1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I am an executive producer with I Heart 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: Radio and what the tech is going on? Um, I'm 5 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: work shopping new taglines. Uh. I was going to have 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: a brand new episode ready for you today and then 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: a an unexpected home emergency happened. Nothing serious, everybody's okay. 8 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: I mean it's serious, but it's everybody's okay, which is 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: the most important thing. But unfortunately it meant that it 10 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: did a real number on my ability to research right 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: and record a brand new episode. So sadly, the first 12 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: episode of two is actually going to be an episode 13 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: from this episode published February twenty one. Fun fact, February 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: fift that's the uh that's the higher date of one 15 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland at well back then it was how Stuff 16 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: Works dot com. So uh yeah, we'll be coming up 17 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: on an anniversary again soon. Anyway, this episode is one 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: of the ones that I'm really proud of. I had 19 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: a lot of fun doing it. It is titled How 20 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: Medieval Warfare Lead to the Lawnmower. Hope you enjoy. While 21 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: I've been recording shows from my home for nearly a 22 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: year now. I still occasionally get reminded about how things 23 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: can be different from when I was working in the office. 24 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: The most part, things are kind of like this is 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: this is the normal now. However, at the office, there 26 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: is no chance that my dog will be barking in 27 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: the background while I record, and so far, I think 28 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: I've mostly avoided having him show up on episodes of 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff, but only because I've edited around it. Keep 30 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: telling him if he wants to be on a show, 31 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: he should get his own podcast, But I'm also scared 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: that if he does that, he'll get way more popular 33 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: than me. You're also not likely to hear other extraneous 34 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: noises at the office because there are studios are recording 35 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: studios are all in rooms that don't have a window 36 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: to the outside world built into them, though you can 37 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: still occasionally pick up sounds of folks who are chatting 38 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: in the office outside the studios, because well, at least 39 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: in the office, we used to be a pretty chatty lot. 40 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: So if you listen to any of the stuff shows, 41 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: if you listen very carefully, you might occasionally hear the 42 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: sounds of people talking outside that studio room. That's because 43 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: there are desks and stuff just on the other side 44 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: of those doors. But one noise that has been a 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: particular issue for me while working at home has been 46 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: the sound of the landscape crew that's working on the 47 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: courtyard outside townhouse I live in. They always seem to 48 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: show up just as I'm getting ready to record. And 49 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: then I thought, Hey, how about I talk about the 50 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: history of lawnmowers and how they work. That could be 51 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: a great topic and turn that frustration I feel into 52 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: an episode. So let's begin with some etymology, which I 53 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: am now being told is not the study of bugs, 54 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: but rather the origin of words. So we think of 55 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: a lawn, you know, as a grassy area like a yard, 56 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: typically covered by turf grass in fact, and that is 57 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: somewhat kept in an orderly fashion, partly by cutting the 58 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: grass fairly low. But where does the word lawn come from? Well, 59 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: the word derives from a Middle English word of lander, 60 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: meaning an unwitted field or an open space in the woods, 61 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: like a glade. Thanks Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Now, y'all, 62 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: my no Back in my college days, I studied medieval literature, 63 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: including Old and Middle English texts, and so immediately I 64 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: thought of our old pal Jeffrey Chaucer, known for composing 65 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: the Canterbury Tales, though then he thoughtlessly went off and 66 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: died before he finished writing them. But he also wrote 67 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: a poem called Parliament of Fouls that mentions a Lawnda, 68 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: which hey, that poem also references Valentine's Day later on, 69 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: and since we just had Valentine's Day, this episode is 70 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: now timely. So the whole poem is far too long 71 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: for me to read. It's like seven lines long, but 72 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: I will give you the little bit of it that's 73 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: about the LAWNDA. And the passage goes like this, and 74 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: then a lawanda upon the Hilla of Flores was set. 75 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: This nobler goddess natier of branches were here Harlis and 76 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: her bores he wrought after Haircraft, and here measure. Now, 77 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: this passage goes on a bit longer, but honestly, I 78 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: would just be indulging my own love of medieval English lit, 79 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: so I'm going to cut it off. There. What that 80 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: passage means in modern English is and in an opening 81 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: in the woods, on a hill covered with flowers sat 82 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: the goddess Nature. Her home was made of branches and 83 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: arranged according to her art. So it's a pretty little passage. 84 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: And here Londa refers to something you might encounter if 85 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: you were walking through the countryside, through the wooded forests 86 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: of old England or old France, and then at one 87 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: point you encounter an opening in the forest where there 88 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: aren't any trees. So how did it come to mean 89 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: the word lawn that we use today? Well, to understand 90 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: that we have to talk about war. Yes, just as 91 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: many a homeowner has suspected lawn care and warfare go 92 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 1: hand in hand. Okay, So you got your big medieval 93 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: big wig types. You know, you've got your kings and 94 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: your lords and your earls and whatnot. And occasionally these 95 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,799 Speaker 1: types would lead large groups of warriors to conquer other 96 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: medieval big wig types, something like, Hey, those guys over 97 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,280 Speaker 1: there got it pretty good, so why don't we go 98 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: over there and take their stuff and make it our stuff? 99 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: And so the world turns upon such thoughts. But it's 100 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,599 Speaker 1: not enough to conquer the people who live on the 101 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: other side of the hills or river or ocean or whatever. 