OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories AUSTRALIAN Power Reel Models LARSEN ELECTRIC - c1948

Hello ODK history lovers,
This is one for the record and Arthur Larsen would be forgotten otherwise.

Post WWII, a few small Australian companies engaged with the power
mower by powering reel push mowers [‘pushies’]. I have written about
these mowers on these great forums.

The stand-out man in Brisbane was Arthur Larsen [Larsen Engineering],
who operated from small premises in the CBD at Felix Street, Brisbane.

Arthur ran Larsen’s Garage from about 1945. Newsprint ads show the
garage operated as a general auto repair shop. He sold a few used cars
and trailers from time-to-time, but mostly it was a repair shop.

By about 1947, Arthur Larsen changed name to Larsen Engineering,
and this is reflected in an expanded role beyond general auto repair.

This was a repair and machine shop ...



The thing is, Arthur Larsen would shortly make an early post-war
powered lawnmower! It was luck that I discovered what it was.

TO BE CONTINUED …

PART TWO – Larsen Electric Lawnmower
Arthur Larsen must have seen an opportunity in making an electric lawnmower
for the working classes. This new, post-war market, would enable many workers
to own their first powered lawnmower.

The first Larsen print ad I have found appears in September, 1948: -



We learn little about this mower in the early ads.
The price was not cheap though … a few weeks’ later we learn
the mower is self-propelled!



We do learn that the mower was ‘approved by State Electricity Commission',
and this was probably a requirement after some ‘bad’ press appeared across
Australia about the dangers of electricity.



Larsen was a prodigious advertiser in the local newspapers, the
Courier Mail and the Brisbane Telegraph. He was a regular classified
advertiser using just a few lines of copy (without illustration).

The best ad - about specification - appeared in 1954 when a list of
features was finally forthcoming: -



It was pretty obvious to me that Arthur Larsen was converting an existing
reel mower. It was this 1954 ad that first gave me the key clues I was seeking.

Particularly, that it was of ‘All steel construction’ and that it had ‘Machined steel drive gears’.
I knew what it was! It was an Australian …

TO BE CONTINUED …

PART THREE – Larsen Electric
Of all the hundreds of small classified ads for the Larsen Electric we
had little understanding of what it was. Almost universally, Arthur used
short classified ads that appeared on various weekdays and sometimes
on Saturday.

It was a magic find when I came across an illustrated ad from the
Sunday Mail of 25 September, 1949.

It’s the only Sunday Mail ad I have found on the Larsen, and … it was illustrated!

The Larsen Electric used a Williams Adams Presto, the Magic Mower
I have written about on these forums [see links below].

The Presto Lawnmower: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/70497/presto-the-magic-mower-c1932.html

William Adams and Company: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...company-presto-lawnmowers.html#Post70547

Presto Lawnmower Billboard: -
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...presto-lawnmower-billboard-ad-c1932.html


Would you like to comment on this article?
Simply creat a new topic in the Old Soap Box HERE.