Our companys origin dates back to 1957 when Sherwood E. Ristenbatt purchased an existing vacuum cleaner "stand" at the Green Dragon Market. Even before that he started selling the Air-Way vacuum cleaner part time in early 1949 while working full time for Trojan Boat making wooden cabin cruisers. A back injury from handling the lumber was instrumental in his decision to switch to working full time in the vacuum cleaner industry. During his lifetime he saw the business grow far beyond his wildest expectations. Its continued growth and expansion since then, especially fueled by the web in more recent years, continue to amaze our staff and others in the vacuum cleaner industry. Ristenbatt Vacuum initially launched their website back in 1996 before many of the vacuum manufacturers had websites. David E. Ristenbatt, its president, was excited to be able to help many more people make wiser, more informed decisions regarding their vacuum cleaner purchases. The web provided a vehicle by which much more information could be provided to the consumer at a very reasonable cost than any other media. The Educational Articles were the first to be written to provide basic information which can be applied to almost any make or model of vacuum.