OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Company Histories VICTA - The Years 1951-1954

Hello ODK Victa Lovers
Victa was the most successful Australian lawnmower maker of the 20th Century.
They did everything so well!

This series of posts covers the general consensus from commentators:
that Victa became Number One by offering great products at the right price,
had an organised and motivated Australia-wide dealer network, offered brilliant
service and spares, but most of all, knew how to sell a mower!

This series of TOPICS discuss the memorable phrases, slogans and campaigns
used in Victa Factory print advertising (newsprint and magazines) for the first decade
- from 1951 to 1959.

This particular Topic covers the first four years.
Subsequent years will be discussed individually.

I think members should see how Victa selling Victas changed over the years ...
from the simple, short classified ads penned by Merv in the early 1950s to the full-
page spreads and disciplined season-long campaigns by Victa's Marketing
Department of the late 1950s.

I guess it's my personal tribute to Merv Richardson.


Richardson, Mervyn Victor (1893-1972)

TO BE CONTINUED ...

VICTA - 1951
Advertising for Victa mowers begins in 1951.
I have catalogued just over a dozen advertisements for Victa from this year.
They are classified ads from the Sydney Morning Herald and range from 2 to 5 lines long.

They cover the warmer months February to April, and then November to December.
This is Merv pre-rotary - when he was making a 14" reel mower at his home garage.

There's not much marketing technique. Most common phrase would be "Many Improvements".
He does say, though, "a better mower" and "the best Petrol Mower". Note Merv's home phone
number UF3093. This is where it all began, and Merv and wife (maybe son, Gary) would no
doubt be ready to answer the phone on Saturday morning [Merv had a full-time job during
the week at this time].

The gallery below shows all my 1951 ads. The first ad is a curious one, advertising a second-
hand machine. I have written about its possible meaning elsewhere. The first ad advertising
the Victa 14" appears on March 17.

VICTA - 1952 - The 14" Reel
The most significant thing about 1952 advertising for me seems to be Merv's determination
to "make a go of it". He was, after all, an Aussie battler that had experienced the Great Depression.
This was his only chance in mid-life. The number of ads during the warmer months rose
considerably above the 1951 numbers (over 40 for 1952).

Merv's story is: Aussie battler to Aussie Millionaire.

Any Victa enthusiast will know that late 1952 gave birth to the iconic Victa rotary. It is for this
reason that I discuss the 14" reel and 18" rotary separately. Let's deal with the reel in this first part.

In 1952 Merv advertised pretty much weekly in the summer and then spring months.
The 14" price of £67 remained the same as late the previous year for the first two months
of 1952. Then, Merv increased the price to £75! In the second-half of 1952 he changed price again!

It is open to speculation why the significant increase and decrease - In early February of 1952
Merv adds a new marketing strategy ... "Easy Terms"! This was an inducement for lower income
buyers. I wonder whether that was the reason for the price increase? Who knows!

Another inducement was "Immediate Delivery" - but that had been offered from the earliest ads
of 1951. I guess Merv didn't like the idea of "made to order". It is a sign, I think, of ambition and
confidence in the product. Note that the 1951 prices varied widely - £57, £64, £67. You decide
what's going on. Was Merv testing 'value' amongst some limited success?

I do know that Merv seriously lowered the price of the 14" in the Spring of 1952. He drops the
price to £59, just £2 above the initial 1951 price. Why?

Let me speculate ... The iconic Victa rotary was born in the spring of 1952. It's pretty clear that
Merv was exiting reel mower making for a much better proposition ... the rotary.

For a short period - late 1952 to early 1953 - Merv would advertising the 14" reel alongside
his new invention, the Victa 18" Rotomo. I think Merv was committed to the rotary from mid-1952
and the lower price of his little reel mower was a sort of clearance sale. Again, you decide.

The first illustrated advert I have for the 14" comes from 23 March of 1952.
I remember it was an exciting find for me at that time. Nobody had written about the first Victa in
any detail. The second illustrated ad (identical to the first) came from 03 April of 1952. Merv placed
it just above the "DEATHS" section on page 19 of the Sun!

That's a pretty clever - and subtle - marketing idea ... (think about it).

Do you think that's a young Gary Richardson in the newsprint ad?: -




Here is my selection of ads ...

VICTA - 1952 - The 18" Rotary
Australian lawnmower making history changed on 20 September, 1952.
On that particular Saturday a short advertisement appeared for the first time
in the classified columns of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Merv Richardson's leap of faith in the rotary design started with this advertisement: -

FOR SALE, Victa 18in Rotomo, 1-h.p. Pet. Eng.
Cuts to fences and any height, grass,
weeds, etc. Safe for 10-year-olds.
£39/16/. Any time, UF3093.



