1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and how the Tech Area. Well, 4 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: I am currently on vacation, although I'll be back tomorrow Tuesday. 5 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: I am flying back from New York City today, so 6 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: wish me safe travels. But I didn't want to leave 7 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: you without an episode, So we're going to listen to 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 1: an episode that I recorded in twenty twenty one, and 9 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: it was one of the episodes that really tickled me 10 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 1: when I got to work on it. It's called How 11 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: Medieval Warfare Lead to the Lawnmower, And it's kind of 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: a silly title, but you know, it also actually does track. 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: If it weren't for things like castles, we wouldn't have 14 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: lawnmowers and weed whackers. Really, So let's sit back, listen 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: to this episode from twenty twenty one and enjoy. While 16 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: I've been recording shows from my home for nearly a 17 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: year now, I still occasionally get reminded about how things 18 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: can be different from when I was working in the office. 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: For the most part, things are kind of like this 20 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: is the normal now, However, at the office, there is 21 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: no chance that my dog will be barking in the 22 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: background while I record, and so far I think I've 23 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: mostly avoided having him show up on episodes of Tech Stuff, 24 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: but only because I've edited around it. Keep telling him 25 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: if he wants to be on a show, he should 26 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: get his own podcast, but I'm also scared that if 27 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: he does that, he'll get way more popular than me. 28 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: You're also not likely to hear other extraneous noises at 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: the office because there our studios are Recording studios are 30 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: all in rooms that don't have a window to the 31 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: outside world built into them. Though you can still occasionally 32 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: pick up sounds of folks who are chatting in the 33 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: office outside the studios, because well, at least in the office, 34 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: we used to be a pretty chatty lot. So if 35 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: you listen to any of the stuff shows, if you 36 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: listen very carefully, you might occasionally hear the sounds of 37 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: people talking outside that studio room. That's because there are 38 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: desks and stuff just on the other side of those doors. 39 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: But one noise that has been a particular issue for 40 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: me while working at home has been the sound of 41 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: the landscape crew. That's working on the courtyard outside the 42 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: townhouse I live in. They always seem to show up 43 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: just as I'm getting ready to record. And then I thought, hey, 44 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: how about I talk about the history of lawnmowers and 45 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: how they work. That could be a great topic and 46 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: turn that frustration I feel into an episode. So let's 47 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: be again with some etymology, which I am now being 48 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: told is not the study of bugs, but rather the 49 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: origin of words. So we think of a lawn, you know, 50 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: as a grassy area like a yard, typically covered by 51 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: turf grass in fact, and that is somewhat kept in 52 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: an orderly fashion, partly by cutting the grass fairly low. 53 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: But where does the word lawn come from? Well, the 54 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: word derives from a Middle English word of land, meaning 55 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: an unwitted field or an open space in the woods, 56 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: like a glade. Thanks Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Now y'all 57 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: might know that back in my college days, I studied 58 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: medieval literature, including Old and Middle English texts, and so 59 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: immediately I thought of our old pal Jeffrey Chaucer, known 60 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: for composing the Canterbury Tales, though then he thoughtlessly went 61 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: off and died before he finished writing them. But He 62 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: also wrote a poem called Parliament of Fowls that mentions 63 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: a landa which, hey, that poem also references Valentine's Day 64 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: later on, and since we just had Valentine's Day, this 65 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: episode is now timely. So the whole poem is far 66 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: too long for me to read. It's like seven hundred 67 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: lines long. But I will give you the little bit 68 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: of it that's about the Lawnda. And the passage goes 69 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: like this, and then a lawanda upon the Hilda of 70 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: Flores was set. This Nobla Goddessa natier of branches were here, 71 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: Harleis and her Borza. He wrought after haircraft and her measure. 72 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: Now this passage goes on a bit longer, but honestly, 73 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 1: I would just be indulging my own love of medieval 74 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: English lit. So I'm going to cut it off. There. 75 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: What that passage means in modern English is and in 76 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: an opening in the woods, on a hill covered with 77 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: flowers sat the goddess Nature. Her home was made of 78 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,359 Speaker 1: branches and arranged according to her art. So it's a 79 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: pretty little passage. And here Londa refers to something you 80 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: might encounter if you were walking through the countryside through 81 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: the wooded forests of old England or old France. And 82 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: then at one point you encounter an opening in the 83 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: forest where there aren't any trees. So how did it 84 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: come to mean the word lawn that we use today. Well, 85 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: to understand that we have to talk about war. Yes, 86 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: just as many a homeowner has suspected lawn care and 87 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: warfare go hand in hand. Okay, So you got your 88 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: big medieval bigwig types. You know, you got your kings 89 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: and your lords and your earls and whatnot. And occasionally 90 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: these types would lead large groups of warriors to conquer 91 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: other medieval bigwig types, something like a, Hey, those guys 92 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: over there got it pretty good, so what don't we 93 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: go over there and take their stuff and make it 94 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: our stuff? And so the world turns upon such thoughts. 