102 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,359 Speaker 1: You got to hold on to the land that you've claimed, right, 103 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: And that means creating fortifications, preferably in places where you 104 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: can get a pretty good look at your surroundings to 105 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: make sure no other medieval big wigs get the same 106 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: bright idea you got, and then they come to take 107 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: your stuff and it used to be someone else's stuff, 108 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: because you know there's always a bigger fish, as it were. 109 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,840 Speaker 1: So you build up your forts or your castles as 110 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: it were, to protect your assets. Your castles are your 111 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: defense system where you can pull back if necessary if 112 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: enemies come to call. But you can't really be on 113 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: the lookout for the next bully if you can't see 114 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: the armies for the trees, right, and so it gets 115 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: to chopping. You chop, chop, chop all those trees down 116 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: around your fortifications so that you can see folks from 117 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: a long way off if they're approaching, and you can 118 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: prepare if there's an imminent attack. It also helps if 119 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: you know you don't leave trees around for people to 120 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: cut down and turn into stuff like battering ramps. So 121 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: there's that element as well. So rather than wooded fields, 122 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: you have grassy ones. And this is the origin of 123 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: the lawn though back in those days the lawns weren't exactly, 124 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,679 Speaker 1: you know, pristine. So to maintain the lawns, you'd either 125 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: have livestock go out to the fields to graze, thus 126 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: cutting back the grass by eating it, as well as 127 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: fertilizing the land on occasion, you know, when nature called, 128 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: or you could have laborers go out to the fields 129 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: with hand tools like scythes and sickles to cut back 130 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: the grass manually so that it wasn't too high. A 131 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: sickle is a handheld tool that has a handle, typically 132 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: made out of wood, and on the business end, you've 133 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: got a curved blade sticking out from the handle, making 134 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: kind of like a almost like a half moon, you know, 135 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: sort of crescent shaped, and the blade is also typically 136 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: at an angle relative to the handles, sort of how 137 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 1: a razor has an angle to it for the purposes 138 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: of shaving aside is similar, but it's much larger. It's 139 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: a two handed tool. The grim reaper carries a scythe, 140 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: and cutting with either a sickle or a scythe involves 141 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: making horizontal passes, typically at the base of the grass, 142 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: and you cut in an arc from one side to 143 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: the other, and big arcing swings, so semicircular swings and 144 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: those swings only go in direction. The blade is is 145 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: sharpened on the inside curve, not the outside curve, and 146 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: you're typically going right to left because the handle for 147 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: the forward hand on a scythe is meant to be 148 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: held with the right hand. The left hand is meant 149 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: to hold the scythe further back on the on the handle, 150 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: So in other words, this is yet another right handed tool. 151 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: Scything can actually be pretty efficient. There are actually there's 152 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: some great videos on YouTube of people who have really 153 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: gotten skilled with scything and they can make short work 154 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: of an overgrown lawn like they can cut that stuff 155 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: down quickly. I suggest you check it out. It's just 156 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: neat to watch. And the angle of the blade determines 157 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,440 Speaker 1: how short the side will cut the grass. Using a 158 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: scythe with a good blade angle, a skilled wheelder can 159 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: cut the grass very low and pretty efficiently too, and 160 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: you would have the bottom part of the blade actually 161 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: making contact with the ground as you swing the scythe 162 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: from right to left. They also tend to have to 163 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: rake up the yard afterwards to gather up all the trimmings. 164 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: Were usually looking at fields that have you know, grass 165 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: that's quite high, like maybe a foot high or maybe taller, 166 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 1: so you need to have something to to rake up 167 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: all the clippings that you've left behind. I've seen a 168 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: lot of videos of folks using sides in order to 169 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: cut back on, you know, relying on fossil fuels, and 170 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: to make use of the trimmings in various ways, from 171 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: compost to making hay while the sun shines. In some videos, 172 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: I've seen folks use scythes more effectively than someone who 173 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: is using a mechanical push mower or a weed whacker, 174 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: though power mowers do tend to be more efficient than 175 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,319 Speaker 1: a scythe, So a push mower, like a mechanical one 176 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: where there's no motor, it's just from human power that 177 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: versus a scythe, you might actually see someone be more 178 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: effective with the side than with the push mower. Weed 179 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: whackers same thing, uh, the push mower that has a 180 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: motor on it, those tend to win out in the end. 181 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: So it really does start to make you wonder, however, 182 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: why the heck did anyone think to invent the mechanical 183 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: lawnmower in the first place. If a scythe can be 184 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:25,239 Speaker 1: as efficient, why would anyone ever think about making a 185 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,439 Speaker 1: mechanical invention that does effectively the same sort of thing. 186 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: The first lawnmowers were purely mechanical, relying on gears and 187 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: blades that were mounted on a drum like cylinder. And 188 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: if those aren't more efficient than a scythe why would 189 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: you bother? And the answer is drumroll please vanity. See. 190 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 1: While in the medieval era soldiers wanted to get a 191 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: good view of what might be coming at him throughout Europe, 192 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: particularly in France and England, the strategic usefulness of castle's 193 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: gradually decline in the Middle Ages, largely because of advancements 194 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: in artillery. Cannons could make very short work of castle 195 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: walls and so warfare began to change and castles weren't 196 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: part of that. But you still had all these hoity 197 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: toity types who like the idea of a well maintained lawn. Again, 198 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: mostly in France and England, that's really where this idea 199 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: took hold, and this was definitely an issue of vanity, 200 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: particularly when it came to showing off your prestige. Lawns 201 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: are not natural environments when you get down to it, 202 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,319 Speaker 1: they can be environmentally unfriendly. They represent a much more 203 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: limited biome than a natural grassy or wooded area. It's 204 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: an artificial construct. It's really an example of humans cutting 205 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: back nature to suit our own esthetics. And really it 206 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: was only the hoity toity types doing this, because maintaining 207 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: a lawn was a lot of work, Not that the 208 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: hoity toity types were the ones doing the work, mind you, 209 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: but they were the ones who could afford livestock or 210 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: laborers who would trend back stuff for them. So from 211 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: manor houses to inhabited castles you had the practice of 212 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: maintaining these large grassy areas. Now, some of that sensibility 213 