Tech Talk: The Pre-Electric Vacuum Cleaners of the Early 20th Century

This Tech Talk will focus on the myriad of fascinating pre-electric vacuum cleaners that burst onto the market starting around 1905, and lasting for about 10 years before being supplanted by electric models. Because vacuum cleaners were a brand new concept at this time, inventors crawled out of the woodworks to try their hand at breaking into this exciting new technology. As a result, many different, and sometimes odd, designs emerged. A number of these early vacuum cleaners, some of them extremely rare, have been fully restored, and are on display at the museum. This talk will focus on the history, design, and function of these different models, and will include demonstrations of the machines in action.
Dave Fox is a semi-retired electrical engineer who enjoys restoring antique mechanical devices back to working order in his spare time. He is attracted to both the beauty of their design as well as the simplicity of their function. Among other types of devices, antique manual vacuum cleaners are one of his favorites. Restoration of these devices is truly a labor of love, with the ultimate goal of returning these devices to their original splendor, as well as making them functional again in order to truly understand how they worked, and bring back to life both the sights and sounds of these devices in action.
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[@chandlerdempsey8412]

Very nice video. Thank you!

[@pennsygal5953]

That Kotten one is incredible. Looks like something Nintendo might want to bring back. The Wii Fit + Clean.

[@markrich7693]

There were identical models just like it before Kotten at the time as it what I did learned myself probably

[@RamPMonyPers]

The Little Wonder was manufactured by the Beck Manufacturing Company of New York and West Haven Connecticut.

[@wavygravydavymrhonest4408]

Thanks for your response and interest. The little wonder that you refer to was a hand pump stick vacuum cleaner which is different than the one in this video.

[@marknahabedian1803]

I wonder if any of these vacuums were strong enough to pick up a small coin.

[@wavygravydavymrhonest4408]

In general, these early vacuum cleaners weren't overly powerful. They were designed to pick up dust. The diameter of the hoses and fixtures were small in order to increase the suction, and therefore would not accommodate larger objects passing through. However, the sweepers were very good at picking up objects. While most of the sweepers didn't have vacuums, there were indeed models designed with vacuum to help collect any dust.

[@markrich7693]

I’m not going to be respectful unless I see all the vacuum cleaners