This "sucks"... the Hoover And Other Vintage Vacuum Cleaners

[RetroToday]

Wow! What a neat shop! That door on the place is really amazing! It's rare to find any older shops here with the original or older doors. Most have all upgraded in the 70s or 80s to those ugly aluminum boring generic doors and windows.

The inside looks like a real repair shop... all a mess to some degree! The little museum looks like part of the collection a friend of mine has.

This toaster is quite unique. The orange/yellow pieces on this model are made of Catalin it appears, an early plastic that was popular in the mid 30s all the way into the 50s.

That toaster is from the 30s, could be up to the mid 30s. "Flop door" or "Swing door" toasters most think were only made in the beginning of electric toasters to the advent of the pop-up toasters in 1930 or so. "Flop door" toasters were made into the 40s! And this one with the cut outs in the doors indicate to be an earlier model however, most appliances and the design of such in Canada (no offence to Canadians of course) took a little longer to evolve then that of the appliances made in the states.

I'm excited to see the Betty back in business! If you wanted to get her all shined up, get your self a can of Mother's Polish at a local auto parts store and go to town on it... it's amazing! That's what I use on every metal thing I own... and the Hoover of course!

Thanks so much for the Mother's Polish recommendation FM, best advice I've gotten for some time now! :eusa_clap
As soon as I saw your post I ran over to Canadian Tire and grabbed their Incredible Billet Polish. It is amazing on this surface!!! I stopped to give my arm a break from polishing the vacuum motor and wrote this post. Excited to finish it.

Also, I'm happy you weren't upset about me going a little overboard on the photos of the shop, not my intention to hijack the thread.

The people there were very nice. Even though they were bailing out the basement from a leak the night before (tons of rain here lately, btw) they still helped me out and were so accommodating of my questions and getting in their way to take pics. It was a mess in there, but I think it was a little messier than usual because they were doing their best to salvage anything sensitive that had water fall onto it overnight.

Like you, I thought that toaster was special too - which is why I took a photo of just that one on its own. Haven't seen one before with anything but black or brown bakelite attachments. Thought it might be Catalin too, but I'm used to Catalin having an almost translucent appearance, this seemed very opague. Maybe those orange parts are "Plaskon" or some other early experimental form of coloured plastic.

BTW, No offense taken about the Canada comment, it's very true. Even as a kid I remember seeing US television commercials for many cool new things, but they weren't available here until months after the fact, or not at all! :eusa_doh:

Can't wait to see the progress on your Hoover, er, oh yeah, now it's Hoovers!

Here's the re-assembled Beatty vacuum motor with wheels and nozzle, before polishing...

You can see other angles of the Beatty at this stage of progress here

 

[Forgotten Man]

Me up set for a slew of photos of a shop I wanted to see? Dear Sir, that’s silly!

You’ve had some rain up there eh? Well, I recall the down pours of Canada! I recall being in Winnipeg and it rain so bad that it washed out the roads back to Fort Frances Ontario where I was staying at the time. It took days to allow road crews to repair some of the roads after the water recessed… the Red River was just about to over flow too… it was a mess! And I miss Canadian Tire… those stores are quite fun, lots of neat stuff… when I told friends and family in CA about Canadian Tire I’d describe it as being like a Home Depot that collided with a Wal*Mart. lol

I can’t wait to see photos of the Beatty all polished up! I looked at the other photos you have on Fliker… pretty cool stuff! I must say, you’ve got a healthy collection!

Soon I’ll post photos of the second 700 Hoover… she’s lookin’ ok. I need to find some time to strip the handle and repaint it black soon!

 

[RetroToday]

I can’t wait to see photos of the Beatty all polished up! I looked at the other photos you have on Fliker… pretty cool stuff! I must say, you’ve got a healthy collection!

Soon I’ll post photos of the second 700 Hoover… she’s lookin’ ok. I need to find some time to strip the handle and repaint it black soon!