95 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: But it's not enough to conquer the people who live 96 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: on the other side of the hills or river or 97 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: ocean or whatever. You got to hold on to the 98 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: land that you've claimed, right, and that means creating fortifications, 99 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: preferably in places where you can get a pretty good 100 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: look at your surroundings, to make sure no other medieval 101 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: big wigs get the same bright idea you got, and 102 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: then they come to take your stuff, and it used 103 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: to be someone else's stuff, because you know, there's always 104 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: a bigger fish, as it were. So you build up 105 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: your forts or your castles as it were, to protect 106 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: your assets. Your castles are your defense system where you 107 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: can pull back if necessary if enemies come to call. 108 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: But you can't really be on the lookout for the 109 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: next bully if you can't see the armies for the trees, right, 110 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: and so it gets to chopping. You chop, chop, chop 111 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: all those trees down around your fortifications so that you 112 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: can see folks from a long way off if they're approaching, 113 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: and you can prepare if there's an imminent attack. It 114 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: also helps if you know, you don't leave trees around 115 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: for people to cut down and turn into stuff like 116 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: battering ramps. So there's that element as well. So rather 117 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: than wooded fields, you have grassy ones. And this is 118 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: the origin of the lawn though back in those days 119 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: the lawns weren't exactly you know, pristine, So to maintain 120 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: the lawns, you'd either have livestock go out to the 121 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: fields to graze, thus cutting back the grass by eating it, 122 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: as well as fertilizing the land on occasion, you know, 123 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: when nature called, or you could have laborers go out 124 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: to the fields with hand tools like scythes and sickles 125 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: to cut back the grass manually so that it wasn't 126 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: too high. A sickle is a handheld tool that has 127 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: a handle, typically made out of wood, and on the 128 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: business end, you've got a curved blade sticking out from 129 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: the handle, making kind of like a almost like a 130 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: half moon, you know, sort of crescent shaped, and the 131 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: blade is also typically at an angle relative to the handles, 132 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: sort of how a razor has an angle to it 133 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: for the purposes of shaving. A scythe is similar, but 134 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: it's much larger. It's a two handed tool. The grim 135 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: reaper carries a scythe, and cutting with either a sickle 136 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: or a side involves making horizontal passes, typically at the 137 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: base of the grass, and you cut in an arc 138 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: from one side to the other, and big arcing swings, 139 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: so semicircular swings, and those swings only go in one direction. 140 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: The blade is sharpened on the inside curve, not the 141 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: outside curve, and you're typically going right to left because 142 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: the handle for the forward hand on a scythe is 143 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: meant to be held with the right hand. The left 144 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: hand is meant to hold the scythe further back on 145 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: the handle, so in other words, this is yet another 146 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: right handed tool. Scything can actually be pretty efficient. There 147 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: are actually there's some great videos on YouTube of people 148 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: who have really gotten skilled with scything and they can 149 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: make short work of an overgrown lawn like they can 150 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: cut that stuff down quickly. I suggest you check it out. 151 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: It's just neat to watch, and the angle of the 152 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: blade determines how short the scythe will cut the grass. 153 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: Using a scythe with a good blade angle, a skilled 154 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: wheelder can cut the grass very low and pretty efficiently too, 155 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: and you would have the bottom part of the blade 156 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: actually making contact with the ground as you swing the 157 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: scythe from right to left. They also tend to have 158 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: to rake up the yard afterward to gather up all 159 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: the trimmings. We're usually looking at fields that have, you know, 160 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: grass that's quite high, like maybe a foot high or 161 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: maybe taller, so need to have something to rake up 162 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: all the clippings that you've left behind. I've seen a 163 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: lot of videos of folks using sides in order to 164 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: cut back on relying on fossil fuels and to make 165 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: use of the trimmings in various ways, from compost to 166 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: making hay while the sun shines. In some videos, I've 167 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: seen folks use sithes more effectively than someone who is 168 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,959 Speaker 1: using a mechanical push mower or a weed whacker, though 169 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: power mowers do tend to be more efficient than a scythe, 170 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: So a push mower, like a mechanical one where there's 171 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: no motor, it's just from human power that versus a scythe, 172 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: you might actually see someone be more effective with the 173 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: side than with the push mower weed whacker, same thing 174 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: the push mower that has a motor on it, those 175 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: tend to win out in the end. So it really 176 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: does start to make you wonder, however, why the heck 177 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: did anyone think to invent the mechanical lawnmower in the 178 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: first place. If a scythe can be as efficient, why 179 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: would anyone ever think about making a mechanical invention that 180 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: does effectively the same sort of thing. The first lawnmowers 181 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: were purely mechanical, relying on gears and blades that were 182 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: mounted on a drum like cylinder, and if those aren't 183 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: more efficient than a scythe why would you bother? And 184 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: the answer is drumroll please vanity. See. While in the 185 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: medieval era soldiers wanted to get a good view of 186 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: what might be coming at them throughout Europe, particularly in 187 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: France and England, the strategic usefulness of castles gradually declined 188 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: in the Middle Ages, largely because of advancements in artillery. 189 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: Cannons could make very short work of castle walls and 190 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: so warfare began to change and castles weren't part of that. 191 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: But you still had all these hoyity toity types who 192 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:59,199 Speaker 1: liked the idea of a well maintained lawn. Again, mostly 193 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: in France and England, that's really where this idea took hold, 194 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: and this was definitely an issue of vanity, particularly when 195 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: it came to showing off your prestige. Lawns are not 196 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: natural environments when you get down to it, they can 197 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: be environmentally unfriendly. They represent a much more limited biome 198 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: than a natural grassy or wooded area. It's an artificial construct. 