Kirby 517, 1957

 

This Kirby vacuum, purchased at a thrift shop in Washington's timber country, was manufactured in 1957 (a little trick of Kirby's 500 series is that the last number in the model indicates the year of produciton. The 508 is 1948, the 509 is 1949, the 510 is 1950, the 519 is 1959, etc.) This vacuum appears to have been serviced recently; the outer bag is a generic replacement bag; the bag top cover is for a Kirby Classic III, which, according to Kirby, was made from 1976-1979. The cord appears to be fairly recent also. It was not uncommon for owners to replace parts on their Kirbys, but keep them in service; it is likely that this Kirby outlived its original owner. I remember hearing somewhere that some people still use their families' 1930s Kirbys, due to their longevity. In addition, Kirby offers a factory rebuild service (it isn't cheap, but it comes with a warranty, and they work on every part.)