Thanks FM for the kind comment about the collection. I built it little by little over time, each piece has forced me to learn a lot about this old stuff along the way.
Will keep my eye out for your Hoovers.

Here you go, new pics of the vacuum, pre and post polish.

Before Mothers polish

After Mothers polish

I polished and buffed it a lot. Still not perfect, but it did sit in an attic for probably 50 years! There's still a slight mottled pattern throughout the finish, I'm hoping it's not really deep.

In the house it looks amazing but in the direct sun you can see the problem (photo below). I don't believe I'll have any reason to be vacuuming with it outside, so maybe it really isn't a problem.
Maybe the finish is just 'tired'?

As you can see, the motor half turned out a little better than the front nozzle/wheeled part.

 

[scotrace]

You might need some buffing compound and a wheel to get the rest of it shined up like a mirror. If you take the rest of it to someplace that does buffing, such as a plater (chrome, etc), you may be able to have it done for a very fair price.
Or you can undertake it yourself with some time and elbow grease. Try some automotive rubbing compound for a bit (on the underside first) and see if that doesn't work through the debris scratches a little more easily. Then you can follow again with Mothers, Simichrome, or another final polish designed for metal.

It looks really good now though, I think! DANG I gotta get me an old Hoover!!

 

[Forgotten Man]

:eusa_clap LOOKIN' SHARP!!!

I polished up the Hoover like, oh geez, something like 4 times to get a good shine... and there are still scratches and such in the aluminum. These machines were abused... Some more then others. Going under sofas and chairs or beds... over 80 years of use it's amazing we have them!

On a page of one man's vacuum collection, the guy talks about the process that takes place to give them a "like new" shine. They have to do a lot of sanding to get the scratches out... it can be tough to not sand too much to alter the shape. Wet sending with a fine grade to a finer grade is also wise. I did that on one of mine and it helped it a bit. I may take both of mine to a chromer and see if they can polish it up even more and rid most of the scratches... all in good time!

Your Beaty is becoming a BEAUTY!!! Looking forward to seeing her all together again!

Scott:

These cleaners are contagious! Like I mentioned, before I became friends with my buddy Anthony, I never thought about owning a vintage vacuum cleaner... now I have a few of them and I love using them! How can anyone not love to do a chore with a gleaming shiny hunk of cast aluminum? The sound the Hoovers make is also very special AND they're not too loud! I vacuumed wile talking with a friend last night... they are quiet for a vacuum!

 

[Forgotten Man]

This weekend I plan on sanding down the handle to my first 700 and getting it ready for paint... then when I do, I'll paint it!

I'm going to also work on the other Hoover 700 and see if I can clean it up a bit more... Also, have to do a lot of cleaning and organizing this weekend. And that will involve VACUUMING!!! YAY! lol

 

[RetroToday]

This weekend I plan on sanding down the handle to my first 700 and getting it ready for paint... then when I do, I'll paint it!

I'm going to also work on the other Hoover 700 and see if I can clean it up a bit more... Also, have to do a lot of cleaning and organizing this weekend. And that will involve VACUUMING!!! YAY! lol

Good luck with the sand & paint project FM, I'm sure it will look great once you're through with it. Thanks for the comment on my first polishing effort, I'm going to get a buffing compound like Scott mentioned and give it another try to get rid of that slightly mottled appearance.

Cool to see you also excited to vacuum. lol Most people (myself included) hate vacuuming the house, I'm hoping my old Beatty vacuum will make that chore a little more fun, once it's finished of course.

Keeping my eye out now for attachments that will go with it to make that cleaning experience a little more thorough. I've never seen parts for antique vacuums around here before, but then again I wasn't looking, hopefully there are still some kicking around. Besides people just disposing of the old metal attachments I'm sure the scrap metal drives in WWII eliminated even more.

