vintage vacuum books?

[justanovice]

Are there any good collector books out there specifically dedicated to vintage vacuum cleaners (models, parts, accessories)?

 

[tolivac]

Thats one of the problems for vacuum cleaner collectors-no books on the subject.Books on appliances-for the collector standpoint-are hard to find.The only books on appliances for the most part are for those that are mostly collected-fans,lamps and radios.These are considered the more commonly collected machines.

 

[frkirby511]

Someone needs to write one.....!

I suggested to Tom Gasko that he do just that. He is a living encyclopedia of vacuum cleaner informaton. But of course I know there are many in the club who have a remarkable breath of knowledge about these machines.

Perhaps that could be a project for the club. Several members who have this kind of knowledge or have writing skills could team up with technical folks and people with the pictures etc. Someone could be the editor and put it together. With the use of email and the internet, communication would be a lot easier over distances.

Nowadays, I'm told, it's a lot easier to get a book published because of computers and the ease and relative low cost of publication compared to what it used to cost when they had to type-set books. It's a project I would be willing to work on over time. It would be a lot of work..but...it's a thought.

Fr. B

 

[justanovice]

...I guess I could see where there probably wouldn't be enough demand to justify keeping bookstore shelves stocked with books on vacuum cleaners

But they have printing "on demand" and even "e books" these days, which could be a good way to go.

Those of us just getting started need some direction, lol

 

[bigbubbacain]

well, someone needs to do an online version of a book.

I've really enjoyed viewing the collections of others, but there are always gaps when looking from one collection to the next. I'd love to see an online A-Z collection of information. I know we all have something to contribute.

 

[tolivac]

I did find a book on vintage power tools-I do have a small collection of power tools.ReTool is a favorite hunting ground for older tools.Got the book from Barnes and Noble.Found it in their woodworking book section.

 

[sukething]

The only book that I have...

I hope my memory serves me correct. Alex T. had a lady ask him once when she was writing a book on Household Appliances. The paper back book has a sectoin on vacuums and supposedly their value. The reason I love the book is a picture of a 1940's model Universal upright ad, which I have the machine. The woman is using the hose on the upright and cleaning a chair with it. I got the book after my first meeting in 1991 when Alex told me about it.

Yes I agree with you all, we have so much knowledge in this club form everyone that we could really write a huge book on the subject. No it would be one the best seller's list..hehe..well maybe not.

David

 

[sukething]

I also love to tell this story....

This was published in a VCCC newsletter several years ago.

I was walking through a antique show in a huge auditorium in Omaha, when I lived there. In a particular booth I see on one of the tables, a glass moth crystalizer for a GE or Premier.I do not remember anymore if it was the bigger or smaller one but both ends of the attachment were on the tube. Knowing what that was I was excited and went to look at it. The funny thing was that the woman who had it, had it marked as a powdered sugar shaker from the 30's. Holy cow! I thought, people do not always know what they have.

A few years later I happened to be looking through a book on glass collectibles and there on one of the pages were those two particular attachments. The large and the small moth crystalizer, and they just said they were a vacuum attachment. Not what they really were. It is strange sometimes what you can find.


David

 

[justanovice]

I'm assuming from the Vac-of-the-Day that someone here has an extensive collection of old dept store catalogs?

It's very possible that, just for example, Sears would allow someone to reprint all of the old vacuum cleaner pages into one book (or a series of books).