Goblin Vacuum Cleaners

Last updated

Goblin Vacuum Cleaners was a British brand of vacuum cleaners made from the early 1900s till the early 2000s.

Contents

History

In the early 1930s, Goblin vacuum cleaners were manufactured by the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co. Ltd. (BVC). The managing director was Hubert Cecil Booth who, the company claimed, had invented the vacuum cleaner in about 1900, although it was subsequently copied in the USA and elsewhere. [1]

The Court Circular for 25 October 1902 recorded that Booth had shown the king and queen the vacuum cleaning process at Buckingham Palace, and that as a result of this, BVC vacuum cleaners were installed there and at many other royal palaces throughout Europe. By the 1930s, many public buildings were equipped with forty or more centralised vacuum cleaners using a common extraction system. These centralised systems consisted of an air exhauster, a dust filter (with detachable dust container), and wrought iron pipes run through the building, to which flexible hoses could be fitted for use in individual rooms. Important users included the Houses of Parliament, Imperial Chemical House, the Bank of England, and the headquarters of the State Savings Bank in Victoria, Australia.

Goblin was the trade name of the company's domestic cleaners. Their industrial cleaning systems using similar technology were used in power stations and factories, and include chimney cleaning devices, in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Calcutta, Barcelona, Shanghai and in HM Dockyards worldwide. The company also made washing machines and Teasmade automatic tea-making machines. [2] By 1947 [2] they had a large factory – previously an artificial silk works [3] [4] – at Ermyn Way, Ashtead, near Leatherhead in Surrey. [5]

From the 1970s, Goblin became a well-known budget domestic brand. Whilst Hoover and Electrolux dominated the top end of the British vacuum cleaner market, Goblin continued to sell large numbers of cheaper cleaners. Popular models included the 1970s "Housemaid" cleaner (with an advertising campaign featuring Jenny Tomasin of Upstairs, Downstairs fame) and the compact "Rio" cleaner of the 1980s. In the early 1980s the company changed its name to BVC, British Vacuum Cleaners, though the new name never stuck with staff and locals. In 1984 the company decided to cease operations at the Leatherhead plant and move to Gosport, Hampshire,[ citation needed ] and its former site was redeveloped as a headquarters for Esso (now ExxonMobil). [5]

In 1973, [2] Goblin was bought by Birmingham Sound Reproducers (BSR), alongside their Swan Brand subsidiary. [6] BSR sold Goblin to American company Shop Vac in 1984, [7] who sold their European business – including a vacuum cleaner plant at Tralee, Ireland – to Glen Dimplex in 1998. [8] Glen Dimplex, who also manufactured Morphy Richards vacuum cleaners and other small appliances, continued to manufacture Goblin vacuum cleaners until the mid-2000s. Most of these were budget cylinder models similar to their Morphy Richards cleaners but with lesser build quality and fewer features. From the mid-2000s, the Goblin name was phased out in favour of the Morphy Richards brand.

As of 2020, the brand has been revived and is used for floorcare products sold at Asda. [9]

BVC continued as a maker of industrial vacuum cleaners and central vacuum cleaning systems. By 2006 it was part of the South African Barloworld conglomerate, who also owned Lamson Engineering, a maker of pneumatic tube transport systems, also based in Gosport. BVC and Lamson were bought by Quirepace, who continue to produce BVC cleaners from their site at Fareham, Hampshire. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vacuum cleaner</span> Device that sucks up dirt from a surface

A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashtead</span> Village in Surrey, England

Ashtead is a large village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, approximately 15.5 mi (25 km) south of central London. Primarily a commuter settlement, Ashtead is on the single-carriageway A24 between Epsom and Leatherhead. The village is on the northern slopes of the North Downs and is in the catchment area of The Rye, a tributary of the River Mole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leatherhead</span> Human settlement in England

Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about 17 mi (27 km) south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leatherhead was a royal vill and is first mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great in 880 AD. The first bridge across the Mole may have been constructed in around 1200 and this may have coincided with the expansion of the town and the enlargement of the parish church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrolux</span> Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer

Electrolux AB is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hoover Company</span> American home appliance company

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teasmade</span> Automatic tea-making machine

A teasmade is a machine for making tea automatically, which was once common in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries. Teasmades generally include an analogue alarm clock and are designed to be used at the bedside, to ensure tea is ready first thing in the morning. Although crude versions existed in Victorian times, they only became practical with the availability of electric versions in the 1930s. They reached their peak in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then their use has declined, but they started to boast a partial revival in the 2000s, partly as a novelty retro item.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dyson (company)</span> Singaporean multinational technology company

Dyson Limited, doing business as Dyson, is a Singapore-based multinational technology company. Founded in 1991 by James Dyson in Malmesbury, England, the company designs and manufactures household appliances such as vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, hand dryers, bladeless fans, heaters, hair dryers, and lights. As of 2022, Dyson has more than 14,000 employees worldwide.

