On Christmas Day, the upright red Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner I had had for five years died. It made some sort of "noise," and died. I took it apart, and did an anatomical inspection, finding nothing amiss.
However, since it had cost me only $4.95 used five years ago, I figured, okay, just chuck it and find another used one. So I chucked it.
And then that irksome phenomenon occurred. Whenever one isn't looking for something, the thrift stores are congested with that thing. But then when one needs it, the thrift stores don't have any.
Being a paripatetic person, it's not a good idea to put a whole lot of bucks into an appliance, because only God knows where I might be five or six months later, and the different circumstances might not be conducive for that appliance. So always best to stick with something used, and cheap, so that if the living conditions change and I don't need the appliance any more, it's not like I dumped a lot of investment into it.
Finally I did find one vacuum cleaner, for $1.99; a hand-held one, but w-a-a-a-a-y larger than contemporary hand-held ones, about two-thirds the size of a contemporary upright vacuum. It worked, and works, great, but with the vast acreage of carpeting in here, I wasn't too enthusiastic about vacuuming on my hands and knees.
In between times, I decided it would be a good idea to get some bags and filters for this. Problem. No bags and filters to be found, as obviously this was something on the market only during the early 1960s.
Someone finally directed me to a vacuum repair place in the big city, and I was surprised. The place had all sorts of supplies and parts for vacuum cleaners going clear back to the original Hoovers, which was long before Herbert Hoover (president 1929-1933); bad joke.
Although "Kirby" was no where to be found on the instrument, the guy immediately identified it as a Kirby, made in Illinois, 1964 model, and opined that it was perhaps one of the best miniature vacuums ever made.
So that was taken care of, but really, I needed to get something more man-sized, where one doesn't have to get down on his hands and knees to clean the carpeting.
For a few more weeks, I haunted the thrift stores, but no vacuums.
So I went back to this paradise of antiquities, and inquired if he had something, used, for sale. Being a tightwad, I didn't want to spend more than forty bucks.
He did; a standard-sized grey Dirt Devil upright, about six years old, bagless, for thirty-two bucks. He kept it for a week to "re-condition" it and to apply a 6-month warranty, and I picked it up today.
I tried it out first thing when I got back home. It picks up everything but the carpeting. I was sorely surprised at how much it picks up. If it's not carpeting, it picks it up.
However, this is a "bagless" model; I never heard of such a thing.
It's odd, having a bagless vacuum cleaner.
Anybody have any experiences with bagless vacuum cleaners? Good or bad?