 

[Forgotten Man]

I never liked vacuuming... in fact, if you ask my folks, they'll tell you that I used to be scared to death of the monsters! Now, that I'm mature (whatever that means) I seem to enjoy the sound these antique machines make and they work rather well... But for me, I don't mind vacuuming so much as long as it's an old Hoover or some fancy machine from the 20s or 30s.

Finding attachments are hard for the Hoover... but, they do surface. However, to find attachments for the Beatty? Gosh, that's going to be tough! Keep your eyes open in antique stores, thrift stores and put out the word that you're looking for such things at vacuum repair shops... you never know what may turn up or who may bring what to where!

The sad thing about the Beatty and finding dusting tools for it is the fact that it is such an off brand and I'm sure only a few are around. Even if you don't find dusting tools for the Beatty, I'm sure you'll enjoy pushing it around the rugs in your home and that the hard to reach places will have to be dealt with a more modern machine... or, you can invest in a vintage canister vacuum and have the two to share the load!

When I got home today, I felt the burn to work on the Hoover... The girl takes a wile to drive home from West LA and I'm home alone for about an hour or two by my self. So, the sun is still up and I decided to go out and knock out the handle... So, I sand it down mostly to bare and then I cleaned it and then gave it it's first coat... came out nice! I'm excited till it's dry and I can go over it real light with a nice fine grade sandpaper to get rid of some of the dust particles in the first coat.

Well, that's what's happening so far, I'll post a photo of the assembled Hoover 700 with it's freshly painted handle and such soon!

 

[Forgotten Man]

Well, I checked on the painted handle this morning and saw that something had bit a part of the handle towards the bottom... I think a cat or a raccoon or something curious as to what this shiny black rod thing is... lol So, I took some steel wool and worked out the scratch and smoothed it out and then re painted... looks good now, and it's hanging off a hook by the cord on the corner of the house! HA!

When it dries a little I'll bring it into the house and let it be alone away from outside critters.

Photos will come when the cord is replaced and is back on the cleaner!

 

[RetroToday]

Well, I checked on the painted handle this morning and saw that something had bit a part of the handle towards the bottom... I think a cat or a raccoon or something curious as to what this shiny black rod thing is... lol ...

If you can catch that critter you just may have an attraction you can make some extra money on.
I can just see it now in my mind's eye, up on the marquee it reads ... "The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Incredible Vacuuming Raccoon" . lol

 

[Forgotten Man]

"The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Incredible Vacuuming Raccoon" . lol

A "Hoovering" Raccoon would be just about the funniest thing I've seen to date! lol

Now, the handle is hanging safely in the house as it dries... All I need now is to get the cord changed and I'll get it back onto the cleaner! Before I painted the handle yesterday I took some time to polish up the metal hooks on the rod that you wrap the cord on... they came out ok, there was a lot of rust dots and they left little spots after I cleaned them... but, it looks much better then they did before. I taped them up and as I did, I noticed something on the on/off switch... there's an "H" on both sides of the flat part of the switch! I mean, Hoover wanted just about every part to say that it's HOOVER! I just can't get over the little details that were put into such small things on appliances back then!

 

[Forgotten Man]

She's almost there...

Well, I came home from work and checked the handle, she was good! Not perfect but, ya know, these things were just sprayed at the factory a few times and left to hang and dry... so, I didn't use any primer just as they didn't then (must be as authentic as possible right ) So, I call up my friend Bill who's got the iron, coffee pot and toaster collection to sink a battleship. I spoke with him about a possible cord for this cleaner... he said that he'll take a stiff drink and go "out back" and see what he can find in his shed (You'd have to know Bill to truly appreciate this) He calls me in 30 minutes and he found a good replacement cord.

So, after dinner we go down to Bills with another friend of ours. He puts on the cord and a plug that he gave me some time ago... an original 1920s HOOVER plug with deco detail! It's also stamped HOOVER on the bottom and you'll see it in the photos. He then offers us all a piece of cake he baked... a unique type of cake containing nuts and bananas with a type of cream cheese frosting... It was called a “hummingbird cake” washed it down with a tall glass of milk and boy was I a happy camper!

