1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: and the Love all Things Tech, And while I've been 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: recording shows from my home for nearly a year now, 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: I still occasionally get reminded about how things can be 7 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: different from when I was working in the office. For 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: the most part, things are kind of like this is 9 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: this is the normal now. However, at the office, there 10 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: is no chance that my dog will be barking in 11 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: the background while I record, and so far, I think 12 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: I've mostly avoided having him show up on episodes of 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff, but only because I've edited around it. Keep 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: telling him if he wants to be on a show, 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: he should get his own podcast, But I'm also scared 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: that if he does that, he'll get way more popular 17 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: than me. You're also not likely to hear other extraneous 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: noises at the office because there are studios are recording 19 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: studios are all in rooms that don't have a window 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: to the outside world built into them, though you can 21 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: still occasionally pick up sounds of folks who are chatting 22 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: in the office outside the studios because well, at least 23 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: in the office, we used to be a pretty chatty lot. 24 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: So if you listen to any of the stuff shows, 25 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: if you listen very carefully, you might occasionally hear the 26 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: sounds of people talking outside that studio room. That's because 27 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: there are desks and stuff just on the other side 28 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: of those doors. But one noise that has been a 29 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: particular issue for me while working at home has been 30 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: the sound of the landscape crew that's working on the 31 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: courtyard outside the townhouse I live in. They always seem 32 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: to show up just as I'm getting ready to record. 33 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: And then I thought, hey, how about I talk about 34 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: the history of lawnmowers and how they work. That could 35 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: be a great topic and turn that frustration I feel 36 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: into an episode. So let's begin with some etymology, which 37 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: I am now being told is not the study of bugs, 38 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: but rather the origin of words. So we think of 39 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: a lawn, you know, as a grassy area like a yard, 40 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: typically covered by turf grass in fact, and that is 41 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: somewhat kept in an orderly fashion, partly by cutting the 42 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: grass fairly low. But where does the word lawn come from? Well, 43 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: the word derives from a Middle English word of lander, 44 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: meaning an unwitted field or an open space in the 45 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: woods like a glade. Thanks Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Now 46 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: y'all might know back in my college days, I studied 47 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: medieval literature, including Old and Middle English nexts and so 48 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: immediately I thought of our old pal Jeffrey Chaucer, known 49 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: for composing the Canterbury Tales, though then he thoughtlessly went 50 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: off and died before he finished writing them. But he 51 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,919 Speaker 1: also wrote a poem called Parliament of Fouls that mentions 52 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: a Lawnda, which, hey, that poem also references Valentine's Day 53 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: later on, and since we just had Valentine's Day, this 54 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,239 Speaker 1: episode is now timely. So the whole poem is far 55 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: too long for me to read. It's like seven lines long, 56 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: but I will give you the little bit of it 57 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: that's about the LAWNDA. And the passage goes like this, 58 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: and then a lawanda upon the Hilla of Flores was set. 59 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: This noble goddess Natier of branches were here Harlis and 60 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: her bores. He wrought after haircraft, and here measure. Now 61 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: this passage goes on a bit longer, but honestly, I 62 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: would just be indulging my own love of medieval English lit. 63 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: So I'm going to cut it off there. What that 64 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: passage means in modern English is and in an opening 65 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: in the woods, on a hill covered with flowers sat 66 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: the goddess Nature. Her home was made of branches and 67 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,839 Speaker 1: arranged according to her art. So it's a pretty little passage. 68 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: And here Londa refers to something you might encounter if 69 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,799 Speaker 1: you were walking through the countryside, through the wooded forests 70 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: of old England or old France, and then at one 71 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: point you encounter an opening in the forest where there 72 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: aren't any trees. So how did it come to mean 73 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: the word lawn that we use today? Well, to understand 74 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: that we have to talk about war. Yes, just as 75 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: many a homeowner has suspected lawn care and warfare go 76 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: hand in hand. Okay, So you got your big medieval 77 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: big wig types. You know, you've got your kings and 78 00:04:55,080 --> 00:05:00,559 Speaker 1: your lords and your earls and whatnot. And occasionally these 79 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: types would lead large groups of warriors to conquer other 80 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: medieval big wig types, something like, hey, those guys over 81 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: there got it pretty good, So why don't we go 82 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: over there and take their stuff and make it our stuff? 83 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: And so the world turns upon such thoughts. But it's 84 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: not enough to conquer the people who live on the 85 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: other side of the hills or river or ocean or whatever. 86 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: You got to hold on to the land that you've claimed, right, 87 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: and that means creating fortifications, preferably in places where you 88 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: can get a pretty good look at your surroundings to 89 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: make sure no other medieval big wigs get the same 90 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: bright idea you got. And then they come to take 91 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: your stuff and it used to be someone else's stuff, 92 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: because you know there's always a bigger fish, as it were, 93 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: So you build up your forts, or your castles as 94 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: it were, to protect your assets. Your castles are your 95 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: defense system where you can pull back if necessary if 96 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: it am he's come to call. But you can't really 97 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: be on the lookout for the next bully if you 98 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: can't see the armies for the trees, right, and so 99 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: it gets to chopping. You chop, chop, chop all those 100 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: trees down around your fortifications so that you can see 101 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: folks from a long way off if they're approaching, and 102 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: you can prepare if there's an imminent attack. It also 103 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: helps if you know you don't leave trees around for 104 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: people to cut down and turn into stuff like battering ramps, 105 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: So there's that element as well. So rather than wooded fields, 106 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: you have grassy ones. And this is the origin of 107 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: