Late 1950s Hoover Model 704 Upright Convertable Vacuum Cleaner Found at Goodwill today!

captainclock

Pacifist Otaku
Hello everyone today I found at Goodwill (work) a late 1950s Hoover Model 704 Upright Convertable Vacuum Cleaner that was still in remarkable condition for its age except for a little bit of normal scuff marks from use on the body of the vacuum, even the undercarriage was spotless and rust free and I picked it up for under $10 with my discount.
The remarkable thing about this vacuum is that it still works like a champ and the belts and bags for the vacuum are still available to this day which means that this vacuum is still able to be used even after nearly 60 years.
It even has a head light which still works (after changing out a burnt out bulb).
would love to know a little more about this vacuum and perhaps if there is any collectors value to this thing, I know I looked online and saw a couple of archived ended ebay listings for this vacuum where the vacuums sold for nearly $100 which to me is a lot of money seeing that my job doesn't pay much to begin with. I was thinking about possibly cleaning up the vacuum and maybe selling it but don't know what I should list it at if I do go that way.

Any help, advice or comments welcome.

Thanks,

Levi
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That is fabulous. Ah.. them were the days... I wish I could go back,...
Yeah, this vacuum definitely put my 2013 Kenmore Cannister Vacuum to shame performance wise. I definitely think they made better vacuums back then than they do now, same goes for fans and stereo equipment and radios!
 
I believe you are 10000% right. I believe that the trend continued up until the mid - late 70s....... Right about the time when all the 'free trade' and product dumping on our shores came about.
I was actually happy when I found a 1960s table top fan sitting atop a junk pile during last years clean up week. Took it home. Gave it a cleaning and service and it looks and works as if it was new... Kudos to you and your fabulous find!
Thanks, most of my vintage fans (box fans anyways) were trash picks including 2 that came from the "trash heap" at goodwill were I work, one of them was a 1960s vintage Eskimo box fan with the metal blades and another one was a 1970s vintage Air King box fan also with Metal Blades, and then a 3rd one which also came from the "trash heap" at Goodwill which was a small Sears-Kenmore box fan that had a stand for it which I ended up selling to someone for $30 (I originally paid $3 for it as I did the other 2 because at Goodwill you can't just take stuff from the "trash heap" because it would look like its being stolen so they have to sell it to you) anyways I had also picked from the recycling center near me a 1960s vintage GE 3 speed electrically reversable box fan that was still in good shape cosmetically but needed a new cord so I brought it home, rewired a new cord onto the fan and sure enough the fan worked like a charm but then the motor seized up and the motor in the fan wasn't meant to be serviced so I just had to junk it sadly enough.
 
You never know what you'll find at GW! My grandmother had that same Hoover, she had an orange one if I remember correctly. You might find the vacuum bags at GW too! I've seen all kinds of vacuum bags there.
 
You never know what you'll find at GW! My grandmother had that same Hoover, she had an orange one if I remember correctly. You might find the vacuum bags at GW too! I've seen all kinds of vacuum bags there.
I'll keep my eyes open because unused, unopened vacuum bags come in at the Goodwill where I work every now and then. This vacuum uses a Type D Bag (no not a douche bag, or a dirt bag!), or from what I've seen elsewhere online it seems a Type Z Bag could also be used (it has to be a bag that has the opening on top).
 
I'll keep my eyes open because unused, unopened vacuum bags come in at the Goodwill where I work every now and then. This vacuum uses a Type D Bag (no not a douche bag, or a dirt bag!), or from what I've seen elsewhere online it seems a Type Z Bag could also be used (it has to be a bag that has the opening on top).

Type Z is what my Hoover uses. I find unopened Type Z bags at GW, I grab them all the time when I find them.
 
I love my Eskimo fan and vintage radios, built like tanks.
View attachment 913748
What brand is that radio exactly? I've never seen one like it before. Also I have a couple of late 1940s vintage AM/FM Radios, where the FM band on them is the modern FM band (88-108), one is a Motorola 77XM22 and the other is a Sentinel Model 333 both of which are from 1948, the Motorola has a light finished walnut cabinet and the Sentinel has a Bakelite cabinet like yours does.
 