Came home late after the cord replacement, cake and two VHS tapes worth of Car Commercials of the 50s and 60s (He always puts those one when anyone comes to visit!) And retired for the night; Got up this morning and put her back together! And here are the photos of such!

She's almost finished! Just need the correct scissor brace bag attachment and the correct bag and she'll be just about 100%!

Enjoy the photos!

 

[RetroToday]

Looks wonderful FM! :eusa_clap Nice work!

The little Hoover brand details are quite nice to see, part of what I love about these older things, attention to detail and quality.
The name placed on all the parts would certainly benefit the aftermarket service people - they could identify parts for Hoovers easily. Certainly helps us today to get them back in one piece!

By the way, I found the following Canadian newspaper advertisement for your Hoover, the 700, as I was doing research on all this old stuff. I found other ads, but this was the only one that showed it from a frontal view, the others tended to mimic the colour ad you posted at the start of this thread.

Canadian Hoovers were built in Hamilton, Ontario - about 45 min. southwest of here, depending on how fast you drive.

I'll send you a higher resolution file if you want a copy.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Thanks!!! Oh and I love that ad! That's really neat! Yes, Hoover did have a factory in Hamilton ON. They were widely used in Canada and especially the UK.

That ad is very unique how it's a nice hand drawn image that is mostly a front on view... how neat is that!

The way so many manufacturers in those days had their name on the smallest of parts would also encourage people to buy genuine HOOVER, Apex, Premier and Eureka parts. I know RCA and many other expensive radio manufacturers always stated in their radio commercials and printed on record sleeves to always use genuine RCA needles or tubes to encourage the customer to spend the few extra cents to buy the factory replacements.

These machines are fun, I just love them!

 

[Forgotten Man]

Ah, a customer!

Now you see Miss Stewart, the HOOVER uses a special patented method for removal of deep embedded dirt, we call it "Positive Agitation" thus, allowing more d.p.m...

D.P.M Mister?

Yes, More Dust Per Minute!

Oh...

Allow me to demonstrate:

 

[RetroToday]

Now you see Miss Stewart, the HOOVER uses a special patented method for removal of deep embedded dirt, we call it "Positive Agitation" thus, allowing more d.p.m...

D.P.M Mister?

Yes, More Dust Per Minute!

Oh...

Allow me to demonstrate:

Wow! Great shot FM, it made my day. :eusa_clap

Miss Stewart looks rather smitten (positively agitated) with the salesman... or is she just in love with the new vacuum? The drama... lol

Love that you snuck the original "The Hoover" logo in on the bag, nice work.

 

[Miss 1940's]

Hey thats meeeee!!! maybe I should change my name to Miss 1928 Hoover lol

Now you see Miss Stewart, the HOOVER uses a special patented method for removal of deep embedded dirt, we call it "Positive Agitation" thus, allowing more d.p.m...

D.P.M Mister?

Yes, More Dust Per Minute!

Oh...

Allow me to demonstrate:

 

[Forgotten Man]

lol nah, I like your name just fine!

Well, you may if you Beat as you sweep as you clean lol lol lol

I'm sure the HOOVER company never thought in 1928 that these cleaners would still be around and in use! I'm going to see about contacting the HOOVER company and sending them a message and a photo of my cleaner and telling my HOOVER story! Wonder if I'll get an interview? lol

 

[Forgotten Man]

We asked Miss Stewart to see what "Positive Agitation" can do for her rugs. With "Positive Agitation" rugs will last longer and with more d.p.m. (dust per minute) rugs are cleaned deeper thus, removing harmful dust particles that wear down fibers in your rugs!

The HOOVER

"It Beats... As it sweeps... As it cleans"

 

[jamespowers]

I am sure women just went around vacuuming dressed like that in 1928.
Great add copy and picture. That Hoover is looking pretty good now---or maybe its the person using it who makes it look better.