the lawn though back in those days the lawns weren't 108 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: exactly you know, pristine, So to maintain the lawns, you'd 109 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: either have livestock go out to the fields to graze, 110 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: thus cutting back the grass by eating it, as well 111 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: as fertilizing the land on occasion, you know, when nature called, 112 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: or you could have laborers go out to the fields 113 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,679 Speaker 1: with hand tools like scythes and sickles to cut back 114 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: the grass manually so that it wasn't too high. A 115 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: sickle is a handheld tool that has a handle, typically 116 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: made out of wood, and on the business end, you've 117 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: got a curved blade sticking out from the handle, making 118 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: kind of like a almost like a half moon, you know, 119 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: sort of crescent shaped, and the blade is also typically 120 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: at an angle relative to the handles, sort of how 121 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: a razor has an angle to it for the purposes 122 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: of shaving aside is similar, but it's much larger. It's 123 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: a two handed tool. The grim Reaper carries a scythe 124 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: and cutting with either a sickle or a side involves 125 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: making horizontal passes, typically at the base of the grass, 126 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: and you cut in an arc from one side to 127 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: the other and big arcing swings so semicircular swings, and 128 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: those swings only go in one direction. The blade is 129 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: is sharpened on the inside curve, not the outside curve, 130 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: and you're typically going right left because the handle for 131 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: the forward hand on a scythe is meant to be 132 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: held with the right hand. The left hand is meant 133 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: to hold the scythe further back on the on the handle, 134 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: so in other words, this is yet another right handed tool. 135 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: Scything can actually be pretty efficient. There are actually there's 136 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: some great videos on YouTube of people who have really 137 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: gotten skilled with scything and they can make short work 138 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: of an overgrown lawn like they can cut that stuff 139 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: down quickly. I suggest you check it out. It's just 140 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: neat to watch. And the angle of the blade determines 141 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: how short the scythe will cut the grass. Using a 142 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: scythe with a good blade angle, a skilled wheelder can 143 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: cut the grass very low and pretty efficiently too, and 144 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: you would have the bottom part of the blade actually 145 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: making contact with the ground as you swing the scythe 146 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: from right to left. They also tend to have to 147 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: rake up the yard after were to gather up all 148 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: the trimmings. Were usually looking at fields that have, you know, 149 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: grass that's quite high, like maybe a foot high or 150 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: maybe taller, so you need to have something to to 151 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: rake up all the clippings that you've left behind. I've 152 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: seen a lot of videos of folks using sides in 153 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: order to cut back on, you know, relying on fossil 154 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: fuels and to make use of the trimmings in various ways, 155 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: from compost to making hay while the sun shines. In 156 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: some videos, I've seen folks use scythes more effectively than 157 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: someone who is using a mechanical push mower or a 158 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: weed whacker, though power mowers do tend to be more 159 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: efficient than a scythe. So a push mower, like a 160 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: mechanical one where there's no motor, it's just from human 161 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: power that versus a scythe, you might actually see someone 162 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: be more effective with the side than with the push mower. 163 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: Weed whackers same thing, uh, the push mower that has 164 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: a motor are on it. Those tend to win out 165 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: in the end, so it really does start to make 166 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: you wonder, however, why the heck did anyone think to 167 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: invent the mechanical lawnmower in the first place. If a 168 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: scythe can be as efficient, why would anyone ever think 169 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: about making a mechanical invention that does effectively the same 170 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: sort of thing. The first lawnmowers were purely mechanical, relying 171 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: on gears and blades that were mounted on a drum 172 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: like cylinder. And if those aren't more efficient than a scythe, 173 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: why would you bother? And the answer is drumroll please vanity. See. 174 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: While in the medieval era, soldiers wanted to get a 175 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: good view of what might be coming at them throughout Europe, 176 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: particularly in France and England, the strategic usefulness of castle's 177 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 1: gradually declined in the Middle Ages, largely because of advancements 178 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: in artillery. Cannons could make very short work of castle 179 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: walls and so warfare began to change and castles weren't 180 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: part of that. But you still had all these hoity 181 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: toity types who liked the idea of a well maintained lawn, again, 182 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: mostly in France and England. That's really where this idea 183 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: took hold, and this was definitely an issue of vanity, 184 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:21,439 Speaker 1: particularly when it came to showing off your prestige. Lawns 185 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: are not natural environments when you get down to it, 186 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: they can be environmentally unfriendly. They represent a much more 187 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: limited biome than a natural grassy or wooded area. It's 188 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: an artificial construct. It's really an example of humans cutting 189 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: back nature to suit our own esthetics. And really it 190 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: was only the hoity toity types doing this, because maintaining 191 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: a lawn was a lot of work. Not that the 192 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: hoity toity types were the ones doing the work, mind you, 193 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: but they were the ones who could afford livestock or 194 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: laborers who would trend back stuff for them. So from 195 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: mannor houses to abbittant castles you had the practice of 196 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,839 Speaker 1: maintaining these large grassy areas. Now, some of that sensibility 197 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: would also find its way over to the New World 198 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: where it really took hold. Now, the grasses in the 199 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: New World were different than those found in Europe. But 200 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: when settlers came to North America, they brought with them livestock, 201 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: and apparently the livestock really liked the grass in America 202 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: so much so that they ding dang durnate at all. 203 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: So to keep the livestock from starving, the colonists were 204 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 1: importing grass seeds from Europe and North Africa, including grasses that, 205 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,320 Speaker 1: if you were to go by their names, sound like 206 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: they come from America. Kentucky blue grass, I'm looking at you, 207 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: You ain't from Kentucky. Thomas Jefferson was said to have 208 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,319 Speaker 1: taken up the goal of creating a manicured lawn at 209 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: Monticello after he visited France, and George Washington had a 210 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: similar desire to turn his estate of Mountain Vernon into 211 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: a mirror of European standards. And certainly the d of 212 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: a well kept lawn managed to really take hold in America, 213 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: becoming something of an obsession really, which will cover a 214 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: little bit later in this episode, and certain sports definitely 215 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 1: helped things along, for which we can largely thank the Scots. 