PART TWO – Larsen Electric Lawnmower
Arthur Larsen must have seen an opportunity in making an electric lawnmower
for the working classes. This new, post-war market, would enable many workers
to own their first powered lawnmower.

The first Larsen print ad I have found appears in September, 1948: -

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We learn little about this mower in the early ads.
The price was not cheap though … a few weeks’ later we learn
the mower is self-propelled!

[Linked Image]

We do learn that the mower was ‘approved by State Electricity Commission',
and this was probably a requirement after some ‘bad’ press appeared across
Australia about the dangers of electricity.

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Larsen was a prodigious advertiser in the local newspapers, the
Courier Mail and the Brisbane Telegraph. He was a regular classified
advertiser using just a few lines of copy (without illustration).

The best ad - about specification - appeared in 1954 when a list of
features was finally forthcoming: -

[Linked Image]

It was pretty obvious to me that Arthur Larsen was converting an existing
reel mower. It was this 1954 ad that first gave me the key clues I was seeking.

Particularly, that it was of ‘All steel construction’ and that it had ‘Machined steel drive gears’.
I knew what it was! It was an Australian …

TO BE CONTINUED …

Attachments
1948_09_bristelegraph_11september_p13.jpg (40.3 KB, 59 downloads)
1948_09_bristelegraph_18september_p16.jpg (43.09 KB, 59 downloads)
1949_05_couriermail_30may_p9.jpg (31.76 KB, 59 downloads)
1954_03_beaudeserttimes_26march_p2.jpg (49.3 KB, 59 downloads)