Other Power Nozzles

Since Lewyt introduced it's power nozzle in the 1950's, other vacuum cleaner manufacturers have come up with their own variations of this idea. Here I have a few photos I found on the internet of the more interesting designs I've found. Please feel free to email me if you have any more information about the images here.

To the right is a Kenmore vacuum with a small power nozzle. At first I thought that this was a turbine driven nozzle, as there are no apparent electrical connections on the hose. Closer examination reveals first what looks like a head lamp and further inspection shows what might be motor cooling vents on either side of the nozzle's elbow.

On the left is a photo from an ad for a Whirlpool vacuum cleaner with a strikingly similar power nozzle. Again it is unclear if this is a turbine or electrically powered nozzle, though there does seem to be a cord tucked away in the fork of the nozzle's elbow.

Both of these power nozzles must have been made for the same designs, and perhaps the Kenmore version above was just made for Sears by Whirlpool.

To the right is a set of pictures of another Kenmore vacuum cleaner: Two different "Magicord" models from about the same era.

This is another vacuum cleaner from my childhood memories, of a machine that I remember lived in the upstairs hall closet. I remember we had the model in the second photo down, exactly as it is shown, because I remember the crevice tool slipping neatly into the side of the top cover.

I also remember wondering what the power nozzle was like, as the vacuum had the connector for the power hose, but my folks never bought the upgrade. Searching through the on line auctions for vintage vacuum cleaners I came across these pictures and immediately my memories came rushing back- and a long ago mystery was solved.

After looking at this design, I am kind of glad that my folks never got the upgrade, as the power nozzle shown here (belongs with the vacuum in the top photo) is rather ugly. Since these are so close in design, I assume that both models had similar or exactly the same nozzle, though I may be mistaken.

Looking over the photos I can glean a little information about this design, one that it must have been on the quieter side as it appears to be an all metal housing. The nozzle also has what appears to be either a handle release or power switch, or maybe a carpet height adjustment. It's the little black tab in the back of the nozzle in the third photo down.

The overall design is rather plain and utilitarian, with a very simplistic styling. Of interesting note, though, is that it appears that the wand for this nozzle is one piece, like the early Electrolux power nozzle, and that the power cord for it seems to be threaded up the inside of the wand itself.

The bottom of the nozzle clearly shows a nice, wide opening for the brush roll, which happens to have a beater bar like the Hoover vacuums. There is also visible an edge cleaning channel on one side.

So, overall, this nozzle does have a few good points to it after all, if only is was a different color or had a bit more flare to it.

UPDATE!

Here's another version of this power nozzle, probably a year or two later:

This photo shows the Kenmore PN with an added head lamp and with it's power cord definitely running outside of the wand. again, it is not clear if the power cord was ever inside the wand, or if this may be a replacement.

I also got a better look at the black lever on the back of the nozzle, seen in the photo below, and you can just make out four settings that it opperates. I'm now inclined to beleive that these esettings are for adjusting the nozzles height.

The head lamp seems to have been a simple add on hood with a plastic lens, screwed onto the front of the earlier design.

The top of this power nozzle shows the Olympic Emblem embossed on it so it is probably from arounf 1976 or 1980