216 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: Scottish sports like golf and lawn bowling were brought over 217 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 1: by Scottish immigrants to America and they became popular past 218 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: times for those who had the leisure to pursue such things. 219 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: But to play lawn games, you gotta cut the grass, 220 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: otherwise you're gonna spend more time trying to find the 221 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: game equipment than you get to play with the darn things. 222 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: Now we're gonna come back to the evolution of the lawn, 223 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: particularly in America, and just a little bit as that 224 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: history ties into a lot of other interesting stuff and 225 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 1: includes some heavy duty connections to other elements of American 226 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,439 Speaker 1: society in addition to feeding an entire industry dedicated to 227 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: lawn care and maintenance. But let's get back to our 228 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: early history of lawn mowers. Okay, So, by the nineteenth century, 229 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: lawns were the rage and in land France and starting 230 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,599 Speaker 1: to be in America. But as I said, unless you 231 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: had livestock or the cash to pay laborers, you probably 232 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: couldn't maintain a lawn on your own. You certainly couldn't 233 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: do so to the immaculate standards of the aristocracy. The 234 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: wealthy would spend a lot to get that perfect lawn, 235 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 1: even going so far as to hire people to use 236 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: handheld shears to cut grass down quite low and to 237 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: avoid the patterns that you would see if you used scythes, 238 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: because cutting grass and those arc swings would leave behind 239 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: patterns in the grass, and that was considered aesthetically unpleasing. 240 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: And then we come to an Englishman named Edwin Beard 241 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: Budding born in Stroud, Gloucestershire. In Budding started off with 242 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: some strikes against him. His parents were unmarried, his father 243 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: a farmer, and in England, that put him at a 244 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: fairly low social standing. Class in England was a very 245 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: important concept still, and b while over there the whole 246 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: working class versus posh and all that sort of stuff. 247 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: So he started off in carpentry, but he switched over 248 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: to working at iron foundries. The Industrial Revolution was well 249 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: underway in England at this point and the demand for 250 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: iron tools and machinery was very high, and through experience, 251 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: Budding built up an understanding of engineering and problem solving. 252 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: He would end up inventing several things or making his 253 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: own version of some existing machines, but obviously the one 254 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: we want to really look at is the lawnmower. Budding 255 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: got the idea for the lawnmower when he saw a 256 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: device used by textile mills to trim back the fibers 257 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: that stick out from the surface of cloth, also known 258 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: as the nap of a cloth, and with some textiles 259 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: the goal is to fluff the nap out, use little 260 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 1: combs or or prickly flowers even to pull some of 261 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: those threads out, and then you comb it a certain way, 262 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: which can make the cloth softer to the touch and 263 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: better at doing stuff like trapping heat. But sometimes you 264 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: just wanted a very smooth piece of cloth, something that 265 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: wouldn't get caught easily on rough surfaces. So, for example, 266 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: you might want a carpet that could withstand more use 267 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: as long as it did you know, catch on shoes 268 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: and stuff. So you would want to shear the nap. 269 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: You'd want to cut that nap close to the cloth, 270 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: And in earlier days this job was done by skilled 271 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: tradespeople who would use giant sets of shears, I mean, 272 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: these things were massive in order to cut the nap 273 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: off the surface of the cloths as efficiently as possible. 274 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: But by Butting's time, some genius whose name is lost 275 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: to history came up with the notion of building a 276 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: mechanical device that has blades arranged around a drum or 277 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: cylinder in a type of helix shape. The drum or 278 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: cylinder rotates, and by running the surface of the cloth 279 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: near this helix of blades, the blade could trim back 280 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: the nap on the surface of the cloth. Add in 281 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: some rollers and some other elements to pull the cloth along, 282 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,199 Speaker 1: and you've got yourself a machine that can trim the 283 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: nap back on cloth evenly, consistently, and efficiently. Ah ha, 284 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: said Budding. What if I took that same basic idea 285 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: and flipped it around a bit, so you could trim 286 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: back grass with rotating blades along a cylinder, And in 287 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: eight thirty that's just what he did, securing a patent 288 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: number six zero eight one in fact for his invention. 289 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: I'll explain more about it after this quick break. Budding 290 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: saw an opportunity to create a device that could consistently 291 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 1: and reliably cut grass a specific length, so, in other words, 292 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: you could adjust how tall the grass would be and 293 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,239 Speaker 1: without leaving those marks behind that you would get if 294 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: you were to cut grass with scythes and such. Also, 295 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: the lawnmower wooden poop on the lawn. Unlike livestock. It 296 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: would be particularly handy for parks and sporting grounds where 297 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: the well to do could gather for their leisure time 298 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: and look for something, you know, orderly and neat, which 299 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: very much fit in with the sensibilities of the elite 300 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: of nineteenth century Britain. So Edwin Beard Butting built a 301 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 1: wheeled machine out of rought and cast iron. Had a 302 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: pair of wheels. It also had a pair of rollers, 303 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: and a forward roller and a back roller, uh, as 304 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 1: well as the blade mounted cylinder that did the actual cutting. 