The Vintage Hoover Emporium

Model 543 was essentially Model 541, but fitted with Hoover's new Agitator. It also featured a bag made of the new, more durable 'Ronac' material, supported at the top by the patented bag spreader device.

Model 543 was the last Hoover cleaner with bearings which required regular manual oiling by the user. The same 1.9amp unit as used on Model 541, it lacked sufficient power to cope with the new Agitator, and as a result, was not a particularly efficient cleaner.

The 543 sold at £13.13.0, tools costing £3.3.0 extra. In today's money, a Model 543 with tools would cost £670.

Model 543s manual is shown below:

The Model 575 was little more than a Model 700 with a new bag design and a black enamel-painted motor shell. Rated at 230w, the motor was a more powerful version of the sealed, ball-bearing unit used on Model 700. Its fan had 12 blades, compared to Model 700s 8. 

Model 575 was the cheaper alternative to the deluxe Model 725. It was the last of the Hoover uprights to have a unpolished finish to its aluminium chassis. It was also the last to use the bag-spreader design.

'This is the greatest economy-Hoover ever built, offering Positive Agitation at a lower price than ever before. More efficient, lighter in weight, more attractive.'

The economy Model 425 was Hoover's first all-new cleaner in over a decade. It was redesigned from the wheels upwards, with a new chassis, a new Agitator, and a new centrally-mounted one-speed 210w (later 240w) motor, covered by a separate metal hood. These modifications made it lighter than any previous Hoover model - at 7.7kg, it weighed nearly a kilogram less than its more deluxe brother, Model 750.

For the first time, too, was Hoover's use of a flat drivebelt. This feature wouldn't be used again until the late 1960s. Late production 425s were fitted with round drivebelts, and many flat-belt 425s were converted later in their lives to make use of the more readily available round belts.

 In America, a 'Hedlite' lamp could be added as a $5 option.

The toolkit for this cleaner is especially rare, as the tool converter was unique to the 425.

 The photo below shows Model 425s unique flat-belt setup. Photo courtesy of Jeff Parker.

Model 450 was essentially a restyled Model 425. It had one main improvement - the addition of the new Dirt Finder headlamp, which shone out from under a motor cap styled with a streamlined Art Deco flourish. This styling touch brought it in line with its more expensive brother-models 800 and 925.

Underneath the cleaner, the baseplate was smaller than that of the 425, and the tool converter was modified to allow for the slightly lower locking-latch.

'It Lights...as it Beats...as it Sweeps...as it Cleans'

Model 475 differed from the machine it replaced only in terms of styling. The waterfall badge and streamlined motor cap were the work of Henry Dreyfuss, and mirrored those of  deluxe Model 825. However, the motor cap lacked the light-up Hoover logo featured on the deluxe machine. 

Late UK versions of Model 475 came with a bakelite motor cap and height-adjuster knob.

Later American-made 475s had very similar bag graphics, but the font used for the 'The Hoover' legend was of the more modern kind seen on Models 150 and 160. They were also followed with the famous slogan, 'It Beats as it Sweeps as it Cleans'.

At £16.16.0d, and £3.03.0d for dusting tools, a complete Model 475 ensemble would cost £932 in modern currency.

Below is the almost-complete ensemble, including its original box:

 Both the American and English manuals are shown below:

The Model 875 is one of the rarest of the pre-war Hoover uprights, as it was only built for about 6 months before the introduction of its all-new replacement, the Model 262. The 4-digit serial number suggests that very few - the figure's probably in the low thousands - were produced in its short production run. 

It was introduced in 1938 at the start of Hoover's first major re-vamp of their model ranges. Although it was based on the Deluxe Model 825, it was actually used as a replacement for the Popular-Priced Model 475 (the 825's Deluxe replacement was the all-new Model 160 Cleaning Ensemble).  

Essentially a hybrid of the 825 and the 160/262-style machines, it retained the basic design of the 700/800 series machines, but also utilised the newl aesthetic style of it's successors: The bag was sourced from the 160, whilst the was painted the same colour as that of the 160. It was complimented with stratosphere blue trim, to match Model 160.

The 875s motor cap was of dark brown phenol plastic, rather than polished or painted aluminium. The 1-speed motor was 310w, slightly less powerful than the 360w 825, in order to create a clearer sales incentive for customers choosing between the 875 and 160.

Advert from 1938, showing how the Model 875 fit into the model lineup before being replaced by the Model 262.

Like the Model 160 Cleaning Ensemble, the Model 262 was designed by Henry Dreyfuss, based on the US Model 26. It bought in a totally new, modern form in vacuum cleaner design. Lighter in weight than the 160, it was the mid-range model, in between the 160 and the budget-priced Junior 375.

Streamlined and as simple as possible, it did away with any unnecessary design details, covering all the componants in a chassis made of mangnesium, one-third lighter than aluminium. The motor cowl was phenolic resin, and came in two finishes - early machines had plain brown bakelite, as pictured above, while later examples had tortoise-shell mottled bakelite, as did early versions of the 262's successor, the Deluxe 612. Two different bag materials and trim colours were used during the 262's production run, as well; early examples had plain brown bags and light brown trim, while later examples had the bag pictured above, and darker brown trim. Unfortunately, the beige wrinkle-finish paint had a tendancy to come away with time, as can be seen above.

Relatively simple machines with a single-speed motor similar to the one used in the 160, they ran at 325w, and were equipped with a headlamp, which shone out through an opening in the motor cowl.

Rare examples of the 262 built in 1939 before WWII halted production have a full-wrap around motor band, while post-war models have a simpler ratings plate on the front of the motor cowl only. Final examples of the 262 were painted in gold hammerite, like the Deluxe 612 which replaced it.

As with the Model 160 Cleaning Ensemble, the 262 featured a vast improvement to the way that the toolkit fitted to the machine. Rather than the fiddly process involved with attaching the hose on older models, Henry Dreyfuss' redesign meant that the tool convertor could be inserted into the side of the machine while the motor was running, taking a matter of seconds, not minutes. The user pressed down on the rear of the chassis as they inserted the convertor, lifting the brushroll off the carpet - the cleaner was then held in this position by the convertor - thus avoiding the brushroll over-brushing the carpet while the cleaner was stationary.

The toolkit included a hose, a large floorbrush, an upholstery brush, a dusting brush, a crevice tool, 2 extention tubes, and a blower port. They fitted together with a simple clip, again an improvement on the older-style fitting. The tools were supplied with a storage caddy to carry them around in - Hoover suggested the user hung this on the door of the room they were cleaning so the toolkit would be near at hand if needed.