Kirby Europe.
Kirby Europe, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, has been helping customers clean with confidence for more than 100 years. Jim Kirby created the first Kirby vacuum cleaner in 1906, and since then The Kirby Company has continuously improved the American-made, handcrafted Kirby Home Cleaning System design to ensure best-in-class performance. Millions of customers from around the world rely on Kirby to keep their homes clean.
JIM KIRBY
Best known for the Kirby Home Cleaning System that bears his name, Jim Kirby was an inventor for most of his adult life. His main goal was to eliminate hard work where it existed. More than 200 patents and a host of products used today are a tribute to his success. In 1914, while Jim was refining the Kirby vacuum cleaner, George H. Scott and Carl S. Fetzer founded the Scott and Fetzer Machine Company, which made automotive parts. The precision of their tools and dies prompted Jim to have Scott Fetzer produce his Kirby vacuum cleaner.
SELL DIRECTLY
In 1920 Kirby became, and still is, a direct-selling company, providing consumers with a demonstration of the Kirby vacuum cleaner at their home. Our network of authorized, independent Kirby Distributors offers this free service to enable consumers to experience first-hand the performance and versatility of a Kirby system.
Kirby Europe
KIRBY Europe is a proud member of the DSA. We are committed to maintaining the highest ethical business standards as set forth by the Direct Selling Association. Click here for more details on the DSA’s code of ethics.
QUALITY, RELIABILITY & PERFORMANCE
We stand by our core values of quality, versatility, reliability and performance. The Kirby Avalir 2 can be converted into twelve separate units to meet all your cleaning needs. Made of cast aluminum, not plastic, our deep-cleaning stick vacuum can be converted into a carpet shampoo system, a handheld vacuum, a floor buffer and much more! Contact a Kirby Distributor to experience Kirby for yourself.
How to install and use the Turbo Accessory
The Turbo Accessory can be used as a sander, polisher, or to scrub. It is used with the hose on the front of the unit and the Kirby system in neutral. First, assemble the turbo sander and loosen and lift off the sander dust cover. Then turn up the clamping levers on the side of the turbo accessory, slide a sheet of sandpaper into the front clamp, and lock the lever. Wrap the sandpaper tightly around the bottom of the turbo accessory and insert the end into the rear clamp and lock. On a flat surface, reattach the sander’s dust cover with the opening facing back, and insert the hose. Hold the turbo accessory at the top and bottom and turn on your Kirby. Then turn on the turbo accessory.
How to install Kirby filter bag
First, make sure your outer bag is unzipped and the top adapter is pulled out. Take a new disposable bag from the packaging. Then place the cardboard front panel of the disposable filter bag against the bottom of the adapter. Slide the front panel against the flat surface of the adapter and bend and press the tab at the top of the front panel until it is secure. The bag’s carrying strap must be connected through the small hole on the adapter, located above the tab. Once connected, place the entire bag into the outer bag and close the zipper.
How to use the TechDrive (Drive mode).
The Tech Drive Power Assist makes it easy to push and pull the vacuum when in use. First, turn on the Tech Drive Power Assist by pressing the side of the pedal marked “D” for drive. This makes it easy to use while operating the unit. Easily move the Kirby system while vacuuming, shampooing carpets or scrubbing hard floors.
How to use the TechDrive (Neutral position)
Put the TechDrive in neutral by pushing down the side of the pedal marked “N”. The unit will move easily in the neutral position when it is turned off. Move the Kirby system easily when not in operation. Vacuum hard floors. Polish hardwood floors with Miracle Shine High-gloss floor finish.
James B. Kirby Biography – Kirby’s Inventions- KIRBY Europe
James B. Kirby (or Jim Kirby) (1884 – 1971) was an inventor of Scottish descent who lived in America and became best known for inventing the Kirby vacuum cleaners, although more than 200 inventions are attributed to him.
Kirby was born on September 28, 1884, and it is known that his father was Great Lakes, marine engineer. They lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and while he attended Lincoln High School, James worked as a lantern switcher. His job was to light and extinguish gas street lamps. He learned about electricity by taking electricity classes at the Y.M.C.A. One of his first inventions was a massage machine that he built for a man named Knocks who ordered it. The massage machine was sold between 1903 and 1904 to P. A. Geier, who manufactured and sold it under the name “Royal.”