199 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: It's really an example of humans cutting back nature to 200 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: suit our own esthetics. And really it was only the 201 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: hoidy toyty types doing this because maintaining a lawn was 202 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: a lot of work. Not that the toy types were 203 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: the ones doing the work, mind you, but they were 204 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: the ones who could afford livestock or laborers who would 205 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: trim back stuff for them. So from manor houses to 206 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: inhabited castles you had the practice of maintaining these large 207 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: grassy areas. Now, some of that sensibility would also find 208 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: its way over to the New World where it really 209 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: took hold. Now, the grasses in the New World were 210 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 1: different than those found in Europe, but when settlers came 211 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: to North America, they brought with them livestock, and apparently 212 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: the livestock really liked the grass in America so much 213 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: so that they ding dang durnate at all. So to 214 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: keep the livestock from starving, the colonists were importing grass 215 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: seats from Europe and North Africa, including grasses that, if 216 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: you were to go by their names, sound like they 217 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: come from America. Kentucky blue grass, I'm looking at you, 218 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: You ain't from Kentucky. Thomas Jefferson was said to have 219 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,079 Speaker 1: taken up the goal of creating a manicured lawn at 220 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: Monticello after he visited France, and George Washington had a 221 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: similar desire to turn his estate of Mountain Vernon into 222 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: a mirror of European standards. And certainly the idea of 223 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 1: a well kept lawn managed to really take hold in America, 224 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: becoming something of an obsession really, which will cover a 225 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: little bit later in this episode. And certain sports definitely helped, 226 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: things for which we can largely thank the Scots. Scottish 227 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: sports like golf and lawn bowling were brought over by 228 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: Scottish immigrants to America and they became popular pastimes for 229 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: those who had the leisure to pursue such things. But 230 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 1: to play lawn games, you gotta cut the grass, otherwise 231 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: you're going to spend more time trying to find the 232 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: game equipment than you get to play with the darned things. 233 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: Now we're going to come back to the evolution of 234 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: the lawn, particularly in America, and just a little bit 235 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: as that history ties into a lot of other interesting 236 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: stuff and includes some heavy duty connections to other elements 237 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: of American society in addition to feeding an entire industry 238 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: dedicated to lawn care and maintenance. But let's get back 239 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: to our early history of lawn mowers. Okay, so by 240 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century lawns were the rage in England, France 241 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: and starting to be in America. But as I said, 242 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: unless you had livestock or the cash to pay laborers, 243 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: you probably couldn't maintain a lawn on your own. You 244 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: certain couldn't do so to the immaculate standards of the aristocracy. 245 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: The wealthy would spend a lot to get that perfect lawn, 246 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: even going so far as to hire people to use 247 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: handheld shears to cut grass down quite low, and to 248 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: avoid the patterns that you would see if he used sides, 249 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: because cutting grass in those arc swings would leave behind 250 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: patterns in the grass, and that was considered esthetically unpleasing. 251 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: And then we come to an Englishman named Edwin Beard 252 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: Budding born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in seventeen ninety five. Budding 253 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: started off with some strikes against him. His parents were unmarried, 254 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: his father a farmer, and in England, that put him 255 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: at a fairly low social standing. Class in England was 256 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: a very important concept still can be while over there 257 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: the whole working class versus posh and all that sort 258 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: of stuff. So He started off in carpentry, but he 259 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 1: switched over to working at iron foundries. The Industrial Revolution 260 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: was well underweigh in England at this point and the 261 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: demand for iron tools and machinery was very high, and 262 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: through experience Budding built up an understanding of engineering and 263 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: problem solving. He would end up inventing several things or 264 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: making his own version of some existing machines, but obviously 265 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: the one we want to really look at is the lawnmower. 266 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: Budding got the idea for the lawnmower when he saw 267 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: a device used by textile mills to trim back the 268 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: fibers that stick out from the surface of cloth, also 269 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: known as the nap of a cloth, and with some 270 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: textiles the goal is to fluff the nap out. You 271 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: use little combs or prickly flowers even to pull some 272 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: of those threads out, and then you comb it a 273 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: certain way, which can make the cloth softer to the 274 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: touch and better at doing stuff like trapping heat. But 275 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: sometimes you just wanted a very smooth piece of cloth, 276 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: something that wouldn't get caught easily on roughs. So, for example, 277 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: you might want a carpet that could withstand more use 278 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: as long as it didn't you catch on shoes and stuff, 279 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: So you would want to shear the nap. You'd want 280 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: to cut that nap close to the cloth. And in 281 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 1: earlier days this job was done by skilled tradespeople who 282 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: would use giant sets of shears. I mean, these things 283 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: were massive in order to cut the nap off the 284 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: surface of the cloth as efficiently as possible. But by 285 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: Butting's time, some genius whose name is lost to history 286 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: came up with the notion of building a mechanical device 287 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: that has blades arranged around a drum or cylinder in 288 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 1: a type of helix shape. The drum or cylinder rotates, 289 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: and by running the surface of the cloth near this 290 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: helix of blades, the blades could trim back the nap 291 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,960 Speaker 1: on the surface of the cloth. Add in some rollers 292 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: and some other elements to pull the cloth along, and 293 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: you've got yourself a machine that can trim the nap 294 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: back on cloth evenly, consistently, and efficiently. Aha, said Budding. 295 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,399 Speaker 1: What if I took that same basic idea and flipped 296 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: it around a bit, so you could trim back grass 297 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: with rotating blades along a cylinder, And in eighteen thirty 298 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: that's just what he did, securing a patent number six 299 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: zero eight one in fact for his invention. I'll explain 300 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: more about it after this quick break. Budding saw an 301 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: opportunity to create a device that could consistently and reliably 302 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: cut grass a specific length. So, in other words, you 303 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: could adjust how tall the grass would be and without 304 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: leaving those marks behind that you would get if you 305 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: were to cut grass with scythes and such. Also, the 306 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 1: lawnmower wouldn't poop on the lawn, unlike livestock. It would 307 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: be particularly handy for parks and sporting grounds where the 308 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: to do could gather for their leisure time and look 309 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: for something orderly and neat, which very much fit in 310 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: with the sensibilities of the elite of nineteenth century Britain. 311 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,439 Speaker 1: So Edwin Beard Budding built a wheeled machine out of 312 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,160 Speaker 1: rot and cast iron. It had a pair of wheels. 