Antique Bissell’s Grand Rapids Carpet Sweeper Head, Late 1920s

We found this stuffed between rafters in what might have been a maid’s restroom in our mother’s 100 year old house in Mill Valley when preparing for sales.
 
We’re dating it based on patents listed on the back which range from 1918 to 1926, so it would at the earliest have been released in 1926. We’ve since learned that the patents on others date through 1927.
 
Melville Bissell patented the first carpet sweeper in 1876, naming it Grand Rapids after his hometown in Michigan. By 1890, after setting up the Bissell Carpet Sweeper Co. factory co-managed by his wife, it gained worldwide recognition. 
 
This was the “HI-LO” Ball Bearing model as stated on the top. This feature was an innovation that allowed the user to adjust the brush height to clean either low-pile rugs or thicker carpets. The ball-bearing wheels made the sweeper easier to push and more durable than previous models. Many models from this era, particularly from the 1920s, also featured "Cyco" ball bearings, which were a specific type of bearing developed by Bissell.
 
Ours does not come with the stick. We think we threw it away before we knew what it might have been as it was not attached at the time. It is dirty and dusty in places we could not reach. It also had some bits of dried rubber cracking off from inside when we moved it after photography. 
 
This is for décor purposes only (although it may stil work as designed) and/or for students of how things were built back in the day…
 
Approx H 3 3/4” x L 15 1/4” x D 10”
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.