Comments on: My 1955 vintage Hoover constellation vacuum cleaner

By: atomicbowler-dave

atomicbowler-dave — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:28:58 +0000

Chris-
That mower was called the ‘Flymo’ and it was pretty cool, worked well. I am guessing that the two things to kill it were the fact that it uses a little two-cycle engine (sorta loud, sorta stinky, people have to remember to mix the gas and oil) to save weight…and the whole safety issue of our litigation-happy society. Hard to shroud the thing well (hence the need for the operator to pay attention to where the feet were while mowing! We had a neighbor a few doors down who had one.

By: joe matino

joe matino — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:04:01 +0000

I have my moms orginal Hoover model 28 with all the attachments. The bag is a little faded and would like to replace it with a new orginal one if anyone knows of one let me know. The vacuum works great and plan on keeping it for anouther 50 years.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:05:46 +0000

I have yet to see the floating Constellation at work but hopefully some day. Does anyone remember the floating lawn mower. Seriously, there were no wheels and it floated across the grass. I have seen one operate from a distance and it was pretty cool but I don’t imagine you could adjust the height. There must have been some problem because the idea never lasted.

By: pam kueber

pam kueber — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:25:21 +0000

hi joe, you have such a lucky mrs. what with you buying her vintage vacuum cleaners and all for christmas!

By: pam kueber

pam kueber — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:24:48 +0000

bobkavintage, Thank you for that info on Dreyfuss as designer. Mine is an early model and does not float. but it’s cool anyway. the new ones today apparently do float.

By: sablemable

sablemable — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:14:54 +0000

I’ve seen these around growing up and had forgotten them. My mother had a canister vacuum, but don’t remember the brand.

Does yours still work, Pam?

By: bopkatvintage

bopkatvintage — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:20:48 +0000

I’d also like to point out that it was designed by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. I have a vintage turquoise Constellation that I use to vacuum my vintage store which has a painted concrete floor. It works great, is actually very quiet and people are always amazed by the “floating”. I’ve even had people volunteer to vacuum!

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:33:12 +0000

I almost got the misses a pink Constellation 2 years ago for Christmas but got outbid on FleaBay at the last minute.

By: Trase

Trase — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:16:51 +0000

Oooohhh! I like it! I have an Electrolux out in my pole barn somewhere, with all of the attachments. Your post here is making me want to dig it out. Still, I don’t think it could compare in coolness to a Hoover-Craft…it floats on air! Wowsers!

A friend of mine is also a fan of the vintage Rainbow vacuums, which use water in the tank to contain the dust and debris as you clean. As I understand they are very good for folks, like myself, with allergies and asthma. She has heard that many prefer it over the newfangled HEPA filters in that regard.

But the Constellation has to be the niftiest of them all!

By: sumac sue

sumac sue — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:12:40 +0000

Hey, my mom got one of these round Hoovers — it was yellow — way back in the late 50s or early 60s, and it got passed to me when I got my first apartment in the late ’70s. It wasn’t one of the floating versions. I recall that it cleaned pretty well (my mom would NOT have put up with it if it didn’t do a good job). I used it until I got married in the early 80s, and my husband had a newer, upright model. I really should have kept the Hoover, because the upright was noisier and I got tangled up in the cord more often. But, I assumed newer was better. Oh well, live and learn.