313 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: It also had a pair of rollers and a forward 314 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: roller and a back roller, as well as the blade 315 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: mounted cylinder that did the actual cutting. So imagine you've 316 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: got a mechanical device has a small roller in the front. 317 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,439 Speaker 1: This is the thing that can be adjusted so you 318 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,400 Speaker 1: can control how close to the ground you're cutting the grass. 319 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: Behind that roller, you've got your horizontal cylinder that's got 320 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,920 Speaker 1: the curved blades arranged in a helix around that rotatble cylinder, 321 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: so it rotates along the horizontal axis, is what I'm saying. 322 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 1: To either side of that are the wheels of the lawnmower. 323 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: That provides stability, allows you to actually aim it and 324 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: push it along the ground. And then in the rear 325 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: you have a big roller. It kind of looks like 326 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: a more narrow and slightly smaller version of a steamroller, 327 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:15,439 Speaker 1: if that helps you imagine. This button's design also incorporated 328 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: a tray to catch grass clippings. The tray was in 329 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: the front because the way this machine worked, it would 330 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: propel the clippings out, shooting them out toward the front 331 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,119 Speaker 1: of the machine. That way, you wouldn't have to follow 332 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: behind the lawnmower with a rake or something like that 333 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: to rake up the clippings. And it was that rear roller, 334 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: the big steamroller type thing in the back that connected 335 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: to the bladed cylinder through a gear drive. That's where 336 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: you've got a series of gears that fit together to 337 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: transfer the rotational motion of the roller that's pressed against 338 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: the ground. So as you push the lawnmower forward, the 339 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: roller rolls because it's making contact with the round, and 340 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: it transfers that rotational motion to the cylinder or the 341 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: dram if you prefer, that's got the blades on it. 342 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: And all of this was made out of iron. Now 343 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: this meant the person who was pushing the mower had 344 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: to use a pretty good amount of force because you 345 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,160 Speaker 1: weren't just pushing hard enough to move the mower itself, 346 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: which being made out of iron, was pretty darn heavy, 347 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 1: but also to power that drive train of gears that 348 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 1: would transmit the rotation to the cylinder. And each step 349 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: of that process, each gear connection, means that you're losing 350 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: a little bit of the amount of energy you're giving 351 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: to the system to stuff like friction. So it means 352 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: you have to push even harder to get things going. 353 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: But still, Budding showed that the same general principle that 354 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: worked for cutting back the nap on cloth could in 355 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: fact be used to cut grass. He patented his design 356 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty, and in that patent Budding said his 357 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: invention represented to quote, a new combination an application of 358 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: machinery for the purpose of cropping or shearing the vegetable 359 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: surfaces of lawns, grass plats and pleasure grounds. Country gentlemen 360 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: may find and using my machine themselves, and amusing useful 361 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 1: and healthy exercise end quote. It's interesting to note that 362 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 1: a lot of the basic designs introduced by Budding would 363 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: stick around throughout the ages with mechanical pushmowers, and the 364 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: ones that we have today have at least some resemblance 365 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: to the one that Budding was making back in the 366 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: mid nineteenth century. Now the new ones are more elegant 367 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,359 Speaker 1: in design and they're made of much lighter materials, but 368 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: the general principle behind the operation remains pretty much the same. 369 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: Budding formed a partnership with an engineer named John Farrabee, 370 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: who owned a company called Phoenix Iron Works. Farreby had 371 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: the manufacturing rights to produce Budding's design and fronted the 372 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: costs to develop the prototype. One of the earliest lawnmowers 373 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 1: that the pair produced went to the London Zoo, and 374 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 1: another one became the property of Oxford University. By eighteen 375 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: thirty two, word had already spread that Budding's machine could 376 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: create great results, and demand was soon outpacing Faraby's capacity. 377 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: To produce lawnmowers, and Faraby then began to license the 378 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: design to other engineers to other ironworks owners, including Ransoms 379 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: of Ipswich, a company that was already in the business 380 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: of producing plows for farmers. They advertised the new lawnmower 381 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 1: invention saying, quote the machine is so easy to manage 382 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: that persons unpracticed in the art of mowing may cut 383 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: the grass on lawns and bowling greens with ease end quote. 384 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: In other words, they were kind of positioning this as 385 00:23:54,280 --> 00:24:00,440 Speaker 1: something of a leisure activity for the upper class. That 386 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: mowing the lawn with a side that was a low 387 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,120 Speaker 1: class thing to do. That was for laborers. You wouldn't 388 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: see people of the upper classes do that. It was 389 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: beneath their station. But mowing with this exotic machine that 390 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: was something befitting a person of high station. And it was, 391 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, pretty simple to operate these things. 392 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: You just grabbed the handle of the mower and you 393 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: pushed it forward kind of like a cart. You would 394 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: exert a little bit of a downward push as you did. 395 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: So it took far less skilled than scything did, and 396 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: by framing the activity of mowing a lawn as a 397 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: means of taking exercise and being out in nature. The 398 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: companies were slowly shifting the perception of caring for a 399 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,920 Speaker 1: lawn in general, and this would also help later on 400 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: as the lawn mower would be marketed toward the middle class, 401 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: when the prices would eventually come down. Now, when I 402 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: say the demand was outstripping supply, we have to remember 403 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: that manufacturing in the eighteen thirties wasn't nearly as efficient 404 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 1: as it would be a century later. So I don't 405 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: want to give you the impression that the lawnmower became 406 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: the must have Christmas gift of eighteen thirty two or something. 407 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,159 Speaker 1: When Budding passed away in eighteen forty six because of 408 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: a stroke. The lawnmower was a successful invention, but it 409 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: was not yet a household item, so it wasn't like 410 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: Budding had become a millionaire. In fact, he died before 411 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:35,440 Speaker 1: really seeing his invention get adopted around England, France and America. 