Medals relating to Hoover Electric
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The obverse bears kneeling woman with old-fashioned broom beneath her being raised by goddess; trees and sun in background. Above, HOOVER SILVER JUBILEE; at lower left, 1907 / 1932.
The reverse bears image of Hoover's factory. Above, IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION / OF THE COOPERATION TENDERED / DURING THE HOOVER SILVER / JUBILEE 1932; Small silver has dedication below, MEMBER / 25 (circle) OF IBAISAIC.
The token has the following maker's mark at 6:00: MEDALLIC ART CO NY SILVER
IBAISAIC stands for "It beats... as it sweeps... as it cleans," the Hoover Company's advertising slogan invented by Gerald Page-Wood, an art director of Erwin, Wasey & Company, in 1919. The slogan referred to the action of revolving brushes that vibrated the carpet to loosen trodden-in dirt and provied early Hoover vacuum cleaners a distinct advantage over competitors' models.
This medal's obverse design was picked up again one year later. Hoover exhibited at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1933 and handed out bronze tokens to visitors of the Hoover Exhibit.
The obverse bears kneeling woman with old-fashioned broom beneath her being raised by goddess; trees and sun in background. Above, HOOVER ELECTRIC CLEANER
The reverse bears image of Chicago fair grounds. Above, CENTURY / OF PROGRESS / 1933; below, SOUVENIR OF THE / HOOVER / EXHIBIT
The Hoover Company was founded as a floor care manufacturer in North Canton, Ohio, in 1908. It so completely dominated the electric vacuum cleaner market in the first half of the 20th century that "hoovering" became synonymous with vacuum cleaning, much as "googling" became synonymous with web searching at the beginning of the 21st century.
This is such a handsome token, and also one whose imagery is so completely over the top! I would never belittle the impact that the invention of the vaccum cleaner had on a woman cleaning house in the 1930s, but I always have to smile at the woman's look of abject adoration at the prospect of being freed from toil and at the rising sun promising a brighter future.
The token measures 32mm in diameter. It was handed out to visitors of the Hoover Exhibit at the Chicago Cenury of Progress Exhibition of 1933. Its obverse is based on the Hoover Silver Jubilee token from one year earlier.