Royal Vacuum Cleaners

In 1905 the first Royal vacuum cleaners were made by the P.A. Geier Company.  Royal is one of the world’s oldest manufacturers of vacuums, and the company is still growing strong today, although the company has changed somewhat to go along with the times.  When the company was first started, Mr. Geier was making metal vacuum cleaners out of a garage in his backyard in Cleveland, Ohio.  The company grew very rapidly, however, and it soon moved into a four-story building on a main street in Cleveland.  Out of that building it operated two separate divisions – one for machining and one for the cleaners that it was making.  In addition to the vacuum cleaners that it was becoming famous for the Royal Company also made washing machines, mixers, and hair dryers.  In spite of the other products, though, the company’s vacuum cleaner line was the main revenue-producer as Royal vacuum cleaners continued to gain popularity.  In 1937 “The Royal Prince,” a hand-held vacuum, was introduced.  Royal was very early with this development as many other vacuum cleaner companies did not come out with hand-held vacuums until much later. 

During World War II, however, the Royal Company did what most other manufacturing companies did at that time – switch production over to military items to help the war effort.  In 1953 the P.A. Geier Company was purchased by an investment group and the structure and sales of the company were changed.  The company then focused more on appliances in general and less on vacuums, which lowered the amount of sales that the company was receiving.  Finally, the company was purchased by a group of individual employees and it operated well until 1981 when things changed again.  At that time another group of investors bought out the company and the Dirt Devil brand was born with the creation of the handvac.  This became Royal’s signature product for many years.