A 'Jamaica Bronze*' Jubilee

This fellow is 50 this year. As a birthday present, I busted out the Turtle Wax car wash, Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish, and Armor-All, to give him a nice cleaning.

I got this particular 88 in 2007, from a local seller who in turn got it from an older lady. Other than its beautiful and powerful self, all it came with was a green standard hose (to match the 89). I guess the older lady was rather set in her ways, as she apparently never upgraded the hose. Of course, I've since acquired most or all of the standard attachments to match this and the other 88s, and hope someday to find all the optional ones. If anyone out there has them, I wouldn't mind hearing from you.

Soon enough, I'll have had this 88 myself for 10 years, and I expect it'll still be working away, as quiet and powerful as ever.

*Apparently, the official color of this machine is 'Jamaica Bronze'. I could have sworn it was 'dark red', but what do I know? At any rate, happy 50th birthday to my all-time favorite vintage Electrolux.

P.S. I find it a little strange that the 88 is my favourite vintage machine. As a matter of fact, I didn't see that many of them when I was young. The only one that sticks out is one owned by my old friend (who incidentally owns the Lux Classic as featured in this blog). Maybe it's the very elusiveness of the 88 that charms me?

Some Family Electrolux History Elucidated

My aunt (my father's sister) was visiting today, and I finally seized the opportunity to ask her to confirm what the household vacuum was when she was a child. In my post on the ZB55, I mentioned that my paternal grandparents had one in their basement when I was a kid, and, after I began collecting vacuums, I recalled my memories of it, and hazarded a guess that it was the old household vacuum.

Well, it turns out I was slightly off. I showed the 55 to my aunt today, and she said their old vacuum was like it, but brown. Could it have been the Z57? Indeed it was. When I showed her the 57, she recognized it right away.

Could I have been mistaken in my memories? I don't think I am. I definitely recall that distinctive black and silver 55 with the black 'Cord-o-matic' cord winder. My aunt opined that the 55 could have been a 'shop vac' used by my grandfather, who had a workshop in the basement (he had been a shoemaker).

So, the household vacuum was the 57. My father would have been 10 or so at the time (he was the oldest), and my aunt would have just been born, so I'm glad that this great childhood memory has been confirmed. Incidentally, the same grandparents had a Super J with the gold hose and power nozzle (quite possibly the gaudiest vacuum Electrolux ever made!) which I always busted out when I was visiting.

After all this, of course I busted out the 57 for a little cleaning!