Wooden Antique 1915 Sweeper-Vac Vacuum ALL Original

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I got this from the original owner of this neat antique sweeper. He lived in Maine and his mother used it and when the electric ones came out she put it in the attic and it stayed there until I came along. It is a 1915 Sweeper-Vac in near museum condition. Actually it looks better in real life than the pictures. This is a bellows combination sweeper and vacuum using both the revolving "bissell type" brushroll and pneumatic suction. On the back underneath there is a larger drum like wheel with two wooden offset rods that operates a bellows inside to create the suction as you push it back and forth. And also the little wooden framed bag which slides in behind the nozzle is original. Kind of reminds you of a hand held dustbuster except 100 years older...All the pieces are intract and original. The top reads Sweeper-vac (hard to see in the photos. Inside I found the most interesting thing. There is a list (see photo) of all the countries this was patented in. . . . It was made by the PneuVac Co. Boston MA and according to the gold filigree on top the Gold Highest Award for 1915. The gentleman that invented this was Mr. Wright of Massachusetts. He began to experiment on vacuum cleaners, with which he was convinced that housecleaning should be accomplished ( God bless him). In the spring of 1908 he began their manufacture, and this branch was added to the industry which he had already established. Clifford L. Wright, Mr. Wright's second son, was, as soon as his schooling was completed, taken into the business, which shortly after was incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, in 1909, with a capital of $25,000, and with Mr. Wright as president, Henry Harlow Wright as treasurer, and Clifford L. Wright as clerk. In the spring of 1909 the business, which had increased very rapidly, was removed to No. 51 Jackson street, where 28,000 square feet of space were available; and again in 1910, less than twelve months after its establishment, the floor space was more than doubled, so that now there is a total of 58,000 square feet of space occupied and a very modern four-story building devoted to the manufacture. A working force of more than four hundred and fifty people is employed, and seven different styles of vacuum cleaners are made by the company, more than 225,000 of all kinds having been shipped to all parts of the world. At the beginning of the enterprise, arrangements were made with the Pneuvac Company of Boston to dispose of the output of vacuum cleaners throughout the world, covering all parts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, and the Transvaal. As I said, inside the vacuum are the names of those places. The first year's business amounted to $13,000; the second (1908), $33,000; the third, $93,000; the fourth, $112,000; the fifth, $340,000, and closing the fiscal year of 1912-13 in July it was $501,000, this being a phenomenal rate of increase. The model of vacuum cleaner which has been most successful was this one known as the "Sweeper-Vac,”. This type rolled on the floor as a carpet sweeper, and is the result of three years experimenting and the outlay of large sums of money. In March, 1913, an improved model of this was placed on the market, combining the carpet sweeper and vacuum cleaner, which might be used in combination or separately. Patents on this have been applied for in all of the countries previously named. The patents on the vacuum cleaner devices are fifteen United States patents; five foreign patents. There are now twelve applications in foreign countries and seven in the United States. It uses a "refreshing air-process" which sweeps up every particle of dust. And dust, as we all know, is very dangerous. And if you wrote in using the magic words "I wish to see the Sweeper-Vac" - or "Please send further information" - the company would "do the rest." Ideally this would have meant that someone from the Pneuvac Company would turn up at your house and clean all the carpets. I have included the original add (a photo of it) so you can see it/ Advertisement from the Ladies' Home Journal, 1913. To make the machines more useful, bellows were installed in pairs and offset to allow one to open while the other closed. The hand-turned wheels were used to set the bellows into motion. Rear mounted wheels provided the power to a crank shaft that propelled push rods connected to sets of bellows. It worked best when it was pushed rapidly in a back and forth motion, but never could develop enough power to do a thorough cleaning job. This has its original handle and I think the wood might be cherry. I will only charge actual shipping thru Fed ex and I estimate that to be about30-40 dollars.

Item Details

Reference #:
lar9001
Quantity
1
Category
Tools
SubCategory
Department
Antiques (approx100yrs)
Year
1915
Dimensions
(Width x Height X Depth)
x x
Weight
Unknown
Condition
very good
Material