PART THREE - COMMENT & ANALYSISWhilst the records for the company are numerous, I can find no records for the Finecut.
Whilst I am hopeful we will find some, this seems to indicate that the Bartram was
short-lived and sold in very few numbers. The reason also seems obvious ...
For me, the significant omission in the late 1956 advert is the ... rotary lawnmower.
The presented alternatives are the reel hand-mower and the powered reel mower.
It is as though it was not clear to Bartram's the rotary posed a threat at all by
late 1956! A more understanding approach (and interpretation) is that Bartram's
understood the situation very clearly: Folk, post WWII, were buying their first
powered lawnmower - would it be reel or rotary?
There is another mystery?I found one record in a Repco catalogue from 1960. It mentions a
Bartram Model 60
rotary, fitted with a small Villiers engine. I haven't seen any of them either!
So the Bartram mowers remain a mystery. I am hoping this article will be found
on the web, and an owner will come forward (it's worked for me in the past).
Clearly Bartram was a small player, but one that came from a once-giant company in
Australian history. I wonder whether anyone will remember the little
Bartram Finecut.
The rest is history.---------------------------------------
Jack