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/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl General >> Vacuum Cleaner Forum >> They sure don't make like they used to . . . /cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1178999446 Message started by guess_who on 05/12/07 at 3:50pm |
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Title: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by guess_who on 05/12/07 at 3:50pm Hi, Usually good word of mouth comes for a vacuum someone's had for ten or twenty years. This gentleman's vacuum has been in the family for seventy-one. Link is as follows: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=454170&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490 Regards, Venson |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Carmine_Difazio on 05/12/07 at 4:15pm Hey Venson: For us old-timers, we might say this old British vacuum looks remarkably like the USA Electrolux X11. Even down to the runners, hinges and bakelite couplings on the machine ends. Back then it was viewed as praise and respect to "copy" a competitor's innovations. Today you'd end up in court and paying a outrageous settlement amount for patent infringement. BTW, glad to see the Supreme Court of the US recently relax interpretation of copyright laws giving more latitude to imitators and copiers (who are just keeping pace with the technological developments of the industry--like headlights, two way switches, paper bags and cordwinders.) Carmine D. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by old-timer on 05/12/07 at 4:42pm model 12, 1930-1937. The predicesor to the XXX,or model 30 for us old guy's.The last electrolux made with a screw in hose end,the switch was also unique for it's day. Really dont have any numbers on many units were sold in the U.S.A.[maybe someone can help out]? This machine was probably in the $50.00 to$ 75.00 range. O.T. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Carmine_Difazio on 05/12/07 at 5:28pm old-timer wrote:
Hello Jimmy P/OT Did you want the number I sold (lux X11's)? Or the total sold? ;) Even the shape and the color is the same as the Lux 12: Brown leather skin around a cylinder body. In the 50's, I sold rebuilt Lux XXX's with one year guarantee for $34.95-$39.95 (bread and butter tank seller with HOOVER 28's as the upright rebuilt winner for the same prices). I used rebuilt Lux X11's in newspaper ads for $14.95 as a leader for the rebuilt 30's. :) Could fetch as much as $48.50 plus with a Preco power brush, which was about the price ($48.50) that Lux sold the rebuilt 30's for in those days (w/o the Preco power brush). (If my memory serves me correctly!). Carmine D. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by old-timer on 05/12/07 at 6:11pm Hi Carmine,you know what you said about the modelXXX,is funny,when the family had the vac shops,the old reliable combo was about the same as yours.In the late 60's early 70's the best bang for the buck was the hoover covertible $69.95,no headlite, and 89.95 for the deluxe covertible with the headlite and tools.I'm trying to remember the models ,does the 728 deluxe sound rite?and for the strait suction above the floor cleaner we always sold the rebuilt lux's,it was quite the combo for under 150.00. B.T.W. how did you do with royal?. Do you have the sales figures on the lux 11 and 12's.? The numbers on the XXX,must have been phenominal,what was the production run from 1937 to 1954? O.T. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Carmine_Difazio on 05/12/07 at 10:22pm Jimmy P: HOOVER used the 60 series of consecutive numbers up through the model 70 for Deluxes (of course 31, 31 etc for standards). Then in the late 60's even used a 3 digit model number like the 707? (I think). It was a cross between the deluxe and standard model. Tan base and blue top. Then it went to 4 digit convertible models for deluxe and standard: 1010, 1020, etc like the Dials. I did nothing with Royals except rebuilts. Except for the mighty all metal handcleaner. Sold alot new. Same with Kirby--just rebuilts. Filter Queen, Air-Way, Luxes, all sold as rebuilts. Not new. Nothing with new Orecks except parts and repairs. HOOVER, EUREKA, and Panasonic were the new vacuum sellers. A lock on the market. Even did a short sprint with new Westinghouse canns in the late 50's and early 60's. Worse cann on the market at time. But brought the line in due to the salesman: Young college grad who worked for HOOVER, got fired and went to work for Westinghouse. So I added the Westinghouse line: vacuums, radios, fans, small appliances. Sold it all. Made money. Everybody happy! Carmine D. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Trilobite on 05/13/07 at 8:03am Electrolux of Sweden certainly provided the original design of cylinder cleaner that everybody else copied to death. But Goblin copied upright designs too: the agitator beating action was known as 'Flo-beat' in Goblin-speak. The Goblin name has virtually disappeared. It was connected with Morphy Richards for a period of time, but I haven't seen the name in over 5 years now. The Goblin cleaners always looked flimsy in comparison to the Hoover machines. Where Hoover would mould the body shell in one piece, or use hidden fixtures etc, Goblin used visible screws and rivets. Where Hoover would use double-stretchable hose for the tools and a properly attached tool converter, Goblin used short plastiflex hose and a push-fit converter that was easily pulled out. Absolutely horrible, in my opinion! A friend's daughter had a Goblin "Commander" upright (a vague copy of the UK Hoover "Turbopower" Series), from the early 1990's. It was a piece of nuts: it couldn't suck up the larger pieces of grit. The suction power was non-existant. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by old-timer on 05/13/07 at 10:15am Hi Carmine,I dont know about your area,but in our neck of the woods there were always loads of shetland lewyts,and sunbeams,always canisters coming in for repairs. My first repair as a kid breaking into the family business was replacing a hose on a sunbeam courier.Do you remember the double rubber hoses? Yes the cloth ones,then went to the vinyl type. The hose was $7.77 with the sales tax. Dont you find it a little strange that hoovers and eureka's etc, still can market an upright for 59.95.It seems like the prices have not changed since 1965...... O.T. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Vacuumfreeeke on 05/13/07 at 11:29am They sure don't! And getting worse all the time! When Hoover and dirt devil are owned by the same company, there's a problem somewhere! |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Carmine_Difazio on 05/13/07 at 1:46pm old-timer wrote:
I agree GE, Shetland, Lewyt canns. Parts and service. The double rubber end cloth hoses were wonderful. Better than original equipment from the manufacturer. Didn't need the rubber cuffs off the old hose ends. Sold them for $6.00 before tax in my neck of the woods with the labor for changing the hose ends. The $39 cann and $59 upright were staples for HOOVER and Eureka in the 60's and beyond. Why? You know. They (HOOVER and Eureka) made the decision to kow tow to the big box retailers (at the expense of the indy's) and had to do it with the cheap prices on new vacuums. It got to the point where the new (60's) HOOVER and Eureka canns complete were cheaper to sell than the new deluxe attachments for the HOOVER uprights. Sold new HOOVER convertible uprights and Eureka uprights w/o attachments with new HOOVER canns and/or Eureka canns complete in lieu of the attachments for the uprights. Carmine D. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by guess_who on 05/18/07 at 2:04pm And stories of the Great Goblin continue in the UK . . . Check out the comments following the article. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/18/nhoover18.xml Venson |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Trilobite on 05/22/07 at 8:17am Speaking of Goblin cleaners... Back in 1997-98, the was a fictional drama series broadcast on ITV, called "The Grand". This was created/written by Russell T. Davies, current executive producer of the resurrected "Dr. Who" series, and told of the trials and tribulations of a hotel being run in the early 1900's. One of the episodes featured the chambermaids being ordered to learn the operation of the new Goblin upright cleaners. These were cloth bag machines, but only used suction: there was no agitator. The agitator concept would have been copyright of Hoover. The cleaners were plugged into the overhead pendant light socket, but one chambermaid was over zealous with her back 'n' forth cleaning action, and pulled the electrical fixture down - plaster and all! The BBC period comedy "You Rang M'Lord?" also features Goblin, but in this occasion the cleaner is a cylinder, and reference is made to 'the man from Goblin', arriving at a certain time of day. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by old-timer on 05/22/07 at 12:44pm And stories of the Great Goblin continue in the UK . . . Check out the comments following the article. Venson[/quote] And all this time i thought the gobblin was something to drink out of. :D \ O.T. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by guess_who on 05/22/07 at 9:06pm Well O.T., to be truthful, I was wondering if it got the name because it was good for gobblin' up dirt. Best, Venson |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Trilobite on 05/24/07 at 9:26pm old-timer wrote:
And all this time i thought the gobblin was something to drink out of. :D \ O.T.[/quote] I rather think you mean "goblet". I believe the trademark of Goblin (in the early days), was an illustration of a goblin (of elves, imps, fairies, etc). Goblin also made the "Teasmaid", a combination of bedside alarm-clock and kettle/teapot. |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by guess_who on 05/25/07 at 2:16am Hi Trilobite, Was the Teasmaid as popular a device as the vacuum? Regards, Venson |
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Title: Re: They sure don't make like they used to . . . Post by Trilobite on 05/28/07 at 7:38pm guess_who wrote:
Hello, Twenty to thirty years ago, a "teasmaid" literally meant the Goblin version. And they were quite popular. Goblin may have been decent for cleaners during the early part of last century, but latterly they were making machines that had rather basic designs. Hoover made the reliable uprights; Electrolux made the better cylinders. I have an aunt who has a 1970's Goblin cylinder cleaner, still uses it every other day - and the blinkin' thing will not break down! My uncle says the machine only needs very basic maintenance. I think it uses a cloth bag. I'm inclined to think that the modern cleaners 'burn bright, and die quickly', whereas the older low powered ones will go on forever. |
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