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: would also find its way over to the New World 214 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: where it really took hold. Now, the grasses in the 215 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: New World were different than those found in Europe. But 216 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: when settlers came to North America, they brought with them livestock, 217 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: and apparently the livestock really liked the grass in America 218 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: so much so that they ding dang durnate at all. 219 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: So to keep the livestock from starving, the colonists were 220 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: importing grass seeds from Europe and North Africa, including grasses that, 221 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: if you were to go by their names, sound like 222 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:50,599 Speaker 1: they come from America. Kentucky blue Grass. I'm looking at you. 223 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: You ain't from Kentucky. Thomas Jefferson was said to have 224 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: taken up the goal of creating a manicured lawn at 225 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: Monticello after he visited France, and George Washington had a 226 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: similar desire to turn his a state of Mount Vernon 227 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: into a mirror of European standards. And certainly the idea 228 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: of a well kept lawn managed to really take hold 229 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: in America, becoming something of an obsession really, which will 230 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: cover a little bit later in this episode, and certain 231 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: sports definitely helped things along, for which we can largely 232 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: thank the Scots. Scottish sports like golf and lawn bowling 233 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: were brought over by Scottish immigrants to America and they 234 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: became popular past signs for those who had the leisure 235 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: to pursue such things. But to play lawn games, you 236 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: gotta cut the grass, otherwise you're going to spend more 237 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: time trying to find the game equipment than you get 238 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: to play with the darned things. Now we're gonna come 239 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: back to the evolution of the lawn, particularly in America, 240 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: and just a little bit as that history ties into 241 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: a lot of other interesting stuff and includes some heavy 242 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: duty connections to other elements of American society, in addition 243 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: to feeding an entire industry dedicated to lawn care and maintenance. 244 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: But let's get back to our early history of lawn mowers. Okay, 245 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: So by the nineteenth century, lawns were the rage in England, France, 246 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: and starting to be in America. But as I said, 247 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: unless you had livestock or the cash to pay laborers, 248 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: you probably couldn't maintain a lawn on your own. You 249 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: certainly couldn't do so to the immaculate standards of the aristocracy. 250 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: The wealthy would spend a lot to get that perfect lawn, 251 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: even going so far as to hire people to use 252 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: handheld shears to cut grass down quite low and to 253 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: avoid the patterns that you would see if you used scythes, 254 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: because cutting grass and those arc swings would leave behind 255 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: patterns in the grass, and that was considered aesthetically unpleasing. 256 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: And then we come to an Englishman named Edwin Beard 257 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: Budding born in Stroud, Gloucestershire. In Budding started off with 258 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: some strikes against him. His parents were unmarried, his father 259 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: a farmer, and in England, that put him at a 260 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: fairly low social standing. Class in England was a very 261 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: important concept still can be while over there on the 262 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: whole working class versus posh and all that sort of stuff. 263 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: So he started off in carpentry, but he switched over 264 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: to working at iron foundries. The Industrial Revolution was well 265 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: underway in England at this point and the demand for 266 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: iron tools and machinery was very high, and through experience 267 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: Budding built up an understanding of engineering and problem solving. 268 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: He would end up inventing several things or making his 269 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: own version of some existing machines, but obviously the one 270 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: we want to really look at is the lawnmower. Budding 271 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: got the idea for the lawnmower when he saw a 272 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: device used by textile mills to trim back the fibers 273 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: that stick out from the surface of cloth, also known 274 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: as the nap of a cloth, and with some textiles 275 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: the goal is to fluff the nap out, use little 276 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: homes or prickly flowers, even to pull some of those 277 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: threads out, and then you comb it a certain way, 278 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,919 Speaker 1: which can make the cloth softer to the touch and 279 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: better at doing stuff like trapping heat. But sometimes you 280 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: just wanted a very smooth piece of cloth, something that 281 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't get caught easily on rough surfaces. So, for example, 282 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: you might want a carpet that could withstand more use 283 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,479 Speaker 1: as long as it didn't you know, catch on shoes 284 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: and stuff. So you would want to shear the nap. 285 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 1: You'd want to cut that nap close to the cloth. 286 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: And in earlier days this job was done by skilled 287 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: tradespeople who would use giant sets of shears. I mean 288 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 1: these things were massive in order to cut the nap 289 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: off the surface of the cloths as efficiently as possible. 290 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: But by buttons time, some genius whose name is lost 291 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: to history came up with the notion of building a 292 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: mechanical device that has blades arranged around a drum or 293 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: cylinder in a type of helix shape. The drum or 294 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: cylinder rotates, and by running the surface of the cloth 295 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: near this helix of blades, the blades could trim back 296 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: the nap on the surface of the cloth. Add in 297 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: some rollers and some other elements to pull the cloth along, 298 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 1: and you get yourself a machine that can trim the 299 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:22,439 Speaker 1: nap back on cloth evenly, consistently, and efficiently. Ah Ha 300 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: said Budding, what if I took that same basic idea 301 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: and flipped it around a bit, so you could trim 302 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: back grass with rotating blades along a cylinder. And in 303 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty that's just what he did, securing a patent 304 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: number six zero eight one in fact for his invention. 305 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: I'll explain more about it after this quick break. Budding 306 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 1: saw an opportunity to create a device that could consistently 307 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: and reliably cut grass a specific lengths, so, in other words, 308 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: you could adjust how tall the ass would be and 309 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,959 Speaker 1: without leaving those marks behind that you would get if 310 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: you were to cut grass with scythes and such. Also, 311 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:13,439 Speaker 1: the lawnmower wouldn't poop on the lawn, unlike livestock. It 312 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: would be particularly handy for parks and sporting grounds where 313 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: the well to do could gather for their leisure time 314 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: and look for something, you know, orderly and neat, which 315 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: very much fit in with the sensibilities of the elite 316 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: of nineteenth century Britain. So Edwin Beard Butting built a 317 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 1: wheeled machine out of rought and cast iron, had a 318 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: pair of wheels. It also had a pair of rollers 319 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: and a forward roller and a back roller. Uh as 320 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: well as the blade mounted cylinder that did the actual cutting. 