The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

NEW BROO.MS YEARS AGO a truck that ire engine may have thun- dered.up to yourhome. One of the, drivers would have run a long hose into, the. houise. There would have been great excitemen t-but no fire.'The truck betonged: to a "housecteaning company "-offeoed ,pio- *neer vacuum teaning service to. homes in iirthern Iltinos Efficient as thisservicewas, it did notbècomne poputar. So:ewice a year in most homes- the, carpet beater ca-me off its peg in the attic. Rugs were hung over clothestines and punished. The whote famnily took turns pounding, until backs -ached and hands blistereci. Pictures were stripped fromn watts; floors and woodwork were scoured; furniture was ýhrouded withsheets. Hasty meats were snatched fromn the kitchen table. The ordeat lasted a week-recurred every spring And fait. Between seasons, the broomi and the carpet-sweeper stood at attention behin d the ctoser door. And afeather duster was atays, ready. to remove the dust rhey stirred up from the whatnot with its cotored shelis and Wortd's Fair souvenrs. previous cbd if YOU W the homne-smatl, editons of the old air-puinp engines. They screweéd into an etectric soéket and atthougàh they were noisy -and heavy and dlumsy, with the motor and dust-catcher traiting behind on a tittte cart, they were arsuperi*or: to the broom, and the carpet- sweeper. And iUmpveenswere made. The butk- mness was reduced. A motor-driven brush was added to the suction nozzte to make- it more efficient. The "'trailer" m ad the nozzle were combined. into one unit. Dusting equipment, for fu.witure and draperies.bcm optionat in this ýnew cleasier, modern women have found a retease from their.periodic'house- cteaning panics. The broom now ptays second iddte to an etectric motor that putts over rugs, noses down into overstuffed furniture, ctean- ing them quikty and thoroughty every week. The ,ustionat institution kniown as "Sprng howig. ,cieaning" ia ecoming obsokte. The Public Service Company has been:an influentiat factor in making etectric cteaners, as, -elas toes of other tabor-savrs, avait-, abte to homes in northern Illinois. As one of its foremost obtligations to customers, kt to t&u ompany,: OC F NA)R T H E RN 1 N OIS0 TWO DECADES N THE SERV h Il R V'.1