You'll never guess what came in this box!!!

[cb123]

You'll never guess.

 

[cb123]

This might help, just a little.

 

[cb123]

You guessed it! It's a Kirby (1945) 505. This is what she looks like now, after a little spit and polish.

 

[cb123]

A closer look

 

[super-sweeper]

Oh I know!

It's another VACUUM CLEANER, isn't it? 

 


Lovely 505  you've acquired, great job on the polishing!

 

[cb123]

Thanks Alex!

I'll have more photos tomorrow.

 

[electrolux137]

.
.

That's really a stunning find!! I say that as one who deeply admires the really old Kirbys, and there aren't all that many of us old farts running around anymore!

One thing I am wondering about it:

I also have a 505, and my bag is definitely original and definitely the herringbone material that the other black-bag-model Kirbys originally had, whereas the bag on the 505 in these photos is corduroy.

So either there was a crossover of material from herringbone to corduroy during the run of the 505 -- not at all impossible -- or it may be a replacement bag, assuming Kirby offered original-color and original-style bags for the 505 but made of the newer corduroy material when the 508 came out with the new gray corduroy and new angular-shaped bag.

 

[eurekastar]

Nice!!!

 

[loganvac]

Dude thats simply amazing!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Did any of the oldest 505s (specifically those units made before the "Magic Finger" belt lifter was used on the nozzle) have the metal polished Emtor bottom (like with models 2C to 4C)?

~Ben

 

[cb123]

This is what it looked like last Monday.

The 3C and 4C had the black Emptor bottom, same as the 505. The 2C had the narrow metal bottom. Hope this helps.

 

[cb123]

This is the rest of the contents, which I found in the box. The hose, I believe is from the C series.

 

[cb123]

This is the creature still resting in its crate, after I removed the shake-out.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Calem,

Thank you for the heads up... unless someone has an original 3C with the metal Emtor bottom.

~Ben

 

[cb123]

And here's the handgrip, which I was needless to say thrilled to see in any condition.

 

[cb123]

Ben

Sorry, I meant to say that the 3C and 4C were the same size as the 505 and later models, and are metal, not black. A lot of times they are replaced with the black ones.

 

[cb123]

Ben

There's really not that much difference, physically, between a 4C and 505, except on the 4C the top of the bag is sewed shut, metal Emtor bottom and belt lifter.

 

[cb123]

Almost forgot!

Got a lot of things going on at once. Here's the 505 spay gun and 505 pamphlets I've never seen before.

 

[cb123]

Charles

I think, just maybe, quite reasonably, your right! Not on one, but both accounts. It seems to be a much stronger argument, that both bag types were contemporaneous...If, of course, the company wasn't static, but we all know that Kirby was an innovated powerhouse. Here a photo of the 505 and 508.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Calem,

I still believe the 505s that had just a belt cover on the nozzle also had the metal Emtor bottom.

~Ben

 

[packardmanken]

Beautiful job!

How did you polish that so well? Would like to know your process.
I am in Mobile for the evening on business and see that you live here. Could you recommend a restaurant downtown for good seafood?
Any help would be appreciated. I also posted this request on the automaticwasher page.
Thanks, ken

 

[cb123]

Packardmanken

Wintzell's Oyster House, 605 Dauphin St. Mobile Al. Phone# 432-4605. Thanks for the compliment! I use Kirby cutting and polishing compound on my buffing wheel.

 

[cb123]

Ben

Every 505 I've ever seen had a " Magic finger " Even in the instruction booklet it is shown with a black emtor cover. Unless there is a really early version that I'm not aware of, which is not out of the realm of possibilities.

 

[kc_kirby]

Calem, I do believe the early 505's had the cap not the lifter. I bought one several years ago with the cap. I thought it was just one that someone replaced the lifter with the cap but then someone commented on having an early version with the cap. And I have several versions of the 505 manual and some show the cap and some show the lifter. Also, I have never seen a 505 with a metal emtor tray. I do not believe they came with a metal tray. The 505 with the cap I mentioned earlier had a black plastic tray, not metal. And the floor polisher you got I believe came with the early 505's. I have found several 505's with this polisher. I think the removable head version came out later.

 

[electrolux137]

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.


 


The first 505 did indeed come with just a belt-cover cap. The belt lifter was a (major) improvement that came somewhere along the way of the model run.

 

[cb123]

KC Kirby

This belt pulley is from my Kirby 1C, and if the pulley on your 505 looks, something, like this, then you have the early version.

 

[cb123]

KC Kirby

And if it looks like this, then it is the later version. If you can, can you post some photos. Thanks, Calem!

 

[cb123]

Here's a photo of the bottom and 505 tag.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Until the time of the gray Lexan fan used on the Kirby Tradition starting from serial no. G000001 (circa May 1980), the fan and pulley were one piece.

~Ben