321 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: So imagine you've got a mechanical device has a small 322 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: roller in the front. This is the thing that can 323 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: be adjusted so you can control how close to the 324 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: ground you're cutting the grass. Behind that roller, you've got 325 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: your horizontal cylinder that's got the curved blades arranged in 326 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: a helix around that rotatble cylinder, so it rotates along 327 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: the horizontal axis, is what I'm saying. To either side 328 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,160 Speaker 1: of that are the wheels of the lawnmower that provides stability, 329 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: allows you to actually aim it and push it along 330 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: the ground. And then in the rear you have a 331 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: big roller. It kind of looks like a more narrow 332 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: and slightly smaller version of a steam roller, if that 333 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: helps you imagine this. Buttons design also incorporated a tray 334 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: to catch grass clippings. The tray was in the front 335 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,479 Speaker 1: because the way this machine worked, it would propel the 336 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: clippings out, shooting them out towards the front of the machine. 337 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: That way, you wouldn't have to follow behind the lawnmower 338 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: with a rake or something like that to to rake 339 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: up the clippings. And it was that rear roller, the 340 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: big steam roller type thing in the back that connected 341 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: to the bladed cylinder through a gear drive. That's where 342 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: you've got a series of gears that fit together to 343 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: transfer the rotational motion of the roller that's pressed against 344 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: the ground. So as you push the lawnmower forward, the 345 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,199 Speaker 1: roller rolls because it's making contact with the ground, and 346 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: it transfers that rotational motion to the cylinder or the 347 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,120 Speaker 1: drama if you prefer, that's got the blades on it. 348 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: And all of this was made out of iron. Now 349 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: this meant the person who was pushing the mower had 350 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: to use a pretty good amount of force because you 351 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: weren't just pushing hard enough to move the mower itself, 352 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: which being made out of iron, was pretty darn heavy, 353 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: but also to power that drive train of gears that 354 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: would you know, transmit the rotation to the cylinder. And 355 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: each step of that process, each gear connection, means that 356 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: you're losing a little bit of the amount of energy 357 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,239 Speaker 1: you're giving to the system to stuff like friction, So 358 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: that means you have to push even harder to get 359 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,479 Speaker 1: things going. But still Budding showed that the same general 360 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: principle that worked for cutting back the nap on cloth 361 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 1: could in fact be used to cut grass. He patented 362 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: his design in eighteen thirty, and in that patent Budding 363 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: said his invention represented quote a new combination and application 364 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: of machinery for the purpose of cropping or sharing the 365 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: vegetable surfaces of lawns, grass plats and pleasure grounds. Country 366 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: gentlemen may find and using my machine themselves, and amusing 367 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: useful and healthy exercise end quote. It's interesting to note 368 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: that a lot of the basic designs introduced by Budding 369 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: would stick around throughout the ages with mechanical push mowers, 370 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 1: and the ones that we have today have at least 371 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,160 Speaker 1: some resemblance to the one that Budding was making back 372 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: in the mid nineteenth century. Now they the new ones 373 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: are are more elegant in design, and they're made of 374 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: much lighter materials, but the general principle behind the operation 375 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 1: remains pretty much the same. Budding formed a partnership with 376 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: an engineer named John Ferraby, who owned a company called 377 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: Phoenix Iron Works. Fairby had the manufacturing rights to produce 378 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 1: Buddings design and fronted the costs to develop the prototype 379 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,439 Speaker 1: and one of the earliest lawnmowers that the pair produced 380 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: went to the London Zoo, and another one became the 381 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:29,680 Speaker 1: property of Oxford University. By eighteen thirty two, word had 382 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: already spread that Buddings machine could create great results, and 383 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: demand was soon outpacing Farraby's capacity to produce lawnmowers, and 384 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: Farraby then began to license the design to other engineers, 385 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: to other iron works owners, including Ransoms of Ipswitch, a 386 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,440 Speaker 1: company that was already in the business of producing plows 387 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: for farmers. They advertised the new lawnmower invention saying, quote 388 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 1: the machine is so easy to manage, the persons unpracticed 389 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: in the art of mowing may cut the grass on 390 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: lawns and bowling greens with ease end quote. In other words, 391 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: they were kind of positioning this as something of a 392 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: leisure activity for uh, for the upper class. That you know, 393 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: mowing the lawn with a side that was a low 394 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: class thing to do. That was for laborers. You wouldn't 395 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 1: see people of the upper classes do that. It was 396 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: beneath their station. But mowing with this exotic machine that 397 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,479 Speaker 1: was something befitting a person of high station. And it was, 398 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, pretty simple to operate these 399 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: things you just grabbed the handle of the mower and 400 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: you pushed it forward, kind of like a cart. You 401 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,239 Speaker 1: would exert a little bit of a downward push as 402 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: you did. So it took far less skilled and scything did. 403 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: And by framing the activity of mowing a lawn as 404 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,959 Speaker 1: a means of taking exercise and being out in nature, 405 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: the companies were slowly shift the perception of caring for 406 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: a lawn in general. And this would also help later 407 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 1: on as the lawnmower would be marketed towards the middle class, 408 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: when the prices would eventually come down. Now, when I 409 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,880 Speaker 1: say the demand was outstripping supply, we have to remember 410 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: that manufacturing in the eighteen thirties wasn't nearly as efficient 411 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: as it would be a century later. So I don't 412 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: want to give you the impression that the lawnmower became 413 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: the must have Christmas gift of eighteen thirty two or something. 414 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: When Budding passed away in eighteen forty six because of 415 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: a stroke, the lawnmower was a successful invention, but it 416 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: was not yet a household item, so it wasn't like 417 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: Budding had become a millionaire. In fact, he died before 418 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: really seeing his invention get adopted around England, France, and America. 