412 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: By the eighteen sixties, Farrabe's Ironworks had produced around five 413 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: thousand lawnmowers, and that included a small range of designs, 414 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: which mainly had to do with the width of the lawnmower. 415 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:52,640 Speaker 1: A wider lawnmower can obviously cut a wider strip of grass, 416 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: which means you don't have to do as many passes 417 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,640 Speaker 1: on a lawn or a field in order to complete 418 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: a job, but it also means that the lawnmower gets heavier. 419 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: Some of the designs incorporated a second handle on the lawnmower. 420 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: This one would be toward the front of the machine, 421 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: which meant you could actually pull it along behind you 422 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,680 Speaker 1: instead of pushing it in front of you. One design 423 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,679 Speaker 1: I saw had the handle on a hinge so you 424 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: could swing the handle so you could swing it toward 425 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: the rear of the machine and make it a push mower, 426 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: or you could swing it to the front of the 427 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: machine and make it a pull mower. Budding's design inspired 428 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: others to make their own adjustments. In eighteen forty two, 429 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: Alexander Shanks, an inventor from Scotland, made a version of 430 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: the lawnmower that could be hitched to a horse or pony, 431 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: which allowed him to make even larger lawnmowers that would 432 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: be far too heavy for a person to push or 433 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: pull on their own. To prevent the horses from damaging 434 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 1: the grass. Let's say that you were cutting the grass 435 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: on a golf course, something that was very common in 436 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,879 Speaker 1: Scotland or tennis courts. Well, they would put little leather 437 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: shoes on the horse's hoofs, so the horse would be 438 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: wearing booties in order to mow the lawn. In the 439 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties, inventor Thomas Greene made some adjustments of his 440 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: own to the lawnmower design, and one simple tweak was 441 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,399 Speaker 1: that he added a rake to help lift grass blades 442 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,399 Speaker 1: up a little bit for cutting, so that way you 443 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,679 Speaker 1: didn't end up with any mist bits. But in the 444 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,679 Speaker 1: late eighteen fifties he made a much more substantial change. 445 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: He created a chain drive for the mower's blades instead 446 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:34,360 Speaker 1: of the gear drive that Budding had created, and by 447 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,719 Speaker 1: removing the need for so many cast iron gears and 448 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 1: replacing them with a chain, he made the lawnmowers design 449 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: simpler and importantly lighter. It was also apparently less noisy, 450 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: as green called his lawnmower the Silen's Messoar for silent running. 451 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 1: By this time, thirty years after the invention of the lawnmower, 452 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:02,120 Speaker 1: word had reached America. In eighteen sixty eight, an inventor 453 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: from Connecticut named Amariah Hills received a patent for improvements 454 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: to Budding's lawnmower design, which included changing out a cylinder 455 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: covered in blades to an open spiral cutter. So just 456 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: imagine a helix of blades, but you no longer have 457 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: them mounted on a cylinder. It's almost like it's just 458 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,919 Speaker 1: two blades that mount two wheels on either side that 459 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,159 Speaker 1: can turn. He also allowed more fine tuning for the 460 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: cutting height and changed how the handle attached to the 461 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 1: frame of the mower, and his design would go on 462 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: to become a very popular mower in the Northeastern United States, 463 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: sometimes called an archimedian mower because the blades resembled the 464 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: classic archimedian screw. Many of these machines saw use in 465 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: parks and for maintaining stuff like golf courses and tennis 466 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: courts and the like. But over in America they would 467 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: also be sought after because of a few other big factors, 468 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,440 Speaker 1: and one is the growth of the suburbs. So, after 469 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: the Civil War in America and as the US was 470 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: having its own boom in industry, cities were becoming more 471 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: industrialized in general, and many people at least many wealthy people. 472 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: The people who could afford it moved out of the 473 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: cities and settled in surrounding areas near the cities, forming 474 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: the suburbs, and like the French and English aristocracy a 475 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: century earlier, many of them saw a well maintained lawn 476 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: as something of a status symbol. So there was a 477 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 1: general movement toward cutting lawns, which must have pleased Amariah 478 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: Hill as it represented a demand for those Archimedean mowers. 479 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: And in eighteen seventy Frank J. Scotts, The Art of 480 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: Beautifying Suburban Home Grounds of Small Extent hit the presses. 481 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: This book, which is six hundred eighteen pages in length 482 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: if we don't include all the advertisements at the end 483 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: of the book, goes to what I can only describe 484 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 1: as excruciating detail regarding how to make your lawn look 485 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: absolutely magnificent and further, you are a monster if you 486 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: don't do it. You can read the whole thing over 487 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: on the Smithsonian Library's website if you would like. If 488 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: you want to skip to the juicy stuff, go to 489 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: page one hundred seven, chapter thirteen, The Lawn. The chapter 490 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: opens up with a couple of references to poetry, followed 491 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: by this passage quote, A smooth, closely shoven surface of 492 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: grass is by far the most essential element of beauty 493 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: on the grounds of a suburban home. End quote boom 494 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: mic drop. You don't mow your grass, you are an 495 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: affront to beauty. Now I'm being a little you know, 496 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: facetious here, but Scott was arguing that in an age 497 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: in which companies were laying down train tracks or street 498 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: car lines, more people from far and wide, we're passing 499 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: through different neighborhoods and then judging those neighborhoods based on 500 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: their esthetic beauty or lack thereof. And isn't it more 501 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 1: American to be proud of your community and to show 502 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: it off with distinction. So rich suburbanites ate that stuff 503 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: up man, and so lawn care started to be a 504 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: big business. It was boosted more with related inventions such 505 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: as Joseph Lessler's lawn sprinkler, which could attach to a 506 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: garden hose. Lawns need a good deal of water to 507 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 1: remain healthy. That's we'll kind of touch on that again 508 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: in a bit. And this was a way where you 509 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: could water your lawn without having to do a lot 510 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: of backbreaking work in the process. And again, the concept 511 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: of lawn care being connected to exercise and being out 512 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: of doors was a big part of all this too. 513 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: So while America's obsession with lawn care began to take root, 514 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: so to speak, we had other stuff going on at 515 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: the same time. Sometime around eighteen ninety or so, inventors 516 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 1: began to incorporate the next logical element for lawnmowers, steam engines. Yes, 517 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: steam powered lawnmowers were a thing briefly, and why not. 518 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: Steam engines had already been used for trains for decades, 519 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: so why not strap a big old boiler to a 520 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: mechanical lawnmower and make the boiling water do all the work. 521 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: So here's how these things worked. In general. You had 522 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: your boiler, which is the name suggests, is the container 523 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: holding the water that gets boiled off to produce steam. 