What is the most unusual vintage commercial vacuum cleaner?

[rickenbacker]

Kirby commercials

what about the commercial kirby models? comvac, janitronic etc... I love those vacs, but then, I always have had a thing for commercial vacuums. I suppose it comes from when I was little and I would see big exciting vacuums in shops, vacuums that you couldn't find in the argos catalogue (which seemed to be my main resource for vacuum cleaners!)I have an old victor commercial upright which I love, I think it's from the 90s, its big and red with an L shaped nozzle, it kinda looks like a mix between a regina housekeeper and a sebo, so a nice mixture

Padfield

 

[tolivac]

I have one type of commercial Kirby "Comvac" but never seen any commercial use of them.

 

[crevicetool]

Here's a couple of those "pigs". Snapped this picture at State Vacuums last year at the Third Semi-annual sesquicentennial Terry Extravaganza!



Rick

 

[crevicetool]

That big turquoise thing is the Electrolux CA mentioned above. This one can be had......



hint hint

 

[tolivac]

Two of my "Pigs" are similar to what is in the above picture.The newest ones are black.My third one is black.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Re: kenkart and Royal Straight Suction

Hans (kenkart),

I wanted to point out that the Royal straight-suction vac in question you were referring to was a model 311. That was the last such straight-suction metal upright ever made, and it was also part of Royal's commercial lineup in the '70s. I had found two examples from that decade, the older of the two dating from 1974.

~Ben

 

[caligula]

Hi Crevicetool. I'm taking the hint.

That is if you're saying that the Electrolux C-A is available. That's been one of my dream machines since I was a kid. Please send me a message with the info.

Thanks,

Alex Taber

 

[vacman1961]

I sold the Royal Commercial model 311 in my store as late as 1982, it had the same motor as the 608 and 611, 5.4 Amps. I used to sell them to banks, they used them in the vault areas where the carpet was thin and there was always pieces of paper on the floor, they were great, they picked up paper clips, paper and never got clogged. The bag was the same as the 608 bag also.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

The J. C. Penney model 2050 upright, which is their equivalent of the Hoover U7057 standard-duty commercial. The JCP version was sold in 1982.

Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Hoo...121323277801?pt=US_Vacuum&hash=item1c3f6e4de9

If you take a good look at the cord shot, you can see it is missing the third prong which is a requirement for commercial vacuums.

~Ben

 

[seamusuk]

Over here....

My latest addition would take some beating- it's the only one I'm aware of and my latest addition......
Seamus

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141250462631?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[stricklybojack]

Hoover Dial-a-Matic commercial model

Hammer-tone grey metal base with brushed aluminum body. First use of Quadraflex agitator and WindTunnel technology not seen until years later on consumer models. Also sported a lifetime belt and Hepa bags labeled "Secret NASA Space Age Technology" and resembled the material found at Roswell New Mexico.
I saw one at a thrift store near Groom Lake Nevada once but waited until 50% off day by which time it was gone.

 

[rugsucker]

D-A-M comm

Should this have been posted 20 days ago??

 

[bikerray]

The Hoover Conquest, it was like a really thick Hoover Convertable. I think the fan in it was a couple of inches think.

 

[tolivac]

Would like to get a Hoover Conquest-but so far the ones I have encountered are so beat up its not worth it.This machine did have a scrap trap of sorts so hard or heavy items would not get into the fan.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Charlie (vacman1961),

Here's a few pictures of the model 611s, both from past eBay auctions. The older of the two is dated February 1974, while the newer one with the replacement Royal 880 bag is dated February 1979.

I'd love to see one of the 1985-87 ones that use the 5.4 amp motor.

~Ben

 

[dryclean1]

nss thread

I really enjoyed reading the thread about the nss machines. In 1988 I worked in a department store as a custodian. We had all nss machines. Including an autoscubber called the "warhorse". I was the one who mainly ran this machine and I can remember really liking the logo which was a mighty looking black horses. which of course was their symbol.Thanks dryclean1

http://i enjoyed seeing the nss thread!

 

[dryclean1]

tenant trend machines

has anyone ever heard of a brand of industrial floor machines called tenant trend? I have used several over the years including a vacuum cleaner which was as big as a lawn mower and a floor scrubber. They are really neat looking machines,that are always a pretty shade of green.

 

[tolivac]

I have a Powerflite wide vacuum that is kinda like a lawnmower.It has a 10A direct air system,metal fan and a large belt driven rollerbrush.Transverse mount motor.The beast can pick up and make a satisfying "DING" sound as something goes thru the fan.It has two foot levers on the back where you set the nozzle height like a Kirby.The vacuum has a HUGE paper bag inside a large feltlike zipper one.I now have 4 NSS M1 vacuums.Would love to have their 100th anniversery one.

 

[super-sweeper]

how could nobody vote,

KIRBY!

 


The American Lincoln is the more unusual, but my favorite goes to the ComVac 1600!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Both the Montgomery Ward-branded Eureka/Sanitaire commercial uprights were rare.

The SP8000, introduced in 1977, was Wards' version of the Sanitaire 641. It ceased to exist by 1981.

The wide-track SP8005, called "Wide Stroke" in Wards terminology, was introduced the following year (1978) but ceased to exist by 1980. It was based on the Sanitaire 698.

Both machines had 3.5 amp motors, which especially did not go down well for the wide-track version despite the Vibra-Groomer I brush roll.

~Ben