You Like Vacuum Sweepers?

[vacuumlad1650]

How did people react to YOU collecting Old Vacuum Sweepers?
Gottahaveahoove, John you MUST tell the story about your cousin

For me
-My Grandparents let me use all their Vacuum Sweepers in their HUGE house
-when i was 5, a teacher from school let me vacuum the living room in her new house
-My 9th grade English teacher thought i was loony so he told my Upperclassmen friends, "Get Andy a life! He spends his time, get THIS, collecting OLD VACUUM'S!" Boy, was i mad!
-I never told the rest of my Friends since I couldnt take getting Embarrassed AGAIN
-The teacher in charge of Stage Crew at school (I was props-master) had me bring vacuum's that were Era Appropriate for Plays and Musicals

I have tons more stories
How about YOU?
Andy Rousonelos

 

[brando_husky]

I think the only people who know I collect are my parents, my brothers and my roommates. Got kinda lucky nobody tried to tease me in front of others growing up.

 

[luxmanmatt]

my big secret...

Is how I would describe it. I grew up in a very traditional household where vacuums were a "woman's toy", not for the men. So, I always avoided the subject with my dad and most other men for that fact. My mom, aunts, and grandmother's always let or even encouraged me to play with their vacuums - maybe because I was doing them a favor by offering to do a chore that they hated. In my house, we grew up with an Electrolux Diamond Jubilee, but all my grandmother's had Lux's ranging from the Model G, Olympia, and Silverado... The Silverado being my all-time favorite because I fell in love with that canister body style! I can still remember seeing the Silverado for the first time as a 3 year old thinking to my innocent self "that vacuum is so lightweight, I can pick that up"... Of course I was wrong and deceived by the rough looking side panels that almost give the canister the look of shiny leather texture, NOT metal! Ha!

Anyway, there are very few people outside my immediate family who know that I love and collect vacuums, one of them being my wife. I basically waited until I was 30 and engaged to her before I shared that I have 6 old Electrolux vacuum cleaners that I consider my ultimate pride and joy - to tinker with and use. It was a sweet confession telling her, and she of course laughed when I told her, but in a very tender "I can't believe you keep this a secret" way. My wife has given me the encouragement to spend some money on collecting, and we have even dedicated a closet and a room in our house to my collection. Other than my wife I have only told one other close friend, and of course it's a non-issue with him too.

My wife and my friend have respected the fact that I carry this shame since I was a kid about collecting. While my Mom and a few of my aunts and my grandmothers were fine with me collecting, my Dad, uncles, and mostly everyone else on his side of the family still give me crap about my habit that I had when I was a kid who "loved sweepers". For some reason I just gag and feel humiliated when they bring it up in that tone.

 

[speedqueen]

Government Class...

I convinced my most lackadaisical teacher to allow me to present a PowerPoint on Kirby models post 5xx(500) series to he class. I had a picture of most models Dual 50 to Avilir omitting g2000 and ultimate keeping just g6 and diamond.

Unfortunately I did not know as much 4 months ago as I do now.

 

[dysonman1]

How do people react to the fact I collect vacuums? I'd say they react with admiration and awe. It's all how you tell them. The first question usually is "why?". Stan Kann (the grandfather of vacuum collecting) was never bothered by it, but actually attained national fame for doing so. I'm certainly not embarrassed by it, since a Museum was built to house my very extensive collection. My collection has been featured on national television, as well as local TV. Many magazine articles have been written, etc. Nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. Hold your head high and tell them 'why' the old sweepers interest you.

 

[blknblu]

I don't know if you have seen this article from a few years back:


 


Vacuum Cleaner Collectors, Furries, and Disco Dogs: What It Means to Belong


http://www.wired.com/2013/07/vacuum...isco-dog-dancers-and-what-it-means-to-belong/

 


<ul class="center metadata marg-b-25 mob-marg-b-sm" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: normal; font-family: ff-oxide-solid-web, OxideSolidOT, oxidesolidot-webfont, HelveticaNeue-Bold, 'Helvetica Neue Bold', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; letter-spacing: 0.08em; text-transform: uppercase; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); line-height: 13px; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1); margin: 0px auto !important 25px auto !important;" tabindex="0">
<li class="byline marg-r-sm inline-block mob-marg-b-sm" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: 0.08em; display: inline-block; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);" tabindex="0"><span class="link-underline-sm marg-r-sm" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">JAKOB SCHILLER </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" tabindex="-1">PHOTO</span></li>
 
<li class="meta-pubdate marg-r-sm inline-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;" tabindex="0"><span class="visually-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; width: 1px;">DATE OF PUBLICATION: 07.08.13.</span><time style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 0.08em; display: block; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);">07.08.13</time></li>
 
<li class="marg-r-sm inline-block" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;" tabindex="0"><span class="visually-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; width: 1px;">TIME OF PUBLICATION: 6:30</span><time style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 0.08em; display: block; transition: color 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1);">
</time></li>
</ul>

 

[brando_husky]

Heh. Interesting take on us furries there. Photographers always seem to find the most bizzare stuff to photograph that completely misrepresented us entirely.