Martin Naughton, an Irish-British billionaire businessman and engineer. He is the founder of GlenDimplex, a company specializing in electrical appliances

GlenDimplex is an Irish based consumer electrical goods firm headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is privately held, with manufacturing and development centres in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, China and many other locations around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kärcher</span> German company known for its high-pressure cleaners

Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG is a German family-owned company that operates worldwide and is known for its high-pressure cleaners, floor care equipment, parts cleaning systems, wash water treatment, military decontamination equipment and window vacuum cleaners.

Numatic International Ltd is a British manufacturer primarily producing domestic, commercial and industrial cleaning and maintenance equipment distributed worldwide. It is one of the major producers of vacuum cleaners in the United Kingdom, producing the Henry domestic vacuum cleaner and its related models, which also shares a canister design with the "smiling face" appearance and human name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerus</span> Manufacturer of water treatment systems

Aerus LLC, formerly Electrolux Corp. USA, manufactures air and surface purifiers, water filtration and treatment systems, and vacuum cleaners. It is headquartered in Bristol, Virginia and has over 500 independently owned franchises in the U.S. and Canada. Aerus is the successor to Electrolux USA, the iconic manufacturer of vacuum cleaners. However, the Electrolux name is now used in the U.S. by the Electrolux Group of Sweden, which until 2016 also manufactured Eureka vacuum cleaners.

Rexair LLC is an American manufacturer of home cleaning systems based in Troy, Michigan. Rexair is predominantly known for its production and marketing of a home cleaning system that uses water as its primary filter.

Morphy Richards is a British brand of electrical appliances headquartered in Swinton, in South Yorkshire, England. Its products were formerly made at its historic home of Mexborough, and in other facilities across the United Kingdom. However, since the 1990s, all of its manufacturing is now carried out in the Far East.

Vax UK Ltd is a British based brand that manufactures electrical goods and cleaning products in the floor-care and air treatment sectors, and which has its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The brand is owned by a company called TTI Co. Ltd Group, which is based in Hong Kong. Vax UK Ltd has its main headquarters and R&D centre located in the city centre of Birmingham, West Midlands and a service, warehouse and depot operation in the village of Hampton Lovett, near Droitwich, Worcestershire. Vax branded machines are manufactured in China. Vax employs over 400 staff across its Birmingham and Droitwich sites in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formula 409</span> Clorox brand cleaning product

Formula 409 or 409 is an American brand of home and industrial cleaning products well known in the United States, but virtually unknown in other places. It includes Formula 409 All-Purpose Cleaner, Formula 409 Glass and Surface Cleaner, Formula 409 Carpet Cleaner, and many others. The brand is currently owned by Clorox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubert Cecil Booth</span> English engineer

Hubert Cecil Booth was an English engineer, best known for having invented one of the first powered vacuum cleaners.

Russell Hobbs is a British manufacturer of household appliances. Formed in 1952 by William Russell and Peter Hobbs, it became the primary kettle maker in the United Kingdom marketplace in the 1960s. Subjected to many corporate acquisitions through its history, its head office is currently sited in Failsworth, England, having moved its manufacturing operation to East Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Sound Reproducers</span>

Birmingham Sound Reproducers (BSR) was a 20th-century British manufacturer of record player turntables, and, for a time, housewares.

References

  1. ↑ Industrial Britain: Britain’s Message to the Empire from the Air. Volume 2. General Exporting Industries. Issued under the auspices of The Air League of the British Empire (Incorporated 1909). Published about 1933, The Albion Publishing Co Ltd, London.
  2. 1 2 3 "British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co". Graces Guide. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Artificial Silk Works, Ashtead, 1930". Britain From Above. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain, sheet 51/15A". National Library of Scotland. 1948. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 Poulton, Rob (1985). "Rescue excavations on an early Saxon cemetery site and a later (probably late Saxon) execution site at the former Goblin Works, Ashtead, near Leatherhead" (PDF). Archaeology Data Service, University of York. Surrey Archaeological Society.
  6. ↑ "The Swan Brand Heritage". Swan Products. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Keane, Conor (24 October 1997). "US brothers put Goblin business on the market". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  8. ↑ Hardiman, Cyril (2 June 1998). "Glen Dimplex move good news for Goblin Ireland". independent. Dublin. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Brands: Goblin". Quiet Mark Approvals. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "History of Quirepace". Quirepace Ltd. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.