305 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: So imagine you've got a mechanical device has a small 306 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: roller in the front. This is the thing that can 307 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: be adjusted so you can control how close to the 308 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: ground you're cutting the grass. Behind that roller, you've got 309 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: your horizontal cylinder that's got the curved blades arranged in 310 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: a helix around that rotatble cylinder, so it rotates along 311 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: the horizontal axis, is what I'm saying. To either side 312 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: of that are the wheels of the lawnmower. That provides stability, 313 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: allows you to actually aim it and push it along 314 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: the ground. And then in the rear you have a 315 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: big roller. It kind of looks like a more narrow 316 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: and slightly smaller version of a steam roller, if that 317 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: helps you imagine this. Buttons design also incorporated a tray 318 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,439 Speaker 1: to catch grass clippings. The tray was in the front 319 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: because the way this machine worked, it would propel the 320 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: clippings out, shooting them out towards the front of the machine. 321 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: That way, you wouldn't have to follow behind the lawnmower 322 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: with a rake or something like that to to rake 323 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: up the clippings. And it was that rear roller, the 324 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: big steam roller type thing in the back that connected 325 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: to the bladed cylinder through a gear drive. That's where 326 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: you've got a series of gears that fit together to 327 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: transfer the rotational motion of the roller that's pressed against 328 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 1: the ground. So as you push the lawnmower forward, the 329 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:11,479 Speaker 1: roller rolls because it's making contact with the ground, and 330 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: it transfers that rotational motion to the cylinder or the 331 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: drama if you prefer, that's got the blades on it. 332 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 1: And all of this was made out of iron. Now 333 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: this meant the person who was pushing the mower had 334 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: to use a pretty good amount of force because you 335 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: weren't just pushing hard enough to move the mower itself, 336 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: which being made out of iron, was pretty darn heavy, 337 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: but also to power that drive train of gears that 338 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: would you know, transmit the rotation to the cylinder. And 339 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: each step of that process, each gear connection means that 340 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 1: you're losing a little bit of the amount of energy 341 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: you're giving to the system to stuff like friction, So 342 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: it means you have to push even harder to get 343 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,719 Speaker 1: things going. But still, Budding showed that the same general 344 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: principle that worked for cutting back the nap on cloth 345 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: could in fact be used to cut grass. He patented 346 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: his design in eighteen thirty, and in that patent Budding 347 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: said his invention represented quote a new combination and application 348 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: of machinery for the purpose of cropping or sharing the 349 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: vegetable surfaces of lawns, grass plats and pleasure grounds. Country 350 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: gentlemen may find and using my machine themselves, and amusing 351 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: useful and healthy exercise end quote. It's interesting to note 352 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: that a lot of the basic designs introduced by Budding 353 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: would stick around throughout the ages with mechanical push mowers, 354 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,160 Speaker 1: and the ones that we have today have at least 355 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: some resemblance to the one that Budding was making back 356 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,360 Speaker 1: in the mid nineteenth century. Now they the new ones 357 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: are are more elegant in design, and they're made of 358 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: much lighter materials, but the general principle behind the operation 359 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 1: remains pretty much the same. Budding formed a partnership with 360 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: an engineer named John Farrabee, who owned a company called 361 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: Phoenix iron Works. Fairby had the manufacturing rights to produce 362 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: Buddings design and fronted the costs to develop the prototype, 363 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 1: and one of the earliest lawnmowers that the pair produced 364 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: went to the London Zoo and another one became the 365 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: property of Oxford University. By eighteen thirty two, word had 366 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: already spread that Buddings machine could create great results, and 367 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: demand was soon outpacing Farraby's capacity to produce lawnmowers, and 368 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: Fairby then began to license the design to other engineers 369 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: to other iron works owners, including Ransoms of Ipswich, a 370 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:44,679 Speaker 1: company that was already in the business of producing plows 371 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: for farmers. They advertised the new lawnmower invention saying, quote 372 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,640 Speaker 1: the machine is so easy to manage that persons unpracticed 373 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: in the art of mowing may cut the grass on 374 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: lawns and bowling greens with ease end quote and the words. 375 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: They were kind of positioning this as something of a 376 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: leisure activity for uh, for the upper class, that you know, 377 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 1: mowing the lawn with a side that was a low 378 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: class thing to do that was for laborers. You wouldn't 379 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,159 Speaker 1: see people of the upper classes do that. It was 380 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:24,480 Speaker 1: beneath their station. But mowing with this exotic machine that 381 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: was something befitting a person of high station. And it was, 382 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, pretty simple to operate these things. 383 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: You just grabbed the handle of the mower and you 384 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: pushed it forward, kind of like a cart. You would 385 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: exert a little bit of a downward push as you did. 386 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: So it took far less skilled than scything did. And 387 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,159 Speaker 1: by framing the activity of mowing a lawn as a 388 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: means of taking exercise and being out in nature, the 389 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 1: companies were slowly shifting the perception of caring for a 390 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,479 Speaker 1: lawn in general. And this would also help later on 391 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: as the lawn mower would be marketed towards the middle class, 392 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: when the prices would eventually come down. Now, when I 393 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: say the demand was outstripping supply, we have to remember 394 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: that manufacturing in the eighteen thirties wasn't nearly as efficient 395 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: as it would be a century later. So I don't 396 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: want to give you the impression that the lawnmower became 397 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 1: the must have Christmas gift of eighteen thirty two. Or something. 398 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: When Budding passed away in eighteen forty six because of 399 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: a stroke. The lawnmower was a successful invention, but it 400 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: was not yet a household item, so it wasn't like 401 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,639 Speaker 1: Budding had become a millionaire. In fact, he died before 402 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: really seeing his invention get adopted around England, France, and America. 