OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Curios and Stories NEWSPRINT CARTOONS - "Avoiding Work"

Hello ODK History Lovers

This is a left-of-field story about newspaper cartoons depicting a lawnmower or garden equipment theme.
The theme discussed here is 'Avoiding Work'.

These cartoons are important historically; because they capture a certain 'truth' or zeitgeist of the times.
It is humour that captures a sort of stereotypical view about lawnmowers. It's sort of ... 'true'!

These 'Avoiding Work' cartoons, spanning from the 1900s to the 1950s, depict an unspoken observation about
mowing the lawn (or grass): that it was a chore, arduous, and to be avoided at all costs.



As a general rule, this theme was much more prevalent in the first half of the 20th century.
I think there is good reason for that: working class Australians experience with mowing the lawn
was via push hand-mowers. Using them was - and still is - hard physical work.

The advent of the power rotary mower was many folks' first introduction to power lawn mowing.
These were such a runaway success because they had so many advantages over hand-mowers and
powered reels: cheaper, lighter, cut in reverse, and most importantly- if you believe the
early advertising - could cut any height of grass. Mowing grass, and 'turning grass into lawn',
may not have become a pleasure; but it was sure less the beast of burden.

Enjoy ...

PART TWO:-
These cartoons run chronologically from 1900:

PART THREE:-

BORROWING



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