OP, are you sure it's late 60's?
It really doesn't matter I guess and I'm really not trying to be a jerk.
I had one of those in the late 80's. Same, but pastel blue I believe.
 
What brand is that radio exactly? I've never seen one like it before. Also I have a couple of late 1940s vintage AM/FM Radios, where the FM band on them is the modern FM band (88-108), one is a Motorola 77XM22 and the other is a Sentinel Model 333 both of which are from 1948, the Motorola has a light finished walnut cabinet and the Sentinel has a Bakelite cabinet like yours does.
It is a Truetone radio and judging by the date code on the 6V6GT of 0-39 I believe it was made around 1950.
14927497865661455195540.jpg

I was extremely surprised to find out that it actually had a power transformer. When I got it it was missing the back and the plug in was cut off. I restored the outside but have not touched the electronics yet.
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OP, are you sure it's late 60's?
It really doesn't matter I guess and I'm really not trying to be a jerk.
I had one of those in the late 80's. Same, but pastel blue I believe.
The reason why I said its from the late 1950s is because it uses a universal AC/DC motor which after the 1950s had all but been replaced by AC Only motors because they finally standardized our power grids to AC Power. It was the same way with fans, and radios.
 
It is a Truetone radio and judging by the date code on the 6V6GT of 0-39 I believe it was made around 1950.
View attachment 913809

I was extremely surprised to find out that it actually had a power transformer. When I got it it was missing the back and the plug in was cut off. I restored the outside but have not touched the electronics yet.
View attachment 913814
View attachment 913815
Ah, Trutone, Western Auto's house brand, I once saw an old 1930s vintage Trutone Console radio at the Goodwill I now work at but I had to pass on it because I had no way to get it home at the time. :-(
 
I have a royal 801 and 501 (handheld) from the early 70s....both bought new for commercial apt cleaning duty (for 10+ yrs), and they both still work very well with no major upgrades so far.

Headlight and motor brushes still fine, but have replaced the belts and one of the beater bars (the one on yours looks really clean...not used much?)
Really pretty amazing, given the heavy duty use they got back then.
I dug them out of storage in a 'de-cluttering' fit, expecting to toss, give away or sell, and was suprised at how well they still worked.
Parts and supplies are still available for both, and I will try one of the new HEPA filter bags as soon as the one in there fills up.
Neither seems to have that much value (~$100?).

The funny thing is that I started using the 801 again recently because it's lighter and quieter (!!) than the dyson uprights (20 yrs old now), in spite of being all metal (alum mostly).

Of course, the big dyson could suck the royal inside-out if it tried (hmmm....experiment time?).
(Talk about being able to suck-start a honda!).

And no headlights on the dysons, either - shame on them...in the day of LED lighting? Hard to clean what you can't see - duh.

I only use the royal for a 'quick suck' of dang cat hair on low pile (commercial style) carpeting in the 'cat bathroom' area...it doesn't do very well on thicker pile, which is why I got the dysons to begin with (which, btw, have also been totally maintenance free).
The newest dyson stick vacs out-function (exc.lighting) the royals in every way (the older ones are pretty anemic), but I don't have one in that area, and not going to, either.

'Quieter' is subjective, of course...but I think the dysons' higher RPMs annoys the cats more...tho they run from both equally fast.
Mostly just another bit of respect for the manufacturing abilities 'back in the day'...but time does march on, after all.

Sounds like you got a very good deal.
If the old hoover gets things as clean as you want, and doesn't eat your paycheck alive with 'consumables', use and 'enjoy' it...heck there's even a bit o' nostalgia for the 'mmmmmm' sound it makes, vs the turbine sound of the dysons.
Have fun cleaning!
 
I have a royal 801 and 501 (handheld) from the early 70s....both bought new for commercial apt cleaning duty (for 10+ yrs), and they both still work very well with no major upgrades so far.