524 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: The boiler is pressurized, so the steam can't just escape. 525 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: It has to go through a specific route, and typically 526 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: you would have a valve that would allow steam to 527 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,520 Speaker 1: pass through under really incredible pressure. So a furnace heats 528 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: the boiler up, the water starts to boil off, and 529 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: the steam builds up and passes through valves to a 530 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: cylinder that has a piston in it. The steam forces 531 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: the piston down the length of the cylinder until the 532 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: piston asses an exhaust valve, whereupon the steam escapes the cylinder, 533 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: the piston returns to its starting position, and the whole 534 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:12,120 Speaker 1: thing can happen again. Attaching mechanical elements to the piston 535 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: via a piston rod allows you to transfer that mechanical 536 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: motion to other components, such as the wheels and the 537 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: cutting blades of a lawnmower. And bang, Now you don't 538 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: have to push it yourself or hitch it to a 539 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: horse or something. You just got to fill up the 540 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: boiler from time to time. You got to keep that 541 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 1: furnace going and keep it really hot. And you know, 542 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: you just gotta not explode, which is something that can 543 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 1: happen if pressure builds up in a boiler and the 544 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: steam has nowhere to go. But hey, a boiler explosion 545 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: is a small price to pay for a well manicured lawn. Right. Okay, 546 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: I'm clearly getting snarky again, But these lawnmowers did work, 547 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: and I've seen some that look like the result you 548 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: would get if you crossed a locomotive with a mechanical 549 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 1: push mower along with a riding lawnmower. You would sit 550 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 1: in front of the boiler, which would be mounted at 551 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: the rear of the lawnmower, and you would use controls 552 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 1: to steer yourself as you rode along and moved down 553 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 1: a lawn or field, and the steam engine provides all 554 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: the oop to the wheels and the blades. It's neat, 555 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: if a little intimidating. These things were huge, and they 556 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,440 Speaker 1: had to be because if you're using steam, you need 557 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,120 Speaker 1: to have a big boiler to hold enough water so 558 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:29,800 Speaker 1: that you've got the oomph for your engine. These clearly 559 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 1: were not intended for the average homeowner, or even the 560 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: upper middle class or lower upper class homeowners. These were 561 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: more for you know, larger, more regularly level areas. They 562 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,239 Speaker 1: didn't do well if there were hills or anything like that, 563 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: so these were more frequently used for something like a 564 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,799 Speaker 1: flat landscaped park, or you know, a sporting area like 565 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,720 Speaker 1: a golf course or maybe a tennis court. They also 566 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,399 Speaker 1: didn't stick around for very long. And when we come back, 567 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,920 Speaker 1: I'll talk about the development of the gas powered lawnmower, 568 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,360 Speaker 1: which would take the steam out of its predecessor for 569 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: a couple of good reasons. But first let's take another 570 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 1: quick break. Before I get into more modern mowers, I 571 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 1: should mention another inventor, this one named John Albert Burr. 572 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 1: He made change us to the classic cylindrical lawnmower design 573 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: so that the gears wouldn't easily get gummed up with 574 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,440 Speaker 1: lawn clippings. Essentially, they figured out, hey, if we cover 575 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,479 Speaker 1: these gears up so that the lawn clippings can't get 576 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:43,160 Speaker 1: in the gearworks, then you're not going to have as 577 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: many jams as you try and mow your lawn. He 578 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,399 Speaker 1: also created a mower that would allow landscapers to mow 579 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 1: more closely to the edge of walls and buildings to 580 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,880 Speaker 1: get a neater cut. Also, around this time, improvements in 581 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,839 Speaker 1: manufacturing meant that companies could mass produce lawn mowers, which 582 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,319 Speaker 1: also meant the costs of production dropped, and that meant 583 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: companies could drop the prices of those machines, and that 584 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,800 Speaker 1: meant more people were able to afford lawnmowers, and in 585 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 1: American particular, that meant booming business as the idea that 586 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,600 Speaker 1: a well kept lawn was an important component of being 587 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:23,000 Speaker 1: seen as an upstanding member of society. It had really 588 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,880 Speaker 1: taken hold here. So this combination of elements led to 589 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,279 Speaker 1: a lot more people buying lawnmowers. And when I say that, 590 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:35,719 Speaker 1: remember I'm still talking about the mechanical push mower style devices. Well, 591 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 1: the steam powered lawnmowers appeared on the scene in the 592 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties, but by nineteen o two, Ransoms, the company 593 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,040 Speaker 1: I mentioned much earlier in this episode as one of 594 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:49,480 Speaker 1: the first two license Budding's lawnmower design for production, Well, 595 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: they created the first lawnmower that used an internal combustion 596 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,680 Speaker 1: engine for power. This was a ride on mower, and 597 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: it was a big one. So this was not a pushmower. 598 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,279 Speaker 1: This was a gigantic monstrosity. In fact, the images I've 599 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 1: seen of this thing make it look like there's a 600 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,800 Speaker 1: gentleman in a jacket and tweed hat who is taking 601 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,920 Speaker 1: a printing press out for a ride or something. It's 602 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:18,320 Speaker 1: a machine with big, heavy chains, enormous rollers, a large 603 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: container in front to catch clippings, and whirling blades of 604 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:26,040 Speaker 1: destruction underneath. It looks pretty awesome, I think, and almost unreal. 605 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: It certainly isn't what I think of when someone says lawnmower. 