New museum opening in St. James

If you’re in the area of St. James, Mo., tomorrow, it might be advisable to pull off that interstate and check out the new Vacuum Cleaner Museum and Factory Outlet holding its grand opening at 1:30 p.m. that day.

According to the Hit the Road blog of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The museum’s collection includes 500 vacuums spanning a century of progress, plus newspaper and magazine advertising from each decade.

Tom Gasko, musuem curator and a national authority on vacuums, donated his collection to the museum, which includes many from Stan Kann, the legendary organist from the Fox Theater in St. Louis, who also was an avid cleaner collector.

“Celebrity” vacuums on display include the official vacuum from Air Force One and the childhood vacuum of actor James Earl Jones.

The museum is just north of St. James Boulevard (aka Route 66) on Industry Drive on the east side of town. Map is here.

2 thoughts on “New museum opening in St. James

  1. I don’t know why, but this makes me giggle. “The childhood vacuum…” The fine tradition of strange roadside artifacts and museums continues! By the way, St. James Winery is a nice place to stop. A little tasting, a little chatting with the friendly workers, and three cases of wine later, we were on our way. 🙂

    1. We certainly must stop to see this riveting museum on our way to St. Louis next trip, that is IF our GPS will allow it. “She” really gets agitated when we change our prescribed route.

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