419 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 1: By the eighteen sixties, Farrabees Iron Works had produced around 420 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: five thousand lawnmowers and then included a small range of 421 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: designs which mainly had to do with the width of 422 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: the lawnmower. A wider lawnmower can obviously cut a wider 423 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: strip of grass, which means you don't have to do 424 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 1: as many passes on a lawn or a field in 425 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: order to complete a job, but it also means that 426 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 1: the lawnmower gets heavier. Some of the designs incorporated a 427 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: second handle on the lawnmower. This one would be toward 428 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: the front of the machine, which meant you could actually 429 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: pull it along behind you instead of pushing it in 430 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,400 Speaker 1: front of you. One design I saw had the handle 431 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,679 Speaker 1: on a hinge, so you could swing the handle so 432 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: you could swing it towards the rear of the machine 433 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: and make it a push mower, or you could swing 434 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: it to the front of the machine and make it 435 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: a pull mower. Buddings design inspired others to make their 436 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 1: own adjustments. In eighteen forty two, Alexander Shanks, an inventor 437 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,400 Speaker 1: from Scotland, made a version of the lawnmower that could 438 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: be hitched to a horse or or pony, which allowed 439 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,200 Speaker 1: him to make even larger lawnmowers that would be far 440 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: too heavy for a person to push or pull on 441 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: their own to prevent the horses from damaging the grass. 442 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: Let's say that you were cutting the grass on a 443 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 1: golf course, something that was very common in Scotland or 444 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:20,199 Speaker 1: tennis courts. Well, they would put little leather shoes on 445 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: the horse's hoofs, so the horse would be wearing booties 446 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: in order to mow the lawn. In the eighteen fifties, 447 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,199 Speaker 1: inventor Thomas Green made some adjustments of his own to 448 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: the lawnmower design, and one simple tweak was that he 449 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: added a rake to help lift grass blades up a 450 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,200 Speaker 1: little bit for cutting, so that way you didn't end 451 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: up with any mist bits. But in the late eighteen 452 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: fifties he made a much more substantial change. He created 453 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 1: a chain drive for the mower's blades instead of the 454 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,239 Speaker 1: gear drive that Budding had created, and by removing the 455 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: need for so many cast iron gears and replacing them 456 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: with a chain, he made the lawnmowers design simpler and 457 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: importantly lighter. It was also apparently less noisy, as Green 458 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: called his lawnmower the Silen's Messoar for silent running. By 459 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,159 Speaker 1: this time, thirty years after the invention of the lawnmower, 460 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: word had reached America, and in eighteen sixty eight an 461 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:24,560 Speaker 1: inventor from Connecticut named Amariah Hills received a patent for 462 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: improvements to Budding's lawnmower design, which included changing out a 463 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: cylinder covered in blades to an open spiral cutter. So 464 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 1: just imagine a helix of blades, but you no longer 465 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: have the mounted on a cylinder. It's almost like it's 466 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: just two blades, and that mount two wheels on either 467 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: side that can turn. Uh. He also allowed more fine 468 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: tuning for the cutting height and changed how the handle 469 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: attached to the frame of the mower, and his design 470 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: would go on to become a very popular mower in 471 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: the Northeastern United States, sometimes called an archimedian mower because 472 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 1: the blades resembled the classic archimedian screw. Many of these 473 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: machines saw use in parks and for maintaining stuff like 474 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 1: golf courses and tennis courts and the like, but over 475 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: in America, they would also be sought after because of 476 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: a few other big factors, and one is the growth 477 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: of the suburbs. So, after the Civil War in America, 478 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: and as the US was having its own boom in industry, 479 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: cities were becoming more industrialized in general, and many people, 480 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,239 Speaker 1: at least many wealthy people, the people who could afford it, 481 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: moved out of the cities and settled in surrounding areas 482 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: near the cities, forming the suburbs. And like the French 483 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: and English aristocracy a century earlier, many of them saw 484 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 1: a well maintained lawn as something of a status symbol. 485 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: So there was a general movement toward cutting lawns, which 486 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: must have pleased a Mariah Hill as it represented a 487 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: demand for those archimedian mowers. And in eight teen seventy 488 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: Frank J. Scott's The Art of Beautifying Suburban Home Grounds 489 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: of small Extent hit the presses. This book, which is 490 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: six d eighteen pages in length if we don't include 491 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: all the advertisements. At the end of the book, it 492 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: goes to what I can only describe as excruciating detail 493 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: regarding how to make your lawn look absolutely magnificent, and 494 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: further you are a monster if you don't do it. 495 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: You can read the whole thing over on the Smithsonian 496 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: Libraries website if you would like. If you want to 497 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: skip to the juicy stuff, go to page one hundred seven, 498 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: chapter thirteen, The lawn. The chapter opens up with a 499 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: couple of references to poetry, followed by this passage quote, 500 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 1: A smooth, closely shaven surface of grass is by far 501 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 1: the most essential element of beauty on the grounds of 502 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: a suburban home. End quote boom, mic drop. You don't 503 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: mow your grass. You are in a front to beauty. 504 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: Now I'm being a little, you know, facetious here, but 505 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: Scott was arguing that in an age in which companies 506 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: were laying down train tracks or street car lines, more 507 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: people from far and wide, we're passing through different neighborhoods 508 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: and then judging those neighborhoods based on their aesthetic beauty 509 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: or lack thereof. And isn't it more American to be 510 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 1: proud of your community and to show it off with distinction. 511 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,040 Speaker 1: So rich suburbanites eight that stuff up, man, and so 512 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: lawn care started to be a big business. It was 513 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: boosted more with related inventions such as Joseph Lessler's lawn sprinkler, 514 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: which could attach to a garden hose. Lawns need a 515 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: good deal of water to remain healthy. That's What'll kind 516 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: of touch on that again in a bit. And this 517 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: was a way where you could water your lawn without 518 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: having to do a lot of backbreaking work in the process. 