westinghouse porta vac

[oldappliancenut]

I just bought this a few days ago but It didn't arrive yet

 

[hygiene903]

Nice Find!

And a rare machine at that! Congrats,
Jeff

 

[crevicetool]

Can't wait for it to arrive.

This machine looks very interesting. Please take all kinds of pictures when it gets there.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[arh1953]

Can you be sure? Of course!

That's nice! I'm looking forward also to seeing more pics and what year it was offered.

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Wow...

Never ever seen anything like that!

Fabulous!

 

[portable]

Hey Brian -

What you have there was the small companion vacuum to the full-sized Westinghouse upright marketed in about '52 or '53. It's the "ugly" one with the front headlight near the floor, meant to compete with the popular twin-fan Singer of the time. Somewhere I have an ad of the two of them featured together, but the ad is falling to pieces. Maybe someone else has a picture of the vacuum I am talking about. It was the same color scheme of your portable unit. I personally think that your portable is much more stylish than the upright. Nice, and very rare, find.
Congratulations.
John L.

 

[collector2]

Hey John:

Is this the upright you mean. Sorry - its only a copy of a 1954 ad but I dont have the original.

Doug

 

[electrolux~137]

Hi John, I remember the time you showed me your upright Westinghouse when Arlee and I visited you in San Francisco "way back when" -- it was without a doubt the loudest (and one of the ugliest!) vacuum cleaners I've ever seen!

 

[electrolux~137]

P.S. At the same time, it was this type of machine that was always fun to find in someone's home -- there was a kind of twisted delight in seeing the oddest, loudest or ugliest vacuum cleaner!

I remember a lady who had one of those Whirlpool "Convert-a-Vac" or whatever they were called, basically a canister cleaner with a revolving brush and detachable handle. It was ugly, loud and hard to use -- it was so delightfully awful that it was always fun to see, and to hear her cussing at it! Same for the KenCarts (hi Hans!) -- ridiculously big and hard to maneuver around most homes, but a lot of people had them!

 

[joe22]

ive seen one of these with wheels on it, sort of like they did with the hoover port a power.

 

[portable]

Yes siree!

Yes, Doug, that's the one. I have never seen THAT ad before. And Charles, you're right...the thing was noisy, ineffective and made VERY cheaply...the sheet metal of the hood cover was so thin, you didn't dare put anything near it. It dented very easily. But it WAS kinda cute, eh?? JL

 

[fantomfan57]

Westinghouse Porta vac

Hi, I have one, but only the base with cloth bag. I will be offering it on here along with other items in the thread titled: Items Available.

 

[kenkart]

I have the

One stroke upright,it came out in 55.the small machine you have was marketed for small homes and apartments, the one stroke did come with attachments.

 

[kenkart]

The one stroke...

Was actually a pretty good cleaner..