403 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,360 Speaker 1: By the eighteen sixties, Farrabees Iron Works had produced around 404 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 1: five thousand lawnmowers, and that included a small range of 405 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: designs which mainly had to do with the width of 406 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:02,160 Speaker 1: the lawnmower. A wider lawnmower can obviously cut a wider 407 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: strip of grass, which means you don't have to do 408 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: as many passes on a lawn or a field in 409 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: order to complete a job, but it also means that 410 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: the lawnmower gets heavier. Some of the designs incorporated a 411 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 1: second handle on the lawnmower. This one would be toward 412 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,719 Speaker 1: the front of the machine, which meant you could actually 413 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,479 Speaker 1: pull it along behind you instead of pushing it in 414 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 1: front of you. One design I saw had the handle 415 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: on a hinge so you could swing the handle so 416 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: you could swing it toward the rear of the machine. 417 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: And make it a push mower, or you could swing 418 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 1: it to the front of the machine and make it 419 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: a pull mower. Buttings design inspired others to make their 420 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:47,640 Speaker 1: own adjustments. In eighteen forty two, Alexander Shanks, an inventor 421 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,640 Speaker 1: from Scotland, made a version of the lawnmower that could 422 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 1: be hitched to a horse or pony, which allowed him 423 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 1: to make even larger lawnmowers that would be far too 424 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: heavy for a person to push or pull on their own. 425 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: To prevent the horses from damaging the grass. Let's say 426 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: that you're cutting the grass on a golf course, something 427 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: that was very common in Scotland or tennis courts. Well, 428 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: they would put little leather shoes on the horses hoofs, 429 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,439 Speaker 1: so the horse would be wearing booties in order to 430 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: mow the lawn. In the eighteen fifties, inventor Thomas Green 431 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 1: made some adjustments of his own to the lawnmower design, 432 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: and one simple tweak was that he added a rake 433 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: to help lift grass blades up a little bit for cutting, 434 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: so that way you didn't end up with any missed bits. 435 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,959 Speaker 1: But in the late eighteen fifties he made a much 436 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: more substantial change. He created a chain drive for the 437 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 1: mower's blades instead of the gear drive that Budding had created, 438 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: and by removing the need for so many cast iron 439 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: gears and replacing them with a chain, he made the 440 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: lawnmowers design simpler and importantly lighter. It was also apparently 441 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:02,320 Speaker 1: less noisy, as Green called is lawnmower the Sileon's messar 442 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:07,119 Speaker 1: for silent running. By this time, thirty years after the 443 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 1: invention of the lawnmower, word had reached America, and in 444 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty eight an inventor from Connecticut named Amariah Hills 445 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: received a patent for improvements to Budding's lawnmower design, which 446 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 1: included changing out a cylinder covered in blades to an 447 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: open spiral cutter. So just imagine a helix of blades, 448 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: but you no longer have the mounted on a cylinder. 449 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: It's almost like it's just two blades. And that that 450 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: mount two wheels on either side that can turn. Uh. 451 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: He also allowed more fine tuning for the cutting height 452 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: and changed how the handle attached to the frame of 453 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,399 Speaker 1: the mower, and his design would go on to become 454 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: a very popular mower in the northeastern United states, sometimes 455 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: called an archimedian mower because the blades resembled the classic 456 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,920 Speaker 1: archimedian screw. Many of these machines saw you in parks 457 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: and for maintaining stuff like golf courses and tennis courts 458 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: and the like. But over in America they would also 459 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: be sought after because of a few other big factors, 460 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: and one is the growth of the suburbs. So, after 461 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: the Civil War in America and as the US was 462 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: having its own boom in industry, cities were becoming more 463 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 1: industrialized in general, and many people, at least many wealthy people, 464 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: the people who could afford it, moved out of the 465 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: cities and settled in surrounding areas near the cities, forming 466 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: the suburbs. And like the French and English aristocracy a 467 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: century earlier, many of them saw a well maintained lawn 468 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: as something of a status symbol. So there was a 469 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: general movement toward cutting lawns, which must have pleased Amiah 470 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: Hill as it represented a demand for those Archimedean mowers. 471 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: And in eighteen seventy, Frank J. Scott's The Art of 472 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: Beautifying Suburban Home Grounds of Small Extent hit the presses. 473 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 1: This book, which is six d eighteen pages in length, 474 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: if we don't include all the advertisements. At the end 475 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: of the book, it goes to what I can only 476 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: describe as excruciating detail regarding how to make your lawn 477 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: look absolutely magnificent, and further, you are a monster if 478 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: you don't do it. You can read the whole thing 479 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,479 Speaker 1: over on the Smithsonian Libraries website if you would like. 480 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: If you want to skip to the juicy stuff, go 481 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: to page one, D seven, Chapter thirteen, The Lawn. The 482 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: chapter opens up with a couple of references to poetry, 483 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: followed by this passage quote, A smooth, closely shaven surface 484 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: of grass is by far the most essential element of 485 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: beauty on the grounds of a suburban home. End quote boom, 486 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,239 Speaker 1: mic drop. You don't mow your grass, you are an 487 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: affront to beauty. Now I'm being a little, you know, 488 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: facetious here, but Scott was arguing that in an age 489 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: in which companies were laying down train tracks or street 490 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: car lines more people from far and wide, we're passing 491 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: through different neighborhoods and then judging those neighborhoods based on 492 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: their aesthetic beauty or lack thereof, and isn't it more 493 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: American to be proud of your community and to show 494 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: it off with distinction. So rich suburbanites ate that stuff 495 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: up man and so lawn care started to be a 496 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: big business. It was boosted more with related inventions such 497 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 1: as Joseph Lessler's lawn sprinkler, which could attach to a 498 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: garden hose. Lawns need a good deal of water to 499 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: remain healthy. That's what kind of touch on that again 500 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: in a bit. And this was a way where you 501 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: could water your lawn without having to do a lot 502 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: of backbreaking work in the process. And again, the concept 503 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: of lawn care being connected to exercise and being out 504 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: of doors was a big part of all this too. 505 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 1: So while America's obsession with lawn care began to take root, 506 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: so to speak, we had other stuff going on at 507 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: the same time. Sometime around or so, inventors began to 508 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: incorporate the next logical element for lawnmowers steam engines. Yes, 509 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: steam powered lawnmowers were a thing briefly, and why not. 510 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: Steam engines had already been used for trains for decades, 511 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: so why not strap a big old boiler to a 512 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: mechanical lawnmower. And make the boiling water do all the work. 513 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 1: So here's how these things worked. In general. You had 514 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: your boiler, which is the name suggests, is the container 515 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: holding the water that gets boiled off to produce steam. 