Note that, from the very start, the Victa Rotary was named as a Rotomo.
The "Billy Cart" became its nick-name after the event (because of its cast billy-cart wheels).
It appears that these small diameter wheels were a carry-over from the prototype
"Peach-tin" design.

This was an ad that presented feature-based advertising.
This is "reason-why" marketing at its simplest.

The first feature was, of course, that this was a petrol engine - not a mains electric motor,
that powered the first AUS rotaries half a decade beforehand. The petrol motor technology
was well understood by this time, and without physical restrictions or limitations of the
corded electrics. The Victa, like the automobile, gave freedom to the user!

The second feature was a clear attack on the conventional reel mowers - that a rotary
(of the skirtless design) could cut grass to fences - no edging required! This was the
great feature of what would be coined the "toe-cutter" base. No hands-and-knees edge
clipping required.

The third feature was an important feature that Victa would use in advertising for this decade:
the Victa rotary would cut any height of obstacle. I have written about some crazy stories
about this. The claim has a certain truth, but really?!!!

It is hilarious that the fourth feature would be ... safety! Yes, this was a base claimed "safe
for 10-year-olds". I'm not so sure about that - I feel there is a certain conflict between
feature two and this claim ....

The fifth feature was price. Always a key feature in the emerging hegemony of the
rotary mower over the reel mower in the following decades. A basic powered rotary
would always be cheaper than a basic powered reel to buy, and significantly cheaper
to service than a reel mower. For me, this is buying proposition number 1.

The sixth and final feature was the "Any time" contactability. Of course, that meant
the respectable hours, but Merv's biggest day would be all-day-Saturday trading
from his home at 81 Brays Road, Concord.

I have found three separate examples of an illustrated Victa rotary ad from 1952,
appearing in November and December. Merv pretty much advertised weekly in the
Classifieds of the Sydney weekend papers, but the illustrated ads I have found
come from the Friday papers - and were not classified ads, but dearer
placements located somewhere in the first dozen pages of the edition.

I feel Merv Richardson had early notice that he had struck gold!

VICTA - the 1953 Year
A recent revision of my original research into Victa in the formative years has
revealed some surprises ... or, at least, confirmation about how Merv marketed
his mowers, and how he was a stickler for introducing a new model(s) in the
late months of every year.

The 1953 year presented Victa's first rotary - the Rotomo "Billy Cart", introduced in
the Spring of 1952. In August of 1953 Victa would start taking orders for the
2nd model - the first "Fan" Rotomo. There are surprises here!

The early 1953 ads show that the Victa 14" Reel was being advertised alongside
the new Rotomo in January of 1953. The price of the 14" in January was £57 plus
tax ... the original 1951 price. I guess Merv realised where his company's future lay ...
This was a clearance sale of his first Victa.



The first Victa ads of 1953 carry over the features of the late 1952 ads ...
lightweight, petrol, easy to use, cuts to fences, etc.

But features were added ... "no blade sharpening"; and "Velvet smooth finish".
This phrase would be the pre-cursor, I think, to Victa's most famous slogan of the
late 1950s [and way beyond], "Turns Grass into Lawn".



In 1953 Merv Richardson would quit his job and concentrate on making rotary lawnmowers.
The business was expanding at a hectic rate as more Australians realised the advantages
of a cheaper, powered lawnmower, better suited to our country and lifestyle.

Victa Mowers Pty. Ltd. Opened for business on 13 February, 1953. Staff, 6;
Production ... about 60 mowers per week.

LOCATION
Merv needed to move assembly from his backyard garage to more suited premises.
Enter Victa's second location - this would be 27 Gale Street, Mortlake " Fry's Shed".
More needs to be said about this second location - next to a church - and clearly a
temporary measure.

Evidence from late 1953 (for 1954) says a new location was planned - on Parramatta
Road, Concord. That would not take effect, in advertising, until the second quarter of
1954. This would be Victa's second "factory" and third location.




The new model - for 1954 - would be the first model Rotomo "Fan" mower.
My first ads come from November of 1953. The big surprise is that tin/rubber tyred
wheels would be an optional extra on the first Fan mowers.

In late 1953, the first Fans were fitted with "Billy Cart" cast wheels.
The new tin/rubber wheels were an optional extra!
[The tin/rubber wheels would become standard at some time in early 1954]

Also note the first evidence of a snorkel filter on a rotary lawnmower.
That's amazing! Sorry to disappoint collectors and 'experts', but evidence
indicates that all 'Fan' Victas had snorkels! [best guess].

VICTA - the 1954 Year
A lot happened at Victa Mowers in 1954.
I wouldn't say the time line is clear ... and there is good reason for this.

