The Silver and Black Attack

As noted in my "Eluxography", my main interest at present is in the Style R models and uprights, but I do like using models from every period of Electrolux and Aerus history. Today, I decided to use this lovely old boy, the ZB55, made in 1949 by Electrolux Canada*.

When I was very young, my paternal grandparents had one of these sitting in their basement, and I remember being quite fascinated with it. Oddly enough, I don't remember ever turning it on, but I do remember playing with it. Theirs had the (optional) cord winder; I believe this was the first one ever offered. I find myself wondering if this was the household vacuum when my father was a child, but I doubt he'd remember, and my grandparents have passed on. At any rate, the 55 does have a special place in my memories, and now, in my collection.

I got this machine from a fellow collector, with a few of the original attachments, and even after 63 years, it still works fine. Its not what you'd call "powerful" in the modern sense of the vacuum world, but set against that is the fact that its very quiet, and only runs on 3.8 amps. Not only that, but for bare floor cleaning and dusting, it has more than enough power to get the job done. You don't need a massive amount of suction for bare surfaces.

One disadvantage of the 30, 54, 55, and 57 is that the hose port sits too low on the front cover, making these machines at times a little hard to haul around, especially with the metal runners. The dirt capture (cloth bag) and after filtration (gauze-like filter) too, are certainly not up to modern standards, but for the amount of time I use this series of machines, I'm not overly worried.

Close up of logo plate:

Ratings plate (a little blurry):

If you ask me, this is one of the most beautiful Electroluxes ever made (Note: Wilkie Collins is another one of my passions):

*There were 3 different versions of the 55. Mine is an example of the 1st version; the 2nd is identical except the runners attached differently to the body, and the 3rd had a blue "weave" pattern on the body.