516 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 1: The boiler is pressurized so the steam can't just escape 517 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: and has to go through a specific route. And typically 518 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: you would have a valve that would allow steam to 519 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: pass through under really incredible pressure. So a furnace heats 520 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 1: the boiler up, the water starts to boil off, and 521 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,560 Speaker 1: the steam builds up and passes through valves to a 522 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: cylinder that has a piston in it. The steam forces 523 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 1: the piston down the length of the cylinder until the 524 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: piston passes an exhaust valve, whereupon the steam escapes the cylinder, 525 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: the piston returns to its starting position, and the whole 526 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,680 Speaker 1: thing can happen again. Attaching mechanical elements to the piston 527 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: via a piston rod allows you to transfer that mechanical 528 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: motion to other components such as the wheels and the 529 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: cutting blades of a lawnmower. And bang, now you don't 530 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: have to push it yourself or hitch it to a 531 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: horse or something. You just gotta fill up the boiler 532 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: from time to time. You gotta keep that furnace going 533 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:43,760 Speaker 1: and keep it really hot, and you know, you just 534 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: gotta not explode, which is something that can happen if 535 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: pressure builds up in a boiler and the steam has 536 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: nowhere to go. But hey, a boiler explosion is a 537 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: small price to pay for a well manicured lawn. Right. Okay, 538 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: I'm clearly getting snow archy again. But these lawnmowers did work, 539 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: and I've seen some that look like the results you 540 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: would get if you crossed a locomotive with a mechanical 541 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: push mower along with a riding lawnmower. You would sit 542 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 1: in front of the boiler, which would be mounted at 543 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: the rear of the lawnmower, and you would use controls 544 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,040 Speaker 1: to steer yourself as you rode along and moved down 545 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: a lawn or field, and the steam engine provides all 546 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: the two wheels and the blades. It's neat, if a 547 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,120 Speaker 1: little intimidating. These things were huge, and they had to 548 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: be because if you're using steam, you need to have 549 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: a big boiler to hold enough water so that you've 550 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: got the the mp for your your engine. These clearly 551 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 1: were not intended for the average homeowner or even the 552 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: upper middle class or lower upper class homeowners. These were 553 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 1: more for you know, larger, more regularly level areas. They 554 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 1: didn't do well if there were hills or anything like that, 555 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: so these were more frequently used for something like a 556 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: a flat land, endscaped park, or you know, a sporting 557 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: area like a golf course or maybe a tennis court. 558 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,319 Speaker 1: They also didn't stick around for very long. And when 559 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 1: we come back, I'll talk about the development of the 560 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 1: gas powered lawnmower, which would take the steam out of 561 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: its predecessor for a couple of good reasons. But first 562 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break. Before I get into more 563 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 1: modern mowers, I should mention another inventor, this one named 564 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 1: John Albert Burr. He made changes to the classic cylindrical 565 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 1: lawnmower design so that the gears wouldn't easily get gummed 566 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,799 Speaker 1: up with lawn clippings. Essentially, they figured out, hey, if 567 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: we cover these gears up so that the lawn clippings 568 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,920 Speaker 1: can't get in the gearworks, then you're not gonna have 569 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: as many jams as you try and mow your lawn. 570 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: He also created a mower that would allow landscapers to 571 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,760 Speaker 1: mow more closely to the edge of walls and buildings 572 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,719 Speaker 1: to get a neater cut. Also, around this time, improvements 573 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: in manufacturing meant that companies could mass produce lawnmowers, which 574 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,279 Speaker 1: also meant the costs of production dropped, and that meant 575 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: companies could drop the prices of those machines, and that 576 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:21,719 Speaker 1: meant more people were able to afford lawnmowers, and in 577 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,840 Speaker 1: American particular, that meant booming business. As the idea that 578 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: a well kept lawn was an important component of being 579 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 1: seen as an upstanding member of society it had really 580 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: taken hold here. So this combination of elements led to 581 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 1: a lot more people buying lawnmowers. And when I say that, 582 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 1: remember I'm still talking about the mechanical push mower style devices. Well, 583 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: the steam powered lawnmowers appeared on the scene in the 584 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,440 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties, but by nineteen o two, Ransoms, the company 585 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: I mentioned much earlier in this episode as one of 586 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:59,399 Speaker 1: the first to license Budding's lawnmower design for production, Well, 587 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 1: they created the first lawnmower that used an internal combustion 588 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:07,640 Speaker 1: engine for power. This was a ride on mower and 589 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 1: it was a big one. So this was not a 590 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:14,399 Speaker 1: push mower. This this was a gigantic monstrosity. In fact, 591 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 1: the images I've seen of this thing make it look 592 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,719 Speaker 1: like there's a gentleman in a jacket and tweed hat 593 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: who is taking a printing press out for a ride 594 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 1: or something. It's a machine with big, heavy chains, enormous rollers, 595 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 1: a large container in front to catch clippings, and whirling 596 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,720 Speaker 1: blades of destruction underneath. It looks pretty awesome, I think, 597 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: and almost unreal. It certainly isn't what I think of 598 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: when someone says lawn mower to me. The internal combustion 599 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 1: engine was the death knell for steam powered lawnmowers. While 600 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,719 Speaker 1: Ransom's ride on mower was huge, the switch to an 601 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:55,520 Speaker 1: internal combustion engine would lead to smaller lawnmower designs. And 602 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: you didn't need an enormous boiler like you would with 603 