Headlight and motor brushes still fine, but have replaced the belts and one of the beater bars (the one on yours looks really clean...not used much?)
Really pretty amazing, given the heavy duty use they got back then.
I dug them out of storage in a 'de-cluttering' fit, expecting to toss, give away or sell, and was suprised at how well they still worked.
Parts and supplies are still available for both, and I will try one of the new HEPA filter bags as soon as the one in there fills up.
Neither seems to have that much value (~$100?).

The funny thing is that I started using the 801 again recently because it's lighter and quieter (!!) than the dyson uprights (20 yrs old now), in spite of being all metal (alum mostly).

Of course, the big dyson could suck the royal inside-out if it tried (hmmm....experiment time?).
(Talk about being able to suck-start a honda!).

And no headlights on the dysons, either - shame on them...in the day of LED lighting? Hard to clean what you can't see - duh.

I only use the royal for a 'quick suck' of dang cat hair on low pile (commercial style) carpeting in the 'cat bathroom' area...it doesn't do very well on thicker pile, which is why I got the dysons to begin with (which, btw, have also been totally maintenance free).
The newest dyson stick vacs out-function (exc.lighting) the royals in every way (the older ones are pretty anemic), but I don't have one in that area, and not going to, either.

'Quieter' is subjective, of course...but I think the dysons' higher RPMs annoys the cats more...tho they run from both equally fast.
Mostly just another bit of respect for the manufacturing abilities 'back in the day'...but time does march on, after all.

Sounds like you got a very good deal.
If the old hoover gets things as clean as you want, and doesn't eat your paycheck alive with 'consumables', use and 'enjoy' it...heck there's even a bit o' nostalgia for the 'mmmmmm' sound it makes, vs the turbine sound of the dysons.
Have fun cleaning!

I use a Dyson DC14 Upright vacuum at work to clean the carpet in the entry way and the beater bar on the thing quit working and I think its the belt that's bad.
But for some reason or another in order to replace the belt on the DC14 Dyson you have to take it comepletely apart to get to the belt to replace it which is kind of counterintuitive to me when most traditional vacuums just remove a small panel with two finger latches and then pop the old belt off and then pop the panel back on and you're good to go whereas with the Dyson's you have to remove several Torques head screws and then pop the entire bottom assembly out and then take the belt out pop the new one in place and then put the unit back together and you have to make sure the belt is on the beater bar properly or else it won't work right, which like I said its very counterintuitive.
 
Yah, doesn't suprise me - the little 'open'er upping' I've done on my 'fleet' of dysons (upright DC07 is the oldest) certainly revealed a lot of 'totally unintuitive/inscrutible' repair/access techniques...(getting more and more common with Everything nowadays).
Good to know about the belt thing tho - it's on my todo list to look into a new beater bar for the 07, have never even looked at it - ever!
Will definitely keep your post info for the future! (Huh...it just dawned on me that their model numbers are YEARS! - D'oh.)
Belt change on the Royal is maybe 30 seconds, if that...and since they seem to come in mulitples per bag, I probably have spares for a lifetime yet!
As much as I like the dysons I have (esp the new, really powerful cordless sticks), I don't think I would spec them for commercial duty.
My stepdaughter did commercial cleaning for years, and said that company wouldn't even consider using dysons, but for home use they hit the mark dead on for me.
Thanks for the tips!
 
My parents still have the ancient blue ufo shaped hoover, use it to clean out the cars. Outperforms the 5hp shop vac.

Those old hoovers are amazing.
 
Thanks, I think Hoover is probably one of the last of the orginal American Vacuum Manufacturers that's still in business to this day and that still makes a decent vacuum yet, (besides Royal/Dirt Devil).
 
I had one like this with the blue cover. It worked until about five years ago when the belt broke. The thing sounded like a jet engine.
 
I had one like this with the blue cover. It worked until about five years ago when the belt broke. The thing sounded like a jet engine.
Well actually your vacuum isn't a total loss, the belt this vacuum takes is still made because its a standard vacuum belt for Hoover, you could get your vacuum up and running again for less than $5.
 
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