519 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: And again, the concept of lawn care being connected to 520 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: exercise and being out of doors was a big part 521 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: of all this too. So while America's obsession with lawn 522 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: care began to take root, so to speak, we had 523 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: other stuff going on at the same time. Sometime around 524 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: or so, inventors began to incorporate the next logical element 525 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: for lawnmowers steam engines. Yes, steam powered lawnmowers were a 526 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 1: thing briefly, and why not. Steam engines had already been 527 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: used for trains for decades, so why not strap a 528 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: big old boiler to a mechanical lawnmower and make the 529 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: boiling water do all the work. So here's how these 530 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: things worked. In general. You had your boiler, which is 531 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: the name suggests, is the container holding the water that 532 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: gets boiled off to produce steam. The boiler is pressurized, 533 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,720 Speaker 1: so the steam can't just escape, has to go through 534 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:58,720 Speaker 1: a specific route, and typically you would have a valve 535 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: that would allow steam to pass through under really incredible pressure. 536 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: So a furnace heats the boiler up, the water starts 537 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 1: to boil off, and the steam builds up and passes 538 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: through valves to a cylinder that has a piston in it. 539 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: The steam forces the piston down the length of the 540 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: cylinder until the piston passes an exhaust valve, whereupon the 541 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: steam escapes the cylinder, the piston returns to its starting position, 542 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 1: and the whole thing can happen again. Attaching mechanical elements 543 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: to the piston via a piston rod allows you to 544 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 1: transfer that mechanical motion to other components, such as the 545 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: wheels and the cutting blades of a lawnmower, and bang, 546 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 1: now you don't have to push it yourself or hitch 547 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: it to a horse or something. You just gotta fill 548 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,120 Speaker 1: up the boiler from time to time. You gotta keep 549 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: that furnace going and keep it really hot, and you know, 550 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: you just gotta not explode, which is something that can 551 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: happen if pressure builds up in a boiler and the 552 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: steam has nowhere to go. But hey, a boiler explosion 553 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: is a small price to pay for a well manicured lawn. Right. Okay, 554 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,880 Speaker 1: I'm clearly getting snarky again, but these lawnmowers did work, 555 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: and I've seen some that look like the results you 556 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 1: would get if you crossed a locomotive with a mechanical 557 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,319 Speaker 1: push mower along with a riding lawnmower. You would sit 558 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: in front of the boiler, which would be mounted at 559 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 1: the rear of the lawnmower, and you would use controls 560 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,800 Speaker 1: to steer yourself as you rode along and moved down 561 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: a lawn or field, and the steam engine provides all 562 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: the tow, the wheels, and the blades. It's neat, if 563 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: a little intimidating. These things were huge, and they had 564 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:40,840 Speaker 1: to be because if you're using steam, you need to 565 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: have a big boiler to hold enough water so that 566 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 1: you've got the the omph for your your engine. These 567 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,239 Speaker 1: clearly were not intended for the average homeowner, or even 568 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:55,359 Speaker 1: the upper middle class or lower upper class homeowners. These 569 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 1: were more for you know, larger, more regularly level areas. 570 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: They didn't do well if there were hills or anything 571 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: like that, so these were more frequently used for something 572 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: like a a flat landscaped park, or you know, a 573 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: sporting area like a golf course or maybe a tennis court. 574 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: They also didn't stick around for very long. And when 575 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,520 Speaker 1: we come back, I'll talk about the development of the 576 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,759 Speaker 1: gas powered lawnmower, which would take the steam of its 577 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: predecessor for a couple of good reasons. But first let's 578 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: take another quick break. Before I get into more modern mowers, 579 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: I should mention another inventor, this one named John Albert Burr. 580 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,320 Speaker 1: He made change us to the classic cylindrical lawnmower design 581 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: so that the gears wouldn't easily get gummed up with 582 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:55,120 Speaker 1: lawn clippings. Essentially, they figured out, hey, if we cover 583 00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 1: these gears up so that the lawn clippings can't get 584 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: in the gearworks, then you're not going to have as 585 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: many jams as you try and mow your lawn. He 586 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,040 Speaker 1: also created a mower that would allow landscapers to mow 587 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: more closely to the edge of walls and buildings to 588 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: get a neater cut. Also around this time, improvements in 589 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,799 Speaker 1: manufacturing meant that companies could mass produce lawnmowers, which also 590 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: meant the costs of production dropped, and that meant companies 591 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: could drop the prices of those machines, and that meant 592 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: more people were able to afford lawnmowers, and in American particular, 593 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: that meant booming business. As the idea that a well 594 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,759 Speaker 1: kept lawn was an important component of being seen as 595 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,719 Speaker 1: an upstanding member of society it had really taken hold here. 596 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 1: So this combination of elements led to a lot more 597 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: people buying lawnmowers. And when I say that, remember I'm 598 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,399 Speaker 1: still talking about the mechanical push mower style devices. Well, 599 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,239 Speaker 1: the steam powered lawnmowers appeared on the scene in the 600 00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:00,319 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties, but by nineteen o two, Ransoms then I 601 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,840 Speaker 1: mentioned much earlier in this episode as one of the 602 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:07,319 Speaker 1: first to license Budding's lawnmower design for production. Well, they 603 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: created the first lawnmower that used an internal combustion engine 604 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 1: for power. This was a ride on mower, and it 605 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:17,760 Speaker 1: was a big one. So this was not a push mower. 606 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: This this was a gigantic monstrosity. In fact, the images 607 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: I've seen of this thing make it look like there's 608 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:28,160 Speaker 1: a gentleman in a jacket and tweed hat who is 609 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 1: taking a printing press out for a ride or something. 