OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories AUSTRALIAN Rotary Models MERCURY Lawnmowers - c1949

Hello ODK members and history lovers

Mercury electric lawnmowers were made by Mercury Electrical Products of
36 Ricketty Street, Mascot, Sydney, with an interstate office at
Swanston Street, Melbourne.

Mercury lawnmowers were manufactured from 1949 and throughout the 1950s.
It appears they did not manufacture in the 1960s. Mercury also manufactured
electric motors, washing machines, floor polishers and ... vacuum cleaners.

For me, the name 'Mercury' captured the excitement of the space age.
I would have been a sucker for one of their vacuum cleaners:-



The Mercury appears to have been marketed under various names - The Mercury, Super-Merc, Super Silent.
They also seem to have been 'branded' for other companies - Breville - Tasma - (perhaps).

They were all Mercurys. The machine had an aluminium ('rustproof') base and was available in AC/DC,
32 volt and 240 volt variants. Cutting width was about 12 inches.





TO BE CONTINUED ...

THE 18" MERCURY

I was astounded that by 1957 Mercury was offering an 18" mower.
Note that the advertisement is referencing a 'motor' mower ... meaning
there was a petrol-powered mercury.



I have found very few references to it. It presents as an aluminium base, with
primitive height adjustment and rear grass discharge.
Its days were clearly numbered.

Mercury also offered an electric version of the Super Merc 18:-

SIGNIFICANCE

The Mercury was a very early Australian lawnmower. It was being manufactured some three years before the
Victa rotary and the ensuing rotary mower revolution.

It was not an original design in that it seemed to have copied the Tecnico. Nonetheless, its collectability
should be on the basis of it being a part of early Australian rotary history - the electric lawnmower period.
There were attempts made for its survival - the 18" - but it had no desirable features beyond that.

The rest is history.
--------------------------------------
JACK.

UPDATE - 2016
A rare leaflet for the Mercury has emerged. The leaflet links Mercury Products
with the actual manufacturer, R.G. Marshall, of 36 Ricketty Street, Mascot.
So it may well be that Mercury was a sort of Sales Division (or the retail arm)
of Marshall. That would make sense when one considers that Marshall was making
the same lawnmower (with different branding) for both Breville and Tasma.

Pending.


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