The new model - Mk 1 Fan Rotomo (fitted with a Mk 2 Villiers Midget Engine) was Victa's
lawnmower for the 1954 model year. But the late 1954 Mk 2 Fan Rotomo would have a
shorter production life than expected ... given the turmoil and decision making that would
greet Victa in 1955!

The first surprise is that - for most of 1954 - Merv may have ran two Rotomo models ...
the Rotomo and the Rotomo De Luxe. The difference appears to have gone to
the new rubber tyred wheels used on the De Luxe Rotomo. This is not clear.

My best interpretation is that Merv offered just the De Luxe (with rubber tyres) and
the cast wheels were abandoned as standard fitment at some time in 1954.

I cannot rule out the role of the snorkel filter on Fan mowers;
with ads making no reference to this as a clear selling feature. That is odd.!
Was the snorkel just fitted to the de luxe?



By the second quarter of 1954 print advertisements make no mention of the
cast iron billy cart wheels. The model (in illustrated and copy-only ads) would
always be referred to as the 18in Rotomo de luxe, and the pricing would reflect
this. Also note that Merv would shift from pricing plus tax to pricing that included
tax for most ads.

It is probable, then, that Victa offered two model Rotomos in 1954, but only
advertised the de luxe rubber-tyred model. Who knows?

The big surprise is that the second version of Victa's "Fan Mower" was probably
released following convention ... in the Spring of 1954. But its life span would not
conform with usual model conventions.

Why? ...
The introduction of Victa's ground-breaking Model 1 would occur in April of 1955.
This means that the MK 2 Fan mower had a shorter life span - of about seven
months - before Victa would introduce the ground-breaking Model 1!

PREMISES & PHONE NUMBERS
Print advertising is revealing as to Victa's change of addresses and telephone
numbers. Even though assembly at the start of 1954 had moved to Fry's Shed
at 27 Gale Street, Mortlake, phone orders were still taken at UF3093 (the home
phone number). I think the Gale Street address was always intended as a
temporary location.

Assembly would move to more suitable (and larger) premises on Parramatta Road.
This would be Victa's third location and first purpose-built assembly factory and showroom.

My best guess is that this move - from Gale Street to Parramatta Road - occurred end
of March for an April opening. The first ad I have found for the Parramatta Road premises
comes from 3 April of 1954. Note that phone orders were still from UF3093, Merv's home phone.



When assembly moved to the new premised at 47-51 Parramatta Road, Concord,
telephone orders were taken for a short period (April, 1954) at the home number.
A new number, UJ3362, would appear from May, 1954.



There also appears to have been a second number - UJ1982, but I suspect that
was mostly for administration purposes. More on that phone number later.

The Issue of the New Victa Base
The defining feature of the Mk II Fan mower was the higher fluted base.
I cannot find any illustration of MK II Fan mowers in Victa advertising.
I feel there is good reason for this.

Let me speculate: The new base was designed not for the MK II Fan Mower,
but for the introduction of Victa's Model One Rotomo pf April, 1955!
Yet it was used on the MK II Fan Mower.

In June, 1954 Victa placed an ad for Repetition Metal Spinning.



The new base was, for me, clearly intended for the new Victa 125 cc engine,
that required a higher base to accommodate the two-bearing bottom end of the
crankshaft for the new 125 cc. You decide ...

The MKII Fan mower had a shorter life than usual - because Merv wanted his own
engine on Victas as soon as possible. Maybe he was motivated by "Payback" ...
for the long delays in getting Villiers engines from Villiers Australia?

Sufficient has been written about Victa's frustration with lack of supply of Villiers engines
to Victa at this time. Victa was receiving orders that simply could not be met - and with a
waiting time of up to three months! This was commercially unacceptable to Victa!

Action needed to be taken. Merv's bold move - to make his own engine - would pay off!

Selling Techniques for 1954
Generally, the same, simple language appears as copy in Victa ads for 1954. The ads are
again feature driven. However, note the increasing sophistication and length of copy in the
illustrated ads from late 1954.

We see the first cut-out mail coupon in August, 1954. Compare the language in the 13 August
ad to the 10 September ad. "Believe it or not" is augmented by copy involving "belief" and
"Miracle mower". Isn't the Victa parting the waters (grass) ?

Victa was using religious metaphors!
That is a significant point - currently unexplored.

A second point is this:
In August, 1954, the advertising says 'Immediate Delivery'.
Availability is removed next month ... the start of the new Spring season!

You read between the lines here ...





Victa Advertising was becoming more sophisticated. There is even a slogan - of sorts -
with "The Greatest Cut of All" appearing in the 29 October ad. Note that illustrated ads, again,
appeared in Friday newspaper editions. The factory and showroom were open 6 days a week,
but Saturday was the busiest day.

The Gallery below offers a selection of the sixty or so ads I have from 1954.

TO BE CONTINUED ...