Century-Old Lawn Mower Company Was Always ‘Green’
Marion sent this my way as a newspaper clipping from the Bangor Daily News due to the old-fashioned mower we have at our home to cut the grass. As I look around the neighborhood I notice that the type of mower we have is much in style here, and that is good. Less noise, and better exercise.
(Might I also note that the clipping of newspaper articles is something that we will all miss someday when they are no more.)
More than a century after the American Lawn Mower Co. began building manual grass-cutting machines, the muscle-powered mowers today represent the cutting edge of the environmental movement: They require no gasoline, emit no loud noise or pollution, and coincidentally provide a great way to stay in shape.
“When you start talking about what is good about the push mowers, it’s hard to stop,” says Robert E. Kersey, 75, president of the Muncie, Ind.-based company. “A push mower has so many advantages and no disadvantages I can think of.”
Founded in 1895 by Kersey’s grandfather Robert B. Kersey, the company today builds 400 mowers daily at its factory in Shelbyville, Ind. (pop. 17,951), making it the last manufacturer of reel push mowers in the United States.
At the end of World War II-when gasoline-powered mowers began roaring around yards-about 60 domestic manufacturers built manual mowers. By the 1980s, however, that number had dwindled to four, and only about 50,000 push mowers were sold.
The old-fashioned machines are making a quiet comeback, however, thanks to the current emphasis on energy conservation and personal health.
Those push lawnmowers are great if you only have a postage stamp lawn and the exercise derived from it is wonderful. However, if your lawn is the size of mine [by the way, the more you mow away from your home, the less bugs you have] which is about an acre or two, you need the riding type.
We are green though as we drive a green John Deere mower [60 inch deck] for about 2-3 hrs. to get the job done. Although we do not have a “golf” course size space, it may seem that way on days like we have had.
Thank goodness we have a cab and a heater for those cold days and wind shield wipers for the drops of rain.
Last night Robert mowed with the head lights on, heater going, after hours to miss the rain that is coming today.
Ah! Modern inventions sometimes trump the old.