When you think of museums, the names that come to mind might be Smithsonian or The Louvre But probably not the Vacuum Museum. But there is actually one in downtown Portland.
In reality, the museum at the Starks Vacuum store on Grand Avenue in Portland is more of a wall of old vacuums, bu they call it a Vacuum Museum History Timeline.
The museum timeline begins with vacuums from the turn of the century.
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Believe it or not, until the 1930s, vacuum cleaners were luxury items for only the very rich. Others had a more primitive way of cleaning rugs.
Not all of the off-brand vacuums were winners. Hoover, on the other hand, was very successful. They really cleaned up.
Starks is, after all, a vacuum store. They sell the new-fangled vacuums with all the bells and whistles, which can be a little overwhelming for a vacuum nerd like me. In fact, your great-grandparents might roll over in their graves if they knew you could now spend up to $1,600 on a vacuum cleaner.
Now I know Portland’s Vacuum Museum is probably not on your list of must-sees for your next trip to the Rose City. But for the few and the nerdy, it’s kinda fun.
