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Vintage Electrolux ashtray from Atomic Warehouse

pam kueber - Updated: January 21, 2010

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

A vintage Electrolux vacuum cleaner … muse for this 1950s ashtray. Seems like true love to me. $120 at Atomic Warehouse.

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  1. Joe Felice says

    That is too cool! We had that vacuum cleaner! And I have owned Electrolux vacuums ever since. I’ll bet, if we still had that model, it would still work! Today’s Electrolux vacuums are no longer made by the same company; they just own the name. The real Electrolux is now Aerus. There is a Chinese company that makes a knock-off of the ’50s model, but I am told it is extremely cheap and doesn’t work well. Why am I not surprised? We’ve sold our souls to, first the Japanese, then the Chinese, and still haven’t learned.

  5. Patrick Coffey says

    The vacuum on the ashtray is a Model G. The Model G was Electrolux’s top of the line model made from 1961-66 in turqouise and 1967-68 in brown. This machine had the feature where when the bag got full the motor turned off and the bag door opened. It was superceded in 1968 by the boxy model 1205

  7. midmodms says

    We had one of those vacuum cleaners when I was growing up. It was grey and stainless steel, and worked very well. We burned out the motor a couple of times, but my Dad was an electrician, and he just kept repairing it. My Mom used it for decades.

  8. Alex says

    I live five minutes from Atomic Warehouse! I would love the shop a lot more, if one; the prices were better, and 2; if it had better/more hours.

  9. Eucritta says

    I’ve seen ashtrays a bit like this show up on eBay as well, along with little toy models in plastic.

    A few months back I bought an Electrolux XXX off Craigslist, and I’ve been really pleased with how well it works. It’s just fun to use, too.

  10. tailfin says

    My great uncle Ben sold Electrolux vacuums door-to-door in Columbus, Georgia, from the early 1950s until about 1980. He and my aunt had an ashtray very similar to this in their living room when I was growing up. As I recall, their ashtray was more of a hot pink and was larger, but it featured the blue Electrolux canister vac. I have always remembered that ashtray and wondered what happened to it. I’m sure it got tossed to the curb after my aunt’s death in 1984. Thanks for the fun memory!