PDX - Stark's Vacuum Museum

I'm not going to make any jokes about sucking. Sure, it's obvious, but that in itself wouldn't stop me.

Really it was just a pretty cool museum; I don't want to even jokingly imply it was bad.

As Portland's vacuum experts since 1932, it was no surprise that their flagship store would be able to feature a wide variety of past machines.

Those were fun to look at, but the timeline brought things together nicely. The significant dates (many of which it would be easy to not even know) in vacuum history have corresponding photos from history and popular culture, anchoring the appliance to the times.

It is educational and interesting, but also not so vast as to be a big time commitment. Plus, it is free!

Added to that, there is a parking lot -- more common in that stretch of Portland, but not a given -- and even the outer walls welcome you with vacuum art.

The parking meters are pretty spendy ($15/hour), but they allow you to enter the code of the business you are frequenting. I went in and got the code, we entered it, and then we explored the museum.

Of course it is not just a museum, but also a shop. We were able to get some questions answered that will influence our next vacuum purchase.

We were even able to do a test run, with flooring and carpeted surface available, as well as coffee grounds.

COVID: The shop was not crowded. The staffer said that the museum gets at least one visitor per day, and of course there are customers coming in for purchases and service, but there aren't necessarily rush hours. While masking doesn't hurt, social distancing is very possible.

Accessibility: There was a ramp as well as steps, and navigation is pretty easy. Having parking on site could also be helpful.

We really enjoyed it and were glad we went.

https://starks.com/about/vacuum-museum/