Hello ODK History Lovers

The Talisman was a side-wheel push mower made by Alexander Shanks and
Company, of Arbroath, Scotland. Introduced in 1901, they would stay in production
for three decades, probably with WWII hostilities ending production.

These machines were sold in Australia but should be considered extremely rare
now. Whilst numbers sold here will remain unknown, these were not like the
American side-wheels that dominated the mass-market at this time in the USA,
the UK, and on these shores.

The Talisman was Shanks� counter-measure to the American dominance of the
side-wheel design. Ironically, the side-wheel was a British design: Follows
& Bate made their Climax in 1869, as a cheaper design to the original Budding
reel/roller lawnmower of 1830. In essence, the rear roller was morphed into
two sidewheels, and power transmission was simplified.

However, a rigid-class-system really stifled the side-wheel design in the UK,
thus enabling the more universally democratic United States to perfect the
design for mass consumption in America and their Western trading partners.
The side-wheel was a lawnmower that was classless. Well, almost �

The Talisman, though Scottish, was a copy of the very best American side-wheels.
It is known as an �intermediate gear� design in that it has a middle gear set
mounted between the wheel drive and the reel drive. It didn't come cheap.

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TO BE CONTINUED ...