People at the cutting edge: lawnmower designers - Post-war boom

Post-war boom

After the Second World War many potential customers were living in new housing developments with smaller gardens. Technology had advanced, and companies that had given their energies to the war effort, were keen to present some new models to an eager market.

In 1946 Green's Monitor was one of the first, using a freewheel mechanism which was a ‘great advance to ease of mowing', together with a two-piece rear roller for easier control in turning. It used modern materials such as pressed steel plates and tubular steel for handles, which at this time were formed into a continuous loop to give ‘ the easiest and most comfortable position for mowing'. Production continued well into the 1950s, by which time most lawnmowers had become generally inexpensive and reliable. The introduction of plastic components in the 1960s reduced costs still further.

Floating on air

1965 advertisement for the Flymo lawnmower. Image courtesy of the Garden Museum.Probably the most notable 20th-century development in lawnmower technology was the introduction of the hover mower.  Inspired by the ‘hovercraft' invented by Christopher Cockerell in 1956, Karl Dahlman, a Swedish lawnmower manufacturer, developed a rotary mower that needed no wheels and could float on a cushion of air in any direction.

The new mower was introduced at the 1963 Brussels Inventors Fair. It was produced by Flymo at their Newton Aycliffe factory in County Durham, and was marketed in 1965 with the slogan ‘It's a Lot Less Bovver With a Hovver'.  The early machines were blue and white, turning orange in 1977.  The Flymo revolutionised grass cutting and the attitudes associated with it. It was cheap, light, easy to manoeuvre and convenient, which suited the spirit of the times.