Booth's original red trolley vacuum cleaner, 1905. Original vacuum cleaner supplied to the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Hubert Cecil Booth made the first succesful vacuum cleaner in 1901; 'Puffing Billy' which had a 5hp piston pump driven by a petrol/gasoline engine or electric motor. There were no brushes; dust was extracted entirely through nozzles at the ends of long flexible tubes. Too large for domestic application, Booth's red mobile units would park outside a house, whilst yards of hose would pas in though the windows to reach inside and clean.
© Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library