610 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,600 Speaker 1: It's a machine with big, heavy chains, enormous rollers, a 611 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:39,400 Speaker 1: large container in front to catch clippings, and whirling blades 612 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,560 Speaker 1: of destruction underneath. It looks pretty awesome, I think, and 613 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,040 Speaker 1: almost unreal. It certainly isn't what I think of when 614 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:50,800 Speaker 1: someone says lawn mower to me. The internal combustion engine 615 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 1: was the death knell for steam powered lawnmowers. While Ransom's 616 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:58,880 Speaker 1: ride on mower was huge, the switch to an internal 617 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:03,480 Speaker 1: combustion engine would lead to smaller lawnmower designs, and you 618 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:06,440 Speaker 1: didn't need an enormous boiler like you would with a 619 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,839 Speaker 1: steam powered one. Nor did you have to stoke some 620 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,200 Speaker 1: sort of furnace to keep things going. You just needed 621 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:16,160 Speaker 1: some petrol in the fuel tank. Now, I've talked about 622 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:19,560 Speaker 1: how internal combustion engines work in other episodes, so I'm 623 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,200 Speaker 1: not going to go into all that detail here, but 624 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:24,840 Speaker 1: i will say that the early versions of the motor 625 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:29,359 Speaker 1: powered lawn mowers, really in other forms, seemed to be 626 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 1: based on that cylindrical helix design along the horizontal axis, 627 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,319 Speaker 1: the same sort of design that Budding had proposed way 628 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,800 Speaker 1: back in eighteen thirty. So these were not the rotary 629 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 1: mowers that we would see much later, not yet, but 630 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:47,040 Speaker 1: the advances in internal combustion engines, which would both make 631 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,800 Speaker 1: the mowers get smaller and more powerful. As various engineers 632 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,000 Speaker 1: made improvements to the engines that eventually did lead to 633 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,000 Speaker 1: the design of a different kind of lawnmowers. So instead 634 00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:01,400 Speaker 1: of that horizontal axis cylinder coal approach in which the 635 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,880 Speaker 1: blades would rotate around that horizontal access the internal combustion 636 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: in Gentel out for a lawnmower with a vertical axle 637 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: upon which you would fix a horizontal blade, So the 638 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: rotating vertical axle would rotate this horizontal blade close to 639 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 1: the ground in a really fast circle, and you've got 640 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 1: your rotary lawnmower. A lot of different engineers and companies 641 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 1: experimented with creating rotary lawnmowers for a few decades actually, 642 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,799 Speaker 1: but most of them weren't really that successful because the 643 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 1: engines being used just weren't up to turning something that 644 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:40,200 Speaker 1: way in an efficient manner, so you couldn't cut very 645 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,600 Speaker 1: well with them. But by the nineteen fifties it had 646 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,640 Speaker 1: become a viable approach to lawnmower design, and now we're 647 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,800 Speaker 1: going to get into some interesting and some upsetting parts 648 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:55,160 Speaker 1: of history. Okay, So we laid out how the aristocracy 649 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,800 Speaker 1: used lawns as a way to show off their wealth 650 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,520 Speaker 1: and their sensibilities, and we out about how those ideas 651 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:05,240 Speaker 1: filtered from France and England to America and how Frank 652 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:09,400 Speaker 1: Scott promoted them with his authoritative approach on appealing to 653 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:13,680 Speaker 1: wealthy suburban families. So let's talk about some big issues 654 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: in the United States that made lawns a sort of 655 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:20,120 Speaker 1: symbol of the hals versus the have nots. And this 656 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: is also going to have a lot to do about 657 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:27,160 Speaker 1: racial discrimination. Back in eighteen seventy when Scott's book hit 658 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:31,920 Speaker 1: the scene, his target demographic was the white suburban homeowner. 659 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,480 Speaker 1: The suburbs were where you typically find the upper middle 660 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,799 Speaker 1: class or maybe the lower upper classes, and these communities 661 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:44,240 Speaker 1: were predominantly white, and frequently that was actually a selling 662 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,600 Speaker 1: point that real estate agents would market to potential clients. 663 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:52,560 Speaker 1: It was, without a doubt a racist perspective, the idea 664 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,240 Speaker 1: that the community is preferable because there are no people 665 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:59,120 Speaker 1: of color living there. That's just gross, all right. So 666 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:03,240 Speaker 1: flash four to the nineteen forties, the United States enters 667 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:07,120 Speaker 1: World War two and sends more than sixteen million Americans 668 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: to serve. During the war, more than four hundred thousand 669 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,440 Speaker 1: of those Americans died in action and another six hundred 670 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:19,200 Speaker 1: seventy thousand were wounded. At the time, racial segregation was 671 00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:23,040 Speaker 1: still very much in practice even in the military, and 672 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:25,640 Speaker 1: the number of black people serving in the US military 673 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:30,240 Speaker 1: actually represented a lower percentage than the demographics of black 674 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:34,239 Speaker 1: people relatives to the general US population at the time, 675 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,919 Speaker 1: but there were still thousands of black soldiers and volunteers 676 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:42,239 Speaker 1: who were active in the theater of war, including soldiers 677 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:46,800 Speaker 1: on the front lines. Back home, the United States government 678 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:51,680 Speaker 1: passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of nineteen forty four, better 679 00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:54,319 Speaker 1: known as the g I Bill. The purpose of the 680 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,480 Speaker 1: bill was to create a support system for soldiers returning 681 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: home that included important infrastructure like the construction of hospitals, 682 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,440 Speaker 1: but it also included the chance to go to college 683 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:09,960 Speaker 1: tuition free up to five dollars, which, hey, how about 684 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:14,719 Speaker 1: those college tuition increases, y'all. They could also secure low 685 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:18,760 Speaker 1: interest mortgage offers on homes through banks because the government 686 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,680 Speaker 1: was backing those loans. So these soldiers, some of whom 687 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: had been overseas for years were to be given some 688 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,800 Speaker 1: assistance upon returning home to make up for the fact 689 00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:31,640 Speaker 1: that they had to leave their lives, their loved ones, 690 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 1: and their livelihoods all behind. And that bill meant that 691 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,400 Speaker 1: millions of returning soldiers would be able to buy a 692 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,840 Speaker 1: home for the first time in the suburbs and follow 693 00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:44,400 Speaker 1: the American dream of a white picket fence and a 694 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:49,000 Speaker 1: well manicured lawn. That is, they could do it if 695 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:53,520 Speaker 1: they were white. While the bill ostensibly offered benefits to 696 00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:58,280 Speaker 1: all returning veterans, regardless of race or gender, in practice 697 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,200 Speaker 1: it was far more common to see those benefits go 698 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:06,759 Speaker 1: to white male veterans, and black veterans also frequently found 699 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,120 Speaker 1: it really hard to secure a loan from a bank 700 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:13,640 Speaker 1: for a mortgage, even with the guaranteed government backing that 701 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:16,640 Speaker 1: came from the g I Bill, And so the suburban 702 00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:20,399 Speaker 1: home and along with it, the American lawn became sort 703 00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:25,640 Speaker 1: of an extended marker for segregation and racial discrimination. Now 704 00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:28,920 Speaker 1: did this mean that all white people who enjoyed maintaining 705 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:33,120 Speaker 1: their lawn were racist for doing so, No, of course not. 706 00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,840 Speaker 1: Rather they were privileged and that they had more opportunities 707 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:41,200 Speaker 1: to secure a home in the suburbs and a lawn 708 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:46,040 Speaker 1: to maintain than people of color had. And that's also 709 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:49,200 Speaker 1: to point out that there were black people moving into 710 00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:53,200 Speaker 1: suburbs and having lawns, but from a systematic point of view, 711 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:56,919 Speaker 1: they were doing so by overcoming obstacles that their white 712 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:01,439 Speaker 1: neighbors just didn't necessarily face. The post World War two 713 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:05,400 Speaker 1: era saw an economic boom, and along with developments like 714 00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:11,800 Speaker 1: color printing, radio, television, we also saw a boom in advertising. 