606 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: To me, the internal combustion engine was the death knell 607 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:39,800 Speaker 1: for steam powered lawnmowers. While Ransom's ride on mower was huge, 608 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: the switch to an internal combustion engine would lead to 609 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 1: smaller lawnmower designs, and you didn't need an enormous boiler 610 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 1: like you would with a steam powered one, nor did 611 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 1: you have to stoke some sort of furnace to keep 612 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,839 Speaker 1: things going. You just needed some petrol in the fuel tank. Now, 613 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: I've talked about how internal combustion and work and other episodes, 614 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: so I'm not going to go into all that detail here, 615 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,799 Speaker 1: but i will say that the early versions of the 616 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: motor powered lawn mowers, really in other forms, seemed to 617 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:15,800 Speaker 1: be based on that cylindrical helix design along the horizontal axis, 618 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,799 Speaker 1: the same sort design that Budding had proposed way back 619 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:22,640 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty. So these were not the rotary mowers 620 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 1: that we would see much later, not yet, but the 621 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:29,719 Speaker 1: advances in internal combustion engines, which would both make the 622 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,279 Speaker 1: mowers get smaller and more powerful as various engineers made 623 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:36,480 Speaker 1: improvements to the engines that eventually did lead to the 624 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 1: design of a different kind of lawnmowers. So instead of 625 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:44,360 Speaker 1: that horizontal axis cylindrical approach in which the blades would 626 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,879 Speaker 1: rotate around that horizontal axis, the internal combustion engineal out 627 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,360 Speaker 1: for a lawnmower with a vertical axle upon which you 628 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 1: would fix a horizontal blade, So the rotating vertical axle 629 00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:59,640 Speaker 1: would rotate this horizontal blade close to the ground in 630 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,920 Speaker 1: a really fast circle, and you've got your rotary lawnmower. 631 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,800 Speaker 1: A lot of different engineers and companies experimented with creating 632 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:12,440 Speaker 1: rotary lawnmowers for a few decades actually, but most of 633 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 1: them weren't really that successful because the engines being used 634 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:19,920 Speaker 1: just weren't up to turning something that way in an 635 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,239 Speaker 1: efficient manner, so you couldn't cut very well with them. 636 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 1: But by the nineteen fifties it had become a viable 637 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:30,480 Speaker 1: approach to lawnmower design. And now we're going to get 638 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:34,240 Speaker 1: into some interesting and some upsetting parts of history. Okay, 639 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: So we laid out how the aristocracy used lawns as 640 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,560 Speaker 1: a way to show off their wealth and their sensibilities, 641 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,080 Speaker 1: and we talked about how those ideas filtered from France 642 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,919 Speaker 1: and England to America, and how Frank Scott promoted them 643 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,759 Speaker 1: with his authoritative approach on appealing to wealthy suburban families. 644 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 1: So let's talk about some big issues in the United States. 645 00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:59,880 Speaker 1: They made lawns a sort of symbol of the halves 646 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:03,279 Speaker 1: versus the half knots. And this is also going to 647 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,960 Speaker 1: have a lot to do about racial discrimination. Back in 648 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:10,840 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy when Scott's book hit the scene, his target 649 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,800 Speaker 1: demographic was the white suburban homeowner. The suburbs were where 650 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:19,279 Speaker 1: you typically find the upper middle class, or maybe the 651 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:24,360 Speaker 1: lower upper classes, and these communities were predominantly white, and 652 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,640 Speaker 1: frequently that was actually a selling point that real estate 653 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:32,120 Speaker 1: agents would market to potential clients. It was, without a doubt, 654 00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:36,480 Speaker 1: a racist perspective, the idea that a community is preferable 655 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,240 Speaker 1: because there are no people of color living there. That's 656 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:43,880 Speaker 1: just gross, all right. So flash forward to the nineteen forties. 657 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,560 Speaker 1: The United States enters World War Two and sends more 658 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:52,239 Speaker 1: than sixteen million Americans to serve. During the war, more 659 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:55,240 Speaker 1: than four hundred thousand of those Americans died in action, 660 00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:59,640 Speaker 1: and another six hundred seventy thousand were wounded. At the time, 661 00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 1: racial segregation was still very much in practice. Even in 662 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: the military, and the number of black people serving in 663 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:11,000 Speaker 1: the US military actually represented a lower percentage than the 664 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:16,040 Speaker 1: demographics of black people relatives to the general US population 665 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,760 Speaker 1: at the time, but there were still thousands of black 666 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,640 Speaker 1: soldiers and volunteers who were active in the theater of war, 667 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:28,240 Speaker 1: including soldiers on the front lines. Back home, the United 668 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:33,279 Speaker 1: States government passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of nineteen forty four, 669 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:36,640 Speaker 1: better known as the GI Bill. The purpose of the 670 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,800 Speaker 1: bill was to create a support system for soldiers returning 671 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:44,239 Speaker 1: home that included important infrastructure like the construction of hospitals. 672 00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:47,760 Speaker 1: But it also included the chance to go to college 673 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:52,000 Speaker 1: tuition free up to five hundred dollars, which, hey, how 674 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:56,680 Speaker 1: about those college tuition increases, y'all. They could also secure 675 00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:01,080 Speaker 1: low interest mortgage offers on homes through banks. The government 676 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,080 Speaker 1: was backing those loans. So these soldiers, some of whom 677 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:08,319 Speaker 1: had been overseas for years, were to be given some 678 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,160 Speaker 1: assistance upon returning home to make up for the fact 679 00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,960 Speaker 1: that they had to leave their lives, their loved ones, 680 00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:17,880 Speaker 1: and their livelihoods all behind. And that bill meant that 681 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,759 Speaker 1: millions of returning soldiers would be able to buy a 682 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:24,120 Speaker 1: home for the first time in the suburbs and follow 683 00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:26,759 Speaker 1: the American dream of a white picket fence and a 684 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:31,319 Speaker 1: well manicured lawn. That is, they could do it if 685 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:35,840 Speaker 1: they were white. While the bill ostensibly offered benefits to 686 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:40,600 Speaker 1: all returning veterans regardless of race or gender, in practice 687 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 1: it was far more common to see those benefits go 688 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:49,120 Speaker 1: to white male veterans, and black veterans also frequently found 689 00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,439 Speaker 1: it really hard to secure a loan from a bank 690 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:56,040 Speaker 1: for a mortgage, even with the guaranteed government backing that 691 00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:59,320 Speaker 1: came from the GI Bill. And so the suburban home 692 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,840 Speaker 1: and along with it, the American lawn became sort of 693 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:08,480 Speaker 1: an extended marker for segregation and racial discrimination. Now did 694 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,400 Speaker 1: this mean that all white people who enjoyed maintaining their 695 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:16,880 Speaker 1: lawn were racist for doing so, No, of course not. Rather, 696 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:20,319 Speaker 1: they were privileged and that they had more opportunities to 697 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:23,840 Speaker 1: secure a home in the suburbs and a lawn to 698 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,520 Speaker 1: maintain than people of color had. And that's also to 699 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:32,200 Speaker 1: point out that there were black people moving into suburbs 700 00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:35,520 Speaker 1: and having lawns, but from a systematic point of view, 701 00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:39,239 Speaker 1: they were doing so by overcoming obstacles that their white 702 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:43,719 Speaker 1: neighbors just didn't necessarily face. The post World War two 703 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,680 Speaker 1: era saw an economic boom, and along with developments like 704 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:54,120 Speaker 1: color printing, radio television, we also saw a boom in advertising. 