one of them had a stiff front bearing, which I regreased after stripping the motor down.

Stephen

 

[vacbear58]

National Utilities

Now that is interesting Stephen, I had known that Vactric 202/404 cylinder cleaners were badged under the National Utilities brand (and others), indeed I have one and they pop up with surprising regularity on ebay, but I have never seen an NU upright. This one is the only one I have seen on ebay in nine years.

And of course there is the successor model, which appears to owe something to the Hoover 638 that has not been seen either.
Al

 

[kirby16]

Theres something wrong with your photos; they wont show up.:-&#92

 

[kirby16]

Sack that, never mind. Now they do. :

 

[hooverbaby]

I also have..

a National upright with a blue bag and a round front cover and only ever saw one of those. I must dig it out sometime, hope it hasn't deteriorated too much in storage..

Stephen

 

[chestermikeuk]

Link

Heres the link to the vac pic thread posted in the off-topic forum!!!

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?10660__0#start_10660.116151