Quite a few manufacturers around 1969 used the moon landing to represent the leading edge of technology.
G'day
MaxMany thanks - again - for myth busting and keeping folks (like myself) honest.
Your thoughts are ... thought provoking ...
Many thanks also to
Paul C and
wce for this topic conversation.
Your posts have driven this topic.
I apologise in advance for a long post...I would love, some day, to write on lawnmower naming conventions.
Their is such a parallel to the auto world - including overtones of jet and rocket.
But there is a particular reason for this post, and my engagement with it.
I taught advertising at a senior secondary level for many years.
Advertising fascinates me because it can transcend
rational thought.
Good advertising will grasp the
zeitgeist with 'reason why'.
It's a sort of trick - like magic!
Post WWII, folks were quickly introduced to the
Jet Age.
[The de Haviland
Comet first flew in 1949.]
But after that famous Kennedy speech of 1962, the focus extended
thought to the
Rocket Age.
Max, as you say, some makers were attuned to and represented
"the leading edge of technology". These were the science ages.
Now, I would like to add a different dimension to this: -The best inroad to my though may be found here: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/61540/newsprint-cartoons-avoiding-work.htmlTraditionally, the lawnmowing zeitgeist was one of
lack of power, energy,
and poor expenditure of energy over time.
Lawn-mowing was simply
not fun to do!
Post WWII, the power-mower revolution, expanded the franchise
to the great 'un-washed'. Working Man, for the first time, did not have to
be the beast-of-burden to cut grass at his or her castle.
I guess the trick was about
labour and
class then ...
Of course, mower makers smelt the grass here - and their advertising
reflects this. The great examples include Jet-Fast, Mofast, Supa-Swift
and Turner. Their naming conventions reflect this.
Victa, as the leader, is a special case, at least for me.Victa was always
conservative.
I mean, Victa [c1950s] used the old standards ... 'Standard' ... 'Special'.
By the 1960s, we had Maritime and class branding ... 'Viceroy', 'ambassador',
'Corvette', 'Cadet', Envoy' ... and the like. I mean, really!
Victa knew very well their 'aspirational' working class market. Brilliant!
Victa delivered a more conservative message ...
mowing was fun to do.But the few 'believers' looked to technology and the future ...
Cheers-----------------------
Jack
