A brand new Suckinator

Last month, we realized it was finally time to bury the vacuum. Or more accurately, I gave it to Maxine, the wonderful woman who cleans our house, so she can use it until they can fork out for a new cannister vacuum of their own.

RIP, dear Electrolux! Or maybe RIPWM... (rest in peace with Maxine!)



This Beast was my mother's Electrolux, and it is almost 40 years old. Mum went through many bargain upright vacuums in her lifetime, but her Electrolux soldiered on, with new hoses and attachments and cords along the way. Those crappy department-store uprights Mum collected just fell by the wayside, their cheap components mortally wounded by the copious amounts of dog and cat fur that choked their feeble sucking systems.

I inherited the Electrolux when Mum (this is her in 1957 at age 24, with my Aunt Sylvia on the right) died back in 1997, and while we often thought of getting a new vacuum, well, the Beast just had such SUCTION! And she was solid metal, not plastic. Who makes anything out of metal these days?

But then last year, the Beast suffered a near-fatal fracture of the rigid plastic tubing. We thought she was a goner for sure, until I rigged up a wonderful duct-tape-and-dowel splint for her:


(That floor attachment at the bottom was duct-taped on years ago, because it kept falling off! It predated the replacement hose.)

Things went along swimmingly for several months, and dear Maxine never complained about having to use the world's heaviest, ugliest vacuum.

But then in January, a little plastic thingy fell out of the nozzle, and the Beast's suction was doomed. I covered the resulting hole with duct tape, but we were finally at the turning point. We'd either have to get a whole new hose assembly for the Suckinator, or throw in the towel and fork over for a new vacuum. We finally decided that enough was enough and it was time to join the 21st century.

And so... welcome to our new baby, the Bosch Formula:



This cherry-red morsel cost as much as a plane ticket to Hawaii, but man oh man, she's a thing of beauty. She even has a light that goes on to let us know her bag is full. And with three cats, one English setter and one hairy husband to deal with, she's got a lot of bags to fill. She's quiet, she's strong, and she's beautiful... hey, just like my Mum!