The Museum at Mid Missouri Vacuum Doesn't Suck [PHOTOS]

Tucked away in a Rolla strip mall stands the vacuum-cleaner mecca of Missouri, if not the world.

Mid Missouri Vacuum (410 South Bishop Avenue; Rolla, MO 65401) is a vacuum store and repair shop owned and operated by Tom Gasko. The vacuum guru has had an insatiable fascination with the household appliance since childhood. Entranced by the lights, design, color and roar of a vacuum, he spent his adolescence in Crestwood studying different makes and models, even sneaking out of his house to watch salesmen at Sears give demonstrations.

Gasko's passion for vacuums only grew stronger with age. he eventually harnessed this affection and transformed it into a dedicated lifestyle. For more than 50 years, Gasko has studied every aspect of vacuums — from historical and cultural events impacting their design (the bomb-shaped vacuums created in "celebration" after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example) to formulating the most effective type of Hoover — even giving consultation to famed inventor James Dyson. Gasko has marked his love for vacuums with two separate tattoos of his favored brands, and he plans on having his ashes sucked up by a vacuum he personally designed for Air-Way.

After managing the Vacuum Cleaner Museum in St. James for many years, Gasko moved locations to Rolla, where he displays a fraction of his 500-plus vacuum collection. He enthusiastically elaborates on every possible detail regarding vacuum cleaners, and the assortment is impressive. The layout is spread across a timeline, and each machine is its own time capsule within the decade it was created. The showroom hosts the national convention of the Vacuum Cleaner Collectors Club every September. Vacuum enthusiasts from all over the country descend on Rolla to show off their wares and talk shop. The pinnacle of the event is a competition where contestants attempt to get the cleanest rug in sixteen strokes.

Dedicated to his clientele, Gasko asks people to call ahead to make an appointment for a tour. Mid Missouri Vacuum's phone number is 573-261-9577.