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 1: a steam powered one, nor did you have to stoke 604 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: some sort of furnace to keep things going. You just 605 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: needed some petrol in the fuel tank. Now, I've talked 606 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,640 Speaker 1: about how internal combustion engines work and other episodes, so 607 00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:14,000 Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into all that detail here, 608 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,719 Speaker 1: but I will say that the early versions of the 609 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 1: motor powered lawn mowers really in other forms, seemed to 610 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,720 Speaker 1: be based on that cylindrical helix design along the horizontal axis, 611 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 1: the same sort of design that Budding had proposed way 612 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,040 Speaker 1: back in eighteen thirty. So these were not the rotary 613 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,279 Speaker 1: mowers that we would see much later, not yet, but 614 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:39,319 Speaker 1: the advances in internal combustion engines, which would both make 615 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 1: the mowers get smaller and more powerful as various engineers 616 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:46,239 Speaker 1: made improvements to the engines that eventually did lead to 617 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,280 Speaker 1: the design of a different kind of lawnmowers. So instead 618 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:54,000 Speaker 1: of that horizontal axis cylindrical approach in which the blades 619 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,440 Speaker 1: would rotate around that horizontal axis, the internal combustion engine 620 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,239 Speaker 1: al out for a lawnmower with a vertical act soul 621 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: upon which you would fix a horizontal blade, So the 622 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,759 Speaker 1: rotating vertical axle would rotate this horizontal blade close to 623 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,359 Speaker 1: the ground in a really fast circle, and you've got 624 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,360 Speaker 1: your rotary lawnmower. A lot of different engineers and companies 625 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:20,840 Speaker 1: experimented with creating rotary lawnmowers for a few decades actually, 626 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: but most of them weren't really that successful because the 627 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 1: engines being used. Just weren't up to turning something that 628 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,440 Speaker 1: way in an efficient manner, so you couldn't cut very 629 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,839 Speaker 1: well with them. But by the nineteen fifties it had 630 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,879 Speaker 1: become a viable approach to lawnmower design. And now we're 631 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 1: going to get into some interesting and some upsetting parts 632 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:47,400 Speaker 1: of history. Okay, So we laid out how the aristocracy 633 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,080 Speaker 1: used lawns as a way to show off their wealth 634 00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:53,800 Speaker 1: and their sensibilities, and we talked about how those ideas 635 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 1: filtered from France and England to America and how Frank 636 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: Scott promoted them with his authoritative approach on appealing to 637 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,960 Speaker 1: wealthy suburban families. So let's talk about some big issues 638 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,600 Speaker 1: in the United States that made lawns a sort of 639 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:12,399 Speaker 1: symbol of the halves versus the have nots. And this 640 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:14,360 Speaker 1: is also going to have a lot to do about 641 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:19,439 Speaker 1: racial discrimination. Back in eighteen seventy when Scott's book hit 642 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: the scene, his target demographic was the white suburban homeowner. 643 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,720 Speaker 1: The suburbs were where you typically find the upper middle 644 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: class or maybe the lower upper classes, and these communities 645 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:36,480 Speaker 1: were predominantly white, and frequently that was actually a selling 646 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:39,840 Speaker 1: point that real estate agents would market to potential clients. 647 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:44,800 Speaker 1: It was, without a doubt, a racist perspective, the idea 648 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: that the community is preferable because there are no people 649 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:51,960 Speaker 1: of color living there. That's just gross, alright. So flash 650 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,799 Speaker 1: forward to the nineteen forties. The United States enters World 651 00:39:55,840 --> 00:40:00,239 Speaker 1: War Two and sends more than sixteen million Americans to serve. 652 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:03,719 Speaker 1: During the war, more than four hundred thousand of those 653 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:07,600 Speaker 1: Americans died in action and another six hundred seventy thousand 654 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:12,080 Speaker 1: were wounded. At the time, racial segregation was still very 655 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,840 Speaker 1: much in practice even in the military, and the number 656 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,840 Speaker 1: of black people serving in the US military actually represented 657 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:24,200 Speaker 1: a lower percentage than the demographics of black people relatives 658 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,080 Speaker 1: to the general US population at the time, But there 659 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 1: were still thousands of black soldiers and volunteers who were 660 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:34,759 Speaker 1: active in the theater of war, including soldiers on the 661 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 1: front lines. Back home, the United States government passed the 662 00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:44,480 Speaker 1: Servicemen's Readjustment Act of nineteen forty four, better known as 663 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 1: the g I Bill. The purpose of the bill was 664 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,520 Speaker 1: to create a support system for soldiers returning home that 665 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,680 Speaker 1: included important infrastructure like the construction of hospitals, but it 666 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,640 Speaker 1: also included the chance to go to college tuition free 667 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,800 Speaker 1: up to five dollars, which, hey, how about those college 668 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:08,000 Speaker 1: tuition increases, y'all. They could also secure low interest mortgage 669 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,800 Speaker 1: authors on homes through banks because the government was backing 670 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:15,480 Speaker 1: those loans. So these soldiers, some of whom had been 671 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:19,160 Speaker 1: overseas for years, were to be given some assistance upon 672 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,759 Speaker 1: returning home to make up for the fact that they 673 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 1: had to leave their lives, their loved ones, and their 674 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:28,440 Speaker 1: livelihoods all behind. And that bill meant that millions of 675 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:31,480 Speaker 1: returning soldiers would be able to buy a home for 676 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,760 Speaker 1: the first time in the suburbs and follow the American 677 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,840 Speaker 1: dream of a white picket fence and a well manicured lawn. 678 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,080 Speaker 1: That is, they could do it if they were white. 679 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:47,280 Speaker 1: While the bill ostensibly offered benefits to all returning veterans, 680 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: regardless of race or gender, in practice it was far 681 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: more common to see those benefits go to white male veterans, 682 00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:59,880 Speaker 1: and black veterans also frequently found it really hard to 683 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,000 Speaker 1: secure a loan from a bank for a mortgage, even 684 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:06,680 Speaker 1: with the guaranteed government backing that came from the g 685 00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:10,239 Speaker 1: I Bill, and so the suburban home and along with it, 686 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:14,680 Speaker 1: the American lawn became sort of an extended marker for 687 00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:19,200 Speaker 1: segregation and racial discrimination. Now, did this mean that all 688 00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:22,759 Speaker 1: white people who enjoyed maintaining their lawn were racist for 689 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:28,160 Speaker 1: doing so, No, of course not. Rather, they were privileged 690 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:31,319 Speaker 1: and that they had more opportunities to secure a home 691 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:35,880 Speaker 1: in the suburbs and a lawn to maintain than people 692 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:39,359 Speaker 1: of color had. And that's also to point out that 693 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:43,360 Speaker 1: there were black people moving into suburbs and having lawns, 694 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:46,680 Speaker 1: but from a systematic point of view, they were doing 695 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,240 Speaker 1: so by overcoming obstacles that their white neighbors just didn't 696 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:54,719 Speaker 1: necessarily face. The post World War two era saw an 697 00:42:54,719 --> 00:43:00,799 Speaker 1: economic boom, and along with developments like color printing, radio, television, 698 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:05,120 Speaker 1: we also saw a boom in advertising. And you better 699 00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:09,120 Speaker 1: believe companies that were making lawn care products and machinery, 700 00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:13,880 Speaker 1: including lawnmowers, were leaning heavily on promoting the idea that 701 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:18,640 Speaker 1: a neat, orderly lawn reflects well on homeowners and that 702 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,440 Speaker 1: the products they were selling would help you achieve that 703 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:25,720 Speaker 1: dream of homogeneous perfection that plays a pardon it too. 704 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,600 Speaker 1: The US in the nineteen fifties was an era of conformity. 