Dr. Tom's Vacuums Sales   Service for the Saint Louis, MO metropolitan area. Selling new and reconditioned vacuum cleaners, maintenance and repair of vacuum cleaners

Dr Tom's Vacuums Sales & Service
5217 Chippewa St. map
St Louis  MO  63109-2355
Call: Dr. Tom The vacuum doctor.
314-645-0126 M-F 10–6, Sat 10–4
Please note our new address.

History of the Vacuum Cleaner

A man's house is his castle - and keeping it clean is a continual chore. Imagine life without the hi-tech cleaning tools available today to ease this task. Before the invention of the vacuum cleaner, rugs had to be removed from the home for thorough cleaning. They were hung over a wall or line and hit repeatedly with a carpet beater to pound out as much dirt as possible. The early nineteenth-century photograph captures a young Chicago boy carrying out this task during cleaning week. Most carpet beaters had wooden or wicker handles with woven cane, wire, willow or metal beating extensions. Other hand-cleaning methods included placing carpet on the snow and walking or jumping over it repeatedly, scattering grated raw potatoes over the carpet and brushing it vigorously with a new broom, or sprinkling water on the carpet before sweeping with a broom. Following the invention of the steam-operated loom, carpets became more affordable and a variety of mechanical cleaning devices began to appear. In 1860, Iowa resident Daniel Hess produced a machine with rotating brushes that he called a carpet sweeper. In 1869, Ives McGaffey patented the whirlwind - a non-electric "sweeping machine" made out of wood and canvas. In 1901, H. Cecil Booth built a large engine-powered vacuum cleaner that was pulled on a cart through London streets. The operator would drag a 100-foot hose into buildings with carpets in need of cleaning. In 1907, Ohio janitor Murray Spangler created a smaller electric version of Booth's machine using a wooden crate, fan motor, broom handle and pillow case. The next year, William H. Hoover purchased the patent rights for his vacuum. This Model O set the standard for all upright cleaners that followed, and thus the Hoover Vacuum Cleaner Company was born. --- from The Library of Congress

Stan Kann shows part of his collection of vintage vacuum cleaners at the first meeting of the Vacuum Collectors Association, held in the St. Louis, MO metro on June 14-17, 2007.