715 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:15,719 Speaker 1: And you better believe companies that were making lawn care 716 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:20,640 Speaker 1: products and machinery, including lawnmowers, were leaning heavily on promoting 717 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:25,200 Speaker 1: the idea that a neat, orderly lawn reflects well on 718 00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:28,319 Speaker 1: homeowners and that the products they were selling would help 719 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:32,600 Speaker 1: you achieve that dream of homogeneous perfection that plays a 720 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:35,640 Speaker 1: pardon it too. The US in the nineteen fifties was 721 00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:39,880 Speaker 1: an era of conformity. There was an intense pressure to 722 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:43,880 Speaker 1: create the ideal of perfection. Honestly, when we look at 723 00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:48,000 Speaker 1: stuff like how people will manufacture these perfect photos for 724 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:51,480 Speaker 1: their social media platforms like their Instagram, to me, it 725 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,520 Speaker 1: feels like it's that same mentality coming back into play. 726 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:57,840 Speaker 1: Sure your life might be a shambles, but dang it, 727 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:00,920 Speaker 1: your lawn looks nice and so to the outside world, 728 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,319 Speaker 1: you're just fine. Now, maybe I'm getting a bit too 729 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:07,839 Speaker 1: off target here. Let's get back to lawnmowers. So by 730 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:11,440 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties we started seeing the rotary style lawnmowers 731 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:14,439 Speaker 1: that ran on gas hitting the market. This is where 732 00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:18,279 Speaker 1: we get that iconic starter chord, the pull chord that 733 00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:21,360 Speaker 1: can foil us as we try to get that little 734 00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:23,719 Speaker 1: bit of fuel that's been pumped into the engine to 735 00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:27,600 Speaker 1: catch on before giving that that cord a big rip 736 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:29,800 Speaker 1: or three to try and get the engine to start. 737 00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:32,600 Speaker 1: And I don't think I've ever talked about how a 738 00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:36,239 Speaker 1: poll start or rope start engine works. So let's just 739 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:39,600 Speaker 1: cover that super quickly, shall we. All Right, So inside 740 00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:43,000 Speaker 1: the lawnmower, you've got a reel and you've got a 741 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:47,840 Speaker 1: chord wound around that reel. The end of that chord 742 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:50,880 Speaker 1: is attached to a handle that's on the outside the lawnmower. 743 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:54,160 Speaker 1: That's the part that you grip and pull. Attached to 744 00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:58,240 Speaker 1: the real inside the lawnmower is a spring. So pulling 745 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: the cord will cause the spring to extend and it 746 00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:04,440 Speaker 1: wants to contract, so that's the force you're feeling. The 747 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,879 Speaker 1: tension you feel is the spring trying to contract again. 748 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,439 Speaker 1: So when you let go of the cord, it goes 749 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:13,840 Speaker 1: back into the you know, the lawnmower because that spring 750 00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:17,879 Speaker 1: is compressing well. Also attached to the real is the 751 00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:21,359 Speaker 1: clutch of the engine, and as the real turns, it 752 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:25,560 Speaker 1: transmits rotational energy to the crank shaft. If the crank 753 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,480 Speaker 1: shaft turns quickly enough, a pair of magnets connected to 754 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:33,720 Speaker 1: a flywheel begin to move outward due to centrifugal force, 755 00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:37,239 Speaker 1: and once they extend far enough, the magnets affect the 756 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,560 Speaker 1: ignition module so that it generates a spark and that 757 00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,200 Speaker 1: sets off the combustion in the engines cylinders, and once 758 00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:46,879 Speaker 1: that gets going, the engine can take over. From there, 759 00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:50,600 Speaker 1: it can continue that cycle of sparking the spark plugs, 760 00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:54,040 Speaker 1: assuming that there's fuel left in the tank to ignite 761 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:57,840 Speaker 1: due to those sparks. So a gas powered rotary lawnmower 762 00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:01,320 Speaker 1: typically uses the engine to pro vide power to the blade, 763 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:05,280 Speaker 1: of course, but also frequently to at least two wheels 764 00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:08,120 Speaker 1: to make it a little easier to push around. They 765 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,520 Speaker 1: require less physical effort to use than the mechanical lawnmowers 766 00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:13,560 Speaker 1: that have been around for more than a century. But 767 00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:17,040 Speaker 1: they also require fuel, and they also give off emissions 768 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,440 Speaker 1: through the burning of that fuel. Now, some folks have 769 00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:24,240 Speaker 1: been calling out lawns more recently for lots of different reasons, 770 00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:28,920 Speaker 1: including environmental and socioeconomic concerns. A lot of water is 771 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:32,479 Speaker 1: used on lawns, which often can be seen as as 772 00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:37,200 Speaker 1: very wasteful. And there's always stories about communities that have 773 00:47:37,480 --> 00:47:41,880 Speaker 1: water restrictions due to drought, and some jerk faces using 774 00:47:42,239 --> 00:47:44,960 Speaker 1: precious water to water their lawn because for some reason 775 00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:48,759 Speaker 1: that's more important than everyone else having access to water. Uh. 776 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:51,839 Speaker 1: Some folks use stuff like herbicides and pesticides in order 777 00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:55,520 Speaker 1: to maintain their lawns, which can sometimes cause chemical runoff 778 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,480 Speaker 1: that can get washed out and join the water cycle. 779 00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:01,000 Speaker 1: That's bad news. And of course there's the fact that 780 00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:05,040 Speaker 1: lawns are not natural ecosystems. They represent a less biologically 781 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:09,280 Speaker 1: useful surface. And then the fact that the very concept 782 00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:13,160 Speaker 1: of lawns dates back to this aristocratic notion of showing 783 00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:16,120 Speaker 1: off your wealth. So might we one day see a 784 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:19,200 Speaker 1: world in which the manicured lawn is really an oddity 785 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,359 Speaker 1: and people move to maybe a more natural and thus 786 00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:26,319 Speaker 1: disorderly approach. I don't know, but I sure hope so, 787 00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:28,560 Speaker 1: because then my h o A won't be on my 788 00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:31,040 Speaker 1: case if I don't get to the grass cutting on time. 789 00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,640 Speaker 1: I hope you liked that episode from last year. I 790 00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:37,800 Speaker 1: will have new episodes out for you soon. I am 791 00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:41,880 Speaker 1: you know. The home emergency thing, while not resolved, is 792 00:48:41,880 --> 00:48:44,280 Speaker 1: at a point where I no longer can do anything 793 00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:46,480 Speaker 1: about it, so it's out of my hands. So we'll 794 00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:50,360 Speaker 1: be getting right back into writing and recording new episodes 795 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:53,279 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff. Hope you had a happy New Year, 796 00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:57,280 Speaker 1: a safe holiday, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 797 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:04,840 Speaker 1: M tech Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For 798 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,879 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 799 00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:11,160 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 800 00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:11,880 Speaker 1: favorite shows.