His next invention was one of the first answering machines, ordered by a certain Cleveland doctor. The central part was based on Edison’s phonograph which was electrically operated and informed the caller that the doctor was not there and if they left a message it will be recorded and played back when the doctor returns. Doctor later patented this machine.
KIrby Europe
In 1906 James Kirby, inspired by a cart-mounted vacuum cleaner, decided to make a smaller version that could be used by one person and was more portable. His first vacuum cleaner was called the “Domestic Cyclone” and he used water as a filter for dust. It required two buckets of water for one fill and had to be emptied regularly. It was marketed by the Domestic Vacuum Cleaner Company and was sold in two sub-variants. One sold for $25 and was a model that had to be pumped up by hand, while the other had an electric motor and sold for $85. These models worked, but emptying dirty water was complicated and messy, so in 1907 Kirby made the next model that used a cloth bag that caught the dirt and filtered the air.
Kirby Europe, vacuum cleaners were a step forward
Kirby’s vacuum cleaners were a step forward from the box vacuums that appeared at the time because they were lighter and featured attachments that allowed for more efficient cleaning. After these first models, Kirby met brothers Frantz, Edward, Clarence, and Walter. The first two were in the building materials business, while Walter was a mechanic. They obtained the rights to make and sell Kirby’s vacuum cleaners, and they made them in several variations. Model B, for example, was sold only with a narrow nozzle, while a Model C had a wide nozzle and brush. Model D was made with an air-powered brush.
Starting in 1919, Kirby worked with George Scott and Carl Fetzer of Scott & Fetzer Company. They were a Cleveland blacksmith shop that made military armaments during World War I and peace improved Kirby’s vacuum cleaners. Since 1935, they have been making and selling vacuum cleaners under the name of James B. Kirby.
Jim Kirby
Jim Kirby spent his final years on his farm in Richfield, Ohio, working between Scott & Fetzer and the Frantz Brothers. “His habit of fixing things grows into an Algerian invention career “Kirby created vacuum cleaner and has fish you can pet and gadgets galore at home By Louise Eisele – Nov. 23, 1936 – The Cleveland News James B. Kirby could so be a hero from one of Horatio Alger’s novels. Here you have the pattern: a young man, considered a nothing by his teachers, begins to conquer the world without money or work. And, like Alger’s heroes, many obstacles appear in his path.
Inventor
Mr. Kirby is a Cleveland inventor who holds more than 200 patents, including the first spinner-type washing machine that whirls clothes dry instead of wringing them out, as well as many patents on vacuum cleaners. There is nothing unusual about a little boy who likes to take machines apart. Most do. But young Jim KIrby could put them back together. He had a gift for fixing things. Soon, when something was broken, the neighbors said, “Let Jim tinker with it.”
THE KIRBY Netherlands
When the young inventor went to Lincoln High School, he wanted to work in the chemistry lab and hear the names of Marconi, Faraday and Pasteur. Instead, he was enrolled in Latin class. He didn’t care about the ablative form and the past tense, and he told them so. “Young man, do you think you know better than your teachers what is good for you?” thundered the learned principal. “Well, you won’t go far in this school.” And young Kirby walked out and looked for a job. He chuckled as he told this story, adding, “Now I make more money than any of them.”
Automatic secretary
His first job was to make an automatic secretary. And he did. When the phone rang, a phonograph started playing, “This is the phonograph in Dr. Doe’s office, give me your message.” Then an automatic switch turned on the machine to record the caller’s voice. When the recipient hung up, the machine was set to answer the next call. This principle is not used in dictation machines, but Kirby received no more than his weekly salary of $10.50 for his idea. That made him decide to save up for his own store.
So he took on three more jobs. He was a printer’s devil and distributed newspapers for the old Cleveland Leader. He lit lamps and put them out in the morning along a $16-a-month route. Soon a surplus accumulated.
Kirby Europe
His first invention in his own business was the vibrator that is still used in thousands of barber stores. But he wanted something more practical, something any housewife would want. He was impressed by the crude methods of cleaning carpets. A broom only scattered the dust. Beating carpets was drudgery. The neighbors had a horse and carriage and a gasoline engine come to pump out the dirt through a small hose. So he tackled the problem, making a mechanical sweeper. “It was a cumbersome thing,” he said, “There was a big tank and it was operated by a hand pump. But I knew it was a good idea and I’ve continued to improve it ever since.” He refused to sell his patent outright and decided to accept royalties, and says he has never regretted it.
