The Vintage Hoover Emporium

Hoover's Junior models were the key to the company's huge success in Britain; here was a cleaner that combined all the best features of Hoover's Deluxe and Popular model ranges at a price that was affordable to a much greater segment of the population. However, although lower in price to the larger models, even the Junior was quite expensive; at £10.15.0d, plus £2.02.0d for tools, a complete 370 would cost £513 today - much more than many families would spend on a cleaner even now.

The Junior's compact size meant it was better suited to smaller British homes than the larger models - the 370 and 375 were never sold in America, where Hoover's larger machines best suited the home environment. However, America did get the 115 - the machine on which the UK Junior 119 was based - and later, the Lark Models 12 and 14.

The Junior cleaner offered an alternative to the standard layout of the main componants of Hoover's machines, mounting the motor horizontally, rather than vertically. This was not a new idea, as other manufacturers had been using this layout for almost 30 years, but Hoover perfected the design, adding its world-famous 'Agitator' brushroll. At last, an affordable cleaner of the highest quality was available to the masses. Over the decades that followed, it was subjected to numerous re-styles and redesigns, and a Junior model was included in Hoover's range right up until the early 2000's.

The Junior 370 was the first Junior cleaner Hoover offered, introducting the brand-new componant layout, compact design and high quality which would become the Junior's trademarks in the years to come. It had a 225w motor, and a pedal-release handle. Its design subtly matched that of its sister models, the 450, 800 and 925, making for one of Hoover's most attractive model lineups of the decade. Its removable black and silver oval fan cover matched the very similar badge that decorated the handle bails of Models 800 and 925. It was built for around two years (early 1935-December 1936), before it was subjected to a restyle by Henry Dreyfuss, bringing its styling up to match the larger Hoover Models. This means that a 370 in good condition is a relatively rare find today, compared to the 375, a vast number of which still seem to be in existance!

Here is the 370 with its dusting tools:

Shown below is a picture of the 370 from a Hoover promotional booklet, showing the 370 with its original bag: 

The Junior's first re-style, this model was the first to incorporate phenol plastic casing into it's design. Production began on December 12th 1936.  Mechanically identical to the 370, its was restyled by Henry Dreyfuss to match the Art Deco-inspired streamlined black-stripe design of the 825 and 475, with examples made 1936-39/45 featuring a wide black band down the centre of the front casing, as shown above.

All but the earliest post war machines lacked the black stipe detail. Soon after production resumed in 1945, having been halted in 1939 for the duration of WW2, Hoover did away with the manually-adjustable height selector, instead providing the larger 'self-levelling' wheels, as used on Models 262, 160 and 960. However, some early post-war machines, such as the example pictured below, were made with the adjustable wheels, presumably to use up a backlog of older parts before the new design was introduced.

The 375's toolkit was also updated and simplified, with lightweight 'duralium' exention tubes and crevice tool, and a phenol plastic upholstery brush, which fitted together with a simple rectangular spring clip. Hoover factory-reconditioned 375's were still available for sale in the 1970's, a testament to the quality of these machines. The 375 was succeeded in 1949 by the all-new Junior 119.

The complete Junior 375 ensemble including original box:

Shown below is the patent for Henry Dreyfuss' streamlined, Art Deco restyle of the chassis and motor casing:

This is the UK instruction manual for the pre-war version of the 375:

The 119 was the first total redesign of the Junior, although it was basically very similar in layout to its predecessors. As with the 375, it was the work of Henry Dreyfuss. Styled in gold hammerite and brown bakelite, it matched its more deluxe sister model, the 612. The earliest machines, such as the one in my collection, had lettering in red on the fan cover. After the death of King George, the lettering was changed to gold. The red-lettered machines are much rarer and harder to find nowadays.

Dreyfuss moved the bag from in front of the handle to beside it, and enclosed the front wheels in the chassis, creating a simpler, more functional - although perhaps less elegant - design than that of the 370/375. With a snap-action handle which didn't require a release pedal, and automatic height adjustment, it was so simple there was very little to go wrong, and the 119/1224 proved one of Hoover's most reliable designs. The toolkit fitted in the same way as the 370/375's had.

The complete Junior 119 ensemble:

The Junior 119's instruction manual:

Shown below is Henry Dreyfuss' patent for the Junior 119's chassis and motor casing:

The 1334 was Hoover's 3rd total redesign of the highly popular Junior model - and very likely the work of Henry Dreyfuss. For the first time, all the mechanics were enclosed in a streamlined alloy hood, reminiscent from some angles of the Volkswagen Beetle. It was the first UK Hoover to feature a disposable dust bag, which made disposing of the dirt a much cleaner and more hygenic process. The colour scheme was 'white and rose'.

The 1334 was noticeably shorter in height to the Juniors which had proceeded it; most likely because the new design did not require a 'pitchfork' style handle bail. The new single-speed motor was rated at 250w.

The Emporium's example, pictured here, is a very early production machine, which left the assembly line in December 1958. The coverplate is made of metal; most were made of plastic, which was cheaper to produce, and reduced the overall weight of the cleaner a little. The on/off switch is made of a bright red, rather than burgandy, plastic.

The 1334's dusting tool set included a cleverly-designed converter which removed the drivebelt from the pulley as it was rotated and latched in place. The 1334's tool suction was very respectable for such a small cleaner - far more so than its more expensive brother, the De Luxe 652.