About Us
American Vacuum Company was originally founded in the early nineteen hundreds by Ralph H. Person, who purchased the vacuum cleaning division of American Radiator Company. Hence, the brand name ARCO. Our humble beginning began in the basement of a building located at 816 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, IL. In the years that followed and throughout two World Wars, American Vacuum expanded it's operation and built a facility in Skokie, IL. With the addition of Ralph M. Person, American Vacuum grew at a substantial rate.
Today, we are a proud third generation family-run business. We operate with tradition and excellence in building quality equipment and use an old-fashioned "hands on" customer service approach. Since our inception, we have sold over 500,000 vacuum systems. Our 90 years of building the industry's best Vacuum Systems is your assurance that AVC will help you select, design, and install the proper cleaning system.
Here are some photographs from our rich & historic company history:
One of Our First Units - Notice the Slick Steel Wheels |
Early Oil & Lube Station with Car Cleaning |
Pullman Company "Car Cleaning Brigade" - Chicago, IL |
Hotel Cleaning with an Arco Wand Vacuum Truck |
One of the First Central Vacuum Cleaning Systems |