What was the first power head?
Hi,
I am in no way the expert either, but have conversated with many and have some insights from what I've read and personally reasearched, and yet again have heard thru others over the years....
This is what I can contribute...
And those of you who know me know I'm long winded so grab yourself a drink of choice (mines Iced Tea w// equal) and a comfy seat to read along if you wish.
From what i've found...on paper, according to the Google patents that I've been pouring over, Earl Hoover, whom may or may not have been a relative of the famous Ohio Hoover's, designed and developed a electric powerbrush attachment for I believe the Hoover Company around 1930. Whether it was ever built and sold or not is a good question, but my guess is probably yes built in prototype form , no not offered for sale. At least none of us has ever seen one.Freakishly, it's REAL close to what we later got in the late 1950's. He offered two variations. One was for a central vacuum system, the other for a tank or canister system that could be dragged around. It's failure was that it was introduced 25+ years too early. Canisters werent even really known here yet, and there was probably no market. Was this the first one? Again some say po-tay-toe, some say po-tah-toe. What do you think??
Technically, the first to some would most likely be the Air-Way Twin Motor upright from the 1930's or the first one techniclly for sale to the public. To others it would be the first "dual" motor upright. To some they say to-may-toe, to some they say toe-mah-to. You can decide what you'd like. But looking at it from certain aspects, it's a hard thing to ignore and raises an intriguing question. I believe that either 1932?, or 1933? was the first year for the A-W upright with this power-nozzle feature. The nozzle again looked quite similar to the later "early" powerheads and was operated on 110-120 volts. All that I've ever talked to have said, or i've read that they are or were wonderful machines. It's downfall was it's use of a beater bar brushroll like Hoover. Nothing more. The company got sued by Hoover, Air-Way dropped their uprights, and concentrated on the canister Sanitizor models. Period. Next paragraph.
Lewyt Corporation, out of Long Island City, New York had the next advance down in practice and in theroy during most of the 1950's. First they offered a manually powered carpet brush thing around 1952-3 area, which was I suppose a carpet sweeper that attached right to the suction wand. It could be used with or without the machine. I suppose, and you may think so too, that this can't technically considered a "power" brush or nozzle, but was a definite step in the evolution of their later concoction. This was offered on their round pot style models. I never see any ads of honorable mentions of the device after 1955 when the "Big-Wheel" models debuted.
I know very little about Electrolux's development of their PowerNozzle. It would be great if Charles Richard could furnish us witha more knowledgeable insight into Electrolux's powernozzle development, but in any case 1957 also seems right to me as well as the introductory dater for their wonderful PN-1 PowerNozzle option. So chronologically this comes next.Their system thankfully was a true 110/120 volt system, which became the norm, yet it used somewhat cumbersome wiring along the wands and hose to get the power out to the motor. However it was a immediatly popular option. There was nothing outlandish about it's design, except for that it offered the wonderful gear belt, that now seems to be the industry wide standard. This is possibly why it became an Electrolux owners staple from the get-go... no frills, and it did what it was designed to do...beautifully. This device could possibly be seen as the first "sucessful" option offered to the public. One thing the PN-1 PowerNozzle wasn't standard, and you'd think it would be for the price of en E-lux from those days. This could be seen as an issue...but yet again to some it wouldn't be.
Lewyt comes back again for their second round, and last and most fascinating attempt for their "Big-Wheel" series, off a patent filed in 1955 by a man named Hoffmeyer (sp). Lewyt's system was "different" from the rest of those who brought their's out before or thereafter by offering a interesting 24 volt power system to operate their device, which was described fully elsewhere in posting. Briefly described, this system when offered, operated thru a quite unique power step down arangement, thru windings in the motor to provide 24 volts for the Beater Sweeper. What this arrangement also provided for the end user was a true "electrically powered" brush nozzle, and also offered a more user-friendly cordless hose and wand arrangement unlike other types being introduced. The powerhead was also the very first to offer a headlight and offered again a "unique" gear driven brush arrangement. In regards to the headlight, it would be the last one offered until Sears-Kenmore re-introduced it sometime in the early 60's.Lewyt's "Electronic Beater-Sweeper" was a complete machine that was formally introduced during 1958 and was sold until 1960 or 61. This in effect can be considered the first Power-Nozzle canister that you diddn't have to pay two seperate amounts to obtain the whole package. Thier Electronic model failed tho for a VERY serious reason. Lewyt's offering was an electrical nightmare of "Rube Goldberg" proportions. It ruined the company as has been stated elsewhere from many users across the land being electrocuted during use.The sytems unique electrical system frequently shorted out in operation due to grounding out of the step down power transformer to provide the 24 volt power setup. Frequently the machine would send quite alot of power to the metal wands which were part of the electrical circuit to zap you silly. Or at least you got a fat lawsuit check. Hence this system failed.
Was this one the first? Some say Mel-k, some say Mill-k.
Whirlpool/Kenmore also brought out their PowerBrush/PowerMate systems during 1958 and 1959 respectivly. Both had a similar system as Electrolux, and it was made the most popular by Sears Roebuck and Company, going thru hoops, over hurdles and thru rings of fire to make it so. It also was nothing special in the innovation department, but also offered a true powerbursh arrangement for consumers to choose. Innovation came with the immersion of the power wiring inside the hose and the aforementioned addition of a headlight somewhere in the early 60's.The 1958 Whirlpool version had the electric wire outside the hose, and seems to have been sold as a complete package also. There were different models of course, where you could select not to have the PowerBrush. The 1961 brochure I have shows the RCA Whirlpool Mark XII home cleaner, with the wiring now integrated into the hose.Sears Kenmore offered their "PowerMate" brushroll starting in late 1958 and definitly during 1959. You could get the P-M with three different versions, Going from the Lady Kenmore Ken-Cart version, thru the Horizon and I believe the Saturn. It was like an $80 option tho. They offered all three machines with a standard straight suction toolset, PowerMate optional.
Would this be considered the first? Commercially sucessful yes, but in order no...
Personally I feel that:
1. The Electrolux wins in proper operation.
2. The Air-Way wins in first sucessful Power Head on an upright on the market.
3. The Lewyt Wins in being the first to be an all inclusive model, albeit the shocks some recieved.
4. Whirlpool/Kenmore win in popularity by the public.
What do you all think.....???
It's all a matter of opinion
Chad