705 00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:58,040 Speaker 1: And you better believe companies that were making lawn care 706 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: products and machinery, including lawnmowers, were leaning heavily on promoting 707 00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:07,560 Speaker 1: the idea that a neat, orderly lawn reflects well on 708 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:10,640 Speaker 1: homeowners and that the products they were selling would help 709 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:14,920 Speaker 1: you achieve that dream of homogeneous perfection that plays a 710 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:18,000 Speaker 1: pardon it too. The US in the nineteen fifties was 711 00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:22,239 Speaker 1: an era of conformity. There was an intense pressure to 712 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: create the ideal of perfection. Honestly, when we look at 713 00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:30,279 Speaker 1: stuff like how people will manufacture these perfect photos for 714 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:33,799 Speaker 1: their social media platforms like their Instagram, to me, it 715 00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:37,480 Speaker 1: feels like it's that same mentality coming back into play. Sure, 716 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,359 Speaker 1: your life might be as shambles, but dang it, your 717 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,960 Speaker 1: lawn looks nice, and so to the outside world you're 718 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,959 Speaker 1: just fine. Now, maybe I'm getting a bit too off 719 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,279 Speaker 1: target here. Let's get back to lawnmowers. So by the 720 00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:53,920 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties we started seeing the rotary style lawnmowers that 721 00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:56,840 Speaker 1: ran on gas hitting the market. This is where we 722 00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:01,280 Speaker 1: get that iconic starter chord, the pull that can foil 723 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: us as we try to get that little bit of 724 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,319 Speaker 1: fuel that's been pumped into the engine to catch on 725 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:10,719 Speaker 1: before giving that chord a big rip or three to 726 00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:13,120 Speaker 1: try and get the engine to start. And I don't 727 00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:15,880 Speaker 1: think I've ever talked about how a poll start or 728 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:19,960 Speaker 1: rope start engine works. So let's just cover that super quickly, 729 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:23,480 Speaker 1: shall we. All Right, So inside the lawnmower, you've got 730 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:27,760 Speaker 1: a reel and you've got a chord wound around that reel. 731 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:31,600 Speaker 1: The end of that chord is attached to a handle 732 00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:33,840 Speaker 1: that's on the outside the lawnmower. That's the part that 733 00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:37,800 Speaker 1: you grip and pull. Attached to the reel inside the 734 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:41,560 Speaker 1: lawnmower is a spring. So pulling the cord will cause 735 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:45,520 Speaker 1: the spring to extend and it wants to contract. So 736 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,359 Speaker 1: that's the force you're feeling. The tension you feel is 737 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:50,879 Speaker 1: the spring trying to contract again. So when you let 738 00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:54,319 Speaker 1: go of the chord, it goes back into the you know, 739 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:58,600 Speaker 1: the lawnmower because that spring is compressing well. Also attached 740 00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: to the reel is the clutch of the engine, and 741 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:05,839 Speaker 1: as the reel turns, it transmits rotational energy to the 742 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:10,080 Speaker 1: crank shaft. If the crank shaft turns quickly enough, a 743 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:13,839 Speaker 1: pair of magnets connected to a flywheel begin to move 744 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:17,960 Speaker 1: outward due to centrifugal force, and once they extend far enough, 745 00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:21,880 Speaker 1: the magnets affect the ignition module so that it generates 746 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,719 Speaker 1: a spark and that sets off the combustion in the 747 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:28,279 Speaker 1: engine's cylinders, and once that gets going, the engine can 748 00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,200 Speaker 1: take over. From there it can continue that cycle of 749 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,880 Speaker 1: sparking the spark plugs, assuming that there's fuel left in 750 00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:38,360 Speaker 1: the tank to ignite due to those sparks. So a 751 00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:42,560 Speaker 1: gas powered rotary lawnmower typically uses the engine to provide 752 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,920 Speaker 1: power to the blade, of course, but also frequently to 753 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:49,080 Speaker 1: at least two wheels to make it a little easier 754 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:52,319 Speaker 1: to push around. They require less physical effort to use 755 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:54,759 Speaker 1: than the mechanical lawnmowers that have been around for more 756 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:57,920 Speaker 1: than a century, but they also require fuel, and they 757 00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:01,200 Speaker 1: also give off emissions through the learning of that fuel. 758 00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:04,840 Speaker 1: Now some folks have been calling out lawns more recently 759 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:09,719 Speaker 1: for lots of different reasons, including environmental and socioeconomic concerns. 760 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:13,800 Speaker 1: A lot of water is used on lawns, which often 761 00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:17,680 Speaker 1: can be seen as very wasteful, and there's always stories 762 00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:21,920 Speaker 1: about communities that have water restrictions due to drought, and 763 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:26,359 Speaker 1: some jerk faces using precious water to water their lawn 764 00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:29,399 Speaker 1: because for some reason that's more important than everyone else 765 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:33,000 Speaker 1: having access to water. Some folks use stuff like herbicides 766 00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:36,160 Speaker 1: and pesticides in order to maintain their lawns, which can 767 00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:39,680 Speaker 1: sometimes cause chemical runoff that can get washed out and 768 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:42,640 Speaker 1: join the water cycle. That's bad news. And of course 769 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:45,799 Speaker 1: there's the fact that lawns are not natural ecosystems. They 770 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:50,360 Speaker 1: represent a less biologically useful surface. And then the fact 771 00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:53,040 Speaker 1: that the very concept of lawns dates back to this 772 00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:57,640 Speaker 1: aristocratic notion of showing off your wealth. So might we 773 00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:59,960 Speaker 1: one day see a world in which the manicured law 774 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,280 Speaker 1: on is really an oddity and people move to maybe 775 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:07,359 Speaker 1: a more natural and thus disorderly approach. I don't know, 776 00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:10,040 Speaker 1: but I sure hope so, because then my h O 777 00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:11,960 Speaker 1: won't be on my case if I don't get to 778 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,359 Speaker 1: the grass cutting on time. I hope you enjoyed that 779 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:19,240 Speaker 1: episode from twenty twenty one. It originally published on February fifteenth, 780 00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:23,200 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. That's my work anniversary. I started working 781 00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:27,600 Speaker 1: at how Stuff Works on February fifteenth, many many years ago, 782 00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:32,680 Speaker 1: and I'm still here. I hope that you are all well. 783 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:34,560 Speaker 1: I will be back for the rest of the week, 784 00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:38,200 Speaker 1: so I look forward to chatting with you again really soon. 785 00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:49,080 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 786 00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:53,120 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 787 00:48:53,160 --> 00:48:54,240 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.