 

[gsheen]

When I was in school many moons ago My friends thought it was odd but then again I am odd, Girlfriends found it weird but their mothers loved the fact that I could fix their vacuum, When I was in high school I started making money from fixing machines then no body blinked a eye anymore. In fact friends started getting work in for me and repping for me too

Nowadays with my shop and all many people still think its odd until I show them the collection , the different designs, the way the designs changed over the years, Then they love it. They are amazed at the different models especially the old ones and then when they see a vacuum like their mom had then they get all emotional.

Then I get phonecalls from customers , "hey Gareth I was out and saw this cool old vacuum can I bring it to you to see ?"

 

[MPN]

Huh, what ? ? ?

and to think I only came here for information regarding my clean/never used Royal Metal Upright Vacuum, given me as a gift in appreciation for a favor helping clean out a $175.00 a month self-storage unit after 9-years of storing $500.00 worth of mostly junk!

This site just goes to show you that EVERYTHING IS COLLECTABLE!

Not quite the prestige of collecting Rolexes, but one helluva lot cheaper if you don't mind years of other people's crud that comes out of old vacuum cleaner collected . . .

I really appreciate the help from members here, but I'll stick with restoring German and Italian cars.

Thanks again everyone, and best of luck with your collections,
Mike

 

[midcenturyfan]

As I have said before on Vacuumland, the majority of people can't understand the concept of collecting. The fact that collectors are often portrayed in a negative light on television does not help. Collecting is confused with hoarding, and seen as some kind of psychiatric disorder.

I have only started collecting vacuum cleaners in recent years, so it was not an issue when I was a child, but in those days I was collecting vintage farm machinery, and that was considered just as strange.

The majority of people seen to be terrified of doing anything that is likely to make them stand out as being different.

Another problem with collecting is that the current fashion is for minimalist interior design, and collections are seen as clutter. A lot of women appear to subscribe to this idea, and are horrified at the idea of anything being kept in the house.

On a more positive note, there are plenty of us who do appreciate collecting vacuums, and we don't want too many people doing it, as it will make it more difficult and expensive for us to get machine for our collections.

Robin.

 

[vacerator]

Robin,

true, but there is collecting, versus hoarding.
I made a few good estate sales this week. I found some really nice Waterford crystal, and some Austrian, and Swedish as well as some more Graf Von Henneberg, and Haviland Bavarian porcelain. I have one display cabinet. I'm not getting a second.
Come May, and it's garage sale time at my house. I also sell at an antique and craft mall and on E-bay.
P.S, Love your classic cars. My dads first new car was a Kelly green and cream 1955 Bel-Air 4 door with a 265 V8 and powerglide.
I think the styling of that era of the Vauxhall Cresta is also nice.

 

[dysonman1]

I always thought 'furries' meant bearded, hairy-chested, daddy-type guys. Who knew it meant something else?

 

[brando_husky]

XD oh dear.... Close but not quite haha. Anthropomorphic animals which people take on as their "inner self". It's a way of life. Some wear costumes (called fursuits). Large conventions all over the world multiple times a year. Thousands in attendance. Always fun. Furs are non judgmental people. We can be anything we want and do whatever we want without worries of being laughed at or criticized because we use our animal characters (fursona) to express ourselves every day.

It's way more complex but yea. Quick rundown I suppose

 

[midcenturyfan]

Thank you for the compliments about the cars Vacerator. The 1950's is my favourite era, although I do collect vehicles from the 1930's to the 1970's.

Going back to the subject of collecting, I don't think the size of the collection is an issue, as long is it is giving pleasure. Some people have so much stuff that it becomes unmanageable, and therefore it is a burden rather than a pleasure. It is also important to be able to look after the items, so that they don't deteriorate. One sees pictures of cars with trees growing through them, that the owner swears they are going to restore one day.

Robin.