705 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:35,440 Speaker 1: There was an intense pressure to create the ideal of perfection. Honestly, 706 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,480 Speaker 1: when we look at stuff like how people will manufacture 707 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:43,239 Speaker 1: these perfect photos for their social media platforms like their Instagram, 708 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:46,000 Speaker 1: to me, it feels like it's that same mentality coming 709 00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:49,600 Speaker 1: back into play. Sure, your life might be a shambles, 710 00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:52,239 Speaker 1: but dang it, your lawn looks nice, and so to 711 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:56,000 Speaker 1: the outside world, you're just fine. Now, maybe I'm getting 712 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,680 Speaker 1: a bit too off target here. Let's get back to lawnmowers. 713 00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:02,720 Speaker 1: So by the nineteen fifties we started seeing the rotary 714 00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:06,319 Speaker 1: style lawnmowers that ran on gas hitting the market. This 715 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,680 Speaker 1: is where we get that iconic starter chord, the pull 716 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,040 Speaker 1: chord that can foil us as we try to get 717 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:15,160 Speaker 1: that little bit of fuel that's been pumped into the 718 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:19,160 Speaker 1: engine to catch on before giving that that chord a 719 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:21,640 Speaker 1: big rip or three to try and get the engine 720 00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:24,439 Speaker 1: to start. And I don't think I've ever talked about 721 00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:27,920 Speaker 1: how a poll start or rope start engine works. So 722 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:31,239 Speaker 1: let's just cover that super quickly, shall we. All Right, 723 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:34,960 Speaker 1: So inside the lawnmower, you've got a reel, and you've 724 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:39,399 Speaker 1: got a chord wound around that reel. The end of 725 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,080 Speaker 1: that chord is attached to a handle that's on the 726 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:44,959 Speaker 1: outside the lawnmower. That's the part that you grip and pull. 727 00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:49,440 Speaker 1: Attached to the real inside the lawnmower is a spring, 728 00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:53,440 Speaker 1: So pulling the cord will cause the spring to extend 729 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: and it wants to contract, so that's the force you're feeling. 730 00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,880 Speaker 1: The tension you feel is the spring trying to contract 731 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:01,800 Speaker 1: a ina so when you let go of the cord, 732 00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,600 Speaker 1: it goes back into the you know, the lawnmower because 733 00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:09,000 Speaker 1: that spring is compressing well. Also attached to the reel 734 00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:13,120 Speaker 1: is the clutch of the engine, and as the real turns, 735 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,520 Speaker 1: it transmits rotational energy to the crank shaft. If the 736 00:45:17,560 --> 00:45:21,640 Speaker 1: crank shaft turns quickly enough, a pair of magnets connected 737 00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:25,960 Speaker 1: to a flywheel begin to move outward due to centrifugal force, 738 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:29,520 Speaker 1: and once they extend far enough, the magnets affect the 739 00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,880 Speaker 1: ignition module so that it generates a spark and that 740 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:36,480 Speaker 1: sets off the combustion in the engine's cylinders, and once 741 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,120 Speaker 1: that gets going, the engine can take over from there. 742 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:42,680 Speaker 1: It can continue that cycle of sparking the spark plugs, 743 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:46,319 Speaker 1: assuming that there's fuel left in the tank to ignite 744 00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:50,080 Speaker 1: due to those sparks. So a gas powered rotary lawnmower 745 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:53,560 Speaker 1: typically uses the engine to provide power to the blade, 746 00:45:53,719 --> 00:45:57,560 Speaker 1: of course, but also frequently to at least two wheels 747 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:00,359 Speaker 1: to make it a little easier to push around. They 748 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:03,759 Speaker 1: require less physical effort to use than the mechanical lawnmowers 749 00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:05,840 Speaker 1: that have been around for more than a century, but 750 00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:09,279 Speaker 1: they also require fuel and they also give off emissions 751 00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:12,680 Speaker 1: through the burning of that fuel. Now, some folks have 752 00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:16,520 Speaker 1: been calling out lawns more recently for lots of different reasons, 753 00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:21,200 Speaker 1: including environmental and socioeconomic concerns. A lot of water is 754 00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:24,760 Speaker 1: used on lawns, which often can be seen as as 755 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:29,439 Speaker 1: very wasteful, and there's always stories about communities that have 756 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:34,120 Speaker 1: water restrictions due to drought and some jerk faces using 757 00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,240 Speaker 1: precious water to water their lawn because for some reason 758 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:41,000 Speaker 1: that's more important than everyone else having access to water. Uh. 759 00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:44,120 Speaker 1: Some folks use stuff like herbicides and pesticides in order 760 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:47,760 Speaker 1: to maintain their lawns, which can sometimes cause chemical runoff 761 00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:50,760 Speaker 1: that can get washed out and join the water cycle. 762 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:53,239 Speaker 1: That's bad news. And of course there's the fact that 763 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:57,320 Speaker 1: lawns are not natural ecosystems, they represent a less biologically 764 00:46:57,400 --> 00:47:01,560 Speaker 1: useful surface. And then the fact that the very concept 765 00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:05,440 Speaker 1: of lawns dates back to this aristocratic notion of showing 766 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:08,360 Speaker 1: off your wealth. So might we one day see a 767 00:47:08,400 --> 00:47:11,120 Speaker 1: world in which the manicured lawn is really an oddity 768 00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:14,600 Speaker 1: and people move to maybe a more natural and thus 769 00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:18,600 Speaker 1: disorderly approach. I don't know, but I sure hope so, 770 00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:20,839 Speaker 1: because then my h O A won't be on my 771 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:24,759 Speaker 1: case if I don't get to the grass cutting on time. Okay, well, 772 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:26,520 Speaker 1: I guess I need to go mow the lawn, So 773 00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:30,440 Speaker 1: let's wrap this episode up. If you guys have suggestions 774 00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:33,200 Speaker 1: for topics I can cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 775 00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:35,200 Speaker 1: please reach out to me. The best way to do 776 00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:38,960 Speaker 1: so is on Twitter. To handle is text stuff H 777 00:47:39,239 --> 00:47:43,040 Speaker 1: s W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 778 00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:50,759 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 779 00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:54,200 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, 780 00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:57,480 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 781 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:00,080 Speaker 1: You