Kirby
Kirby is a tall, slender man with brown eyes and white hair. He doesn’t smoke, plays a little golf and enjoys spending a month or two in Arizona every year. His biggest enthusiasm is his work. “Even when I’m playing bridge, sometimes my thoughts turn to a new invention. There are inventions that are just screaming to be done. A young man today has a good chance of making a fortune with his inventions.”
Practical
“The first thing to do is to make sure the idea you are working on is not already patented. Then choose something practical. An electric page turner may be interesting, but it is entirely possible to live without it,” he continued. Mr. Kirby believes there is more money to be made from royalties or starting new companies than from the outright sale of a patent. He also advises young men to stop trying to improve radios and locomotives. “There are too many experts in those fields to have a chance of discovering something truly revolutionary. I always run in the opposite direction of the crowd,” he said. An idea has to work perfectly in Kirby’s head before he builds a model. “That’s how a lot of inventors waste their money,” he said.
Kirby Europe
The Kirby house now stands on the land he loved as a boy – West Richfield, about 20 miles south of Cleveland. There are all sorts of gadgets on his property. His Swiss-chalet-style house, built on the side of a hil, is air-conditioned by a pipe that sprays the roof in summer and keeps it as cool as a cellar. He built a ball-bearing waterwheel that works with just a small jet of water to provide electricity to the property. There is a seven-acre lake with a patented purification system in it. A pipe runs under the lake to collect all the water that runs off from nearby pastures, making it as clear as a spring. It is stocked with bluegills, perch and catfish. It is not a fisherman’s paradise, as the fish are tame. Inventor Kirby stooped to throw bread at the bluefish that swarmed about. He stroked the backs of the catfish. I’d just as soon eat a rabbit as one of these fish,” he said. Even on his fox hunts, the beagles never kill the fox.
His drawing board was full of blueprints of vacuum cleaners. “Our machine age is just beginning,” he says. “In five years, most of our devices will be obsolete. Ideas keep flowing through my head and itching to work them out.” And like a good Alger hero, success has not turned his head.
KIrby Europe
An article from the 1939 Cleveland News:
Jim Kirby
Inventor, household vacuum,
Premier Vacuum, Kirby Vacuum
September 28, 1884 – June 9, 1971
Jim Kirby, in 1900 owned an engine repair store in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a budding inventor. A man named Knocks asked Jim to build a massage machine. Jim did so, Knocks used it as a promotional item, and eventually, 1903 – 1904, it was sold to P.A. Geier, who manufactured it under the name “Royal.” A Cleveland doctor wanted a device that could answer a telephone. Jim went to work, and soon had such a “gadget” in operation. It used an Edison cylinder phonograph, was operated by automatic electric controls, and when finished said, “The doctor’s not here. This is a talking phonograph. Speak your message and it will be repeated to the doctor when he returns.” It worked so well that the doctor had it patented. When Jim saw a huge wagon-mounted vacuum cleaner one day, he decided he could make a portable device.
Vacuum cleaner
His first vacuum cleaner, marketed by the Domestic Vacuum Cleaner Company, sold for $25.00 as a hand pump model or $85.00 with an electric motor. The machine used two buckets of water as filters, which had to be carried around and emptied regularly. By 1910 he was working on a “broomstick” model for cleaning carpets, which had a cutting mechanism that allowed attachments to be used with the machine.
Pioneer
Kirby pioneered the concept of a very lightweight vacuum cleaner with a squeegee that was radically different from the bulky box vacuums of the time. Kirby met 3 brothers, Edward and Clarence, who were in the building materials business, and Walter Frantz, who was a mechanic. The Frantz brothers obtained the rights to manufacture and sell Kirby’s latest vacuum cleaner, and the Premier Vacuum Cleaner Company was formed. Model B was sold with only a narrow squeegee. Model C introduced a wide squeegee and brush. Model D had an air-powered brush. During World War I, Kirby came into contact with George Scott and Carl Fetzer, owners of the Scott & Fetzer Company. Scott & Fetzer owned a blacksmith shop in Cleveland, and at that time were making military weapons for the war effort. When the war ended, they began producing a new, improved model of Kirby’s vacuum cleaner. The machine has since been sold door to door by Scott & Fetzer under the Kirby label. Kirby spent his last inventive years dividing his time equally between Scott & Fetzer and the Frantz Brothers, whose corporate identity would later become Frantz Industries.
