OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Godfreys Wertheim Store Brand Info

Looking to find some info on the department store victa's similar to the one pictured, particularly the Godfreys models, any help or info would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!!

Well, that particular one is early 1970's, as it has zip start and the G3 carby, from what I can see.

The story with these Victa storebrands, is that Victa would make a batch of them, with customer spec'd decals, and cowling and catcher colours, for any buyer. They were first listed in Victa spare parts literature as 'Stencil' models, then later as 'Storebrand'.

The rear catcher models all used the Mayfair low-arch chassis, at the time that one was made. The storebranded minimum order was only a couple of hundred IIRC, but that had to be taken in a single delivery, on completion of the production run.

So there are a lot of variations of these about, often made for long-defunct [and now forgotten] retail chains.

Godfrey's at least is still around, though they are a vacuum cleaner franchise setup now. Back then, they were a general appliance retailer chain as well.

Ok, cheers Gadge!
Any idea what the different variations were with the Godfreys models?
Have taken this one as original as there seemed to be quite a few vacuums that Godfreys sold with the wertheim name, however I have just come across a Godfreys victa with a lancer 160 naming on the front which leaves the question with me now...were there other models sold by Godfreys or is the lancer cowling mismatched from a different store?

G'day Lenny,
I don't think there's any real prospect of finding out how many different Godfrey's models there were. Or even how many different storebrand names there were! Any Victa production records for that era are long gone now.

There's no way of saying for sure if that Lancer is a 'bitsa', really. All that can be said is, that it could well be original, as the decal style and colours match, on the base and cowling.

I presume here, that you're referring to the one in a couple of ODK member vccomm's past threads - there are some good pics:
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=41043

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=37870

That's the one that I was talking about Gadge, didn't even actually see that post by vc, definitely answers my question on whether or not there was one or many models sold by certain stores, the fact that this one pictured has (by the looks of the picture) been painted at some stage left me wondering if it was a 'bitsa', obviously not!

Thanks heaps for steering me in the right direction though Gadge!! Very much appreciated mate!!

Definitely sets my mind at ease and leaves the question as answered, was just one of those little details that annoyed me, even though I'm only after this mower for an original good condition green catcher if there is one with it

G'day Lennyb and Mod Gadge

Yes, if something can be found, Gadge will find it.

Thanks for helping our record on these store brands.
It was news to me that Godfreys sold mowers at all.

A note on the Wertheim and why 'deluxe' appears.
This chassis was Victa's top chassis for the 1960s,
appearing on their Corvette.

When Victa dropped 'Corvette' from their Victa range in 1973,
this enabled the chassis to continue to live on as both a
stencil (Corvette, Premier,) and as a store brand.

The deluxe placed it above the Mayfair chassis - in that
your machine had better styling, better wheels, bigger catcher
and chrome highlights. Both the Mayfair and this chassis were
medium-arch machines - meaning that they could be sold at a
cheaper price than the high-arch machines of the 1970s.

Victa now had a two-tier store brand offering: Mayfair (standard);
Corvette (deluxe offering). By the end of the 1970s, Victa would have a
high-arch chassis available for store brand mowers.

Your machine is in excellent condition and well worth preserving.
It even has a rare green fuel gauge matching the green decal.

I see that Godfreys still flogs Wertheim vacuum cleaners to suckers
I believe Wertheim is a Godfrey's creation - a store brand.

----------------------------
Jack

Related:-
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=72163

Thanks again Jack!!!

Some more info to go along with the story of this old girl, took me the best part of 8 months to come up with the catcher for it, came across the mower in a trade for 3 newer, 4 stroke mower 'projects' that needed a fair bit more work than I was willing to put into them, the thing that drew me into this one was a memory of my grandfather having one similar with the Orange cowling, and of course it's better than average condition

Hi All,

Godfreys were one of the most well known stores in Adelaide at the time for whitegoods and lawnmowers. My grandfathers and father all had mowers from Godfreys. One of my grandfathers had a "Godfrey's Special" which was a Pope with a black base and white engine cowling, the other had a Victa Wertheim. My father had a Victa Corsair which was a 125cc engined mower. All were good strong machines and gave many years of service. The Wertheim had a green plastic catcher and the Corsair had a black catcher. The Corsair had a base shape the same as the Mayfair and was a brilliant metallic green - very 1970's.

It should be noted that Wertheim was a brand of sewing machine that was imported into Australia and had a strong presence in Australia. This was due to Hugo Wertheim, cousin of Joseph Wertheim (the founder), moving to Australia to become the importer of these machines. Wertheim also produced mangles and pianos. As with most stencils/store brands - Wertheim conjures a connection with other feelings just as the Victa Monaro or Victa Charger did. The story of the Wertheim manufacturing concern is interesting in itself and one that is worth reading.

Cheers,

Sir Chook

Thanks heaps Sir Chook!!!

Unfortunately I could only come across the black catcher to suit, I actually tracked two down in one day, they don't seem to be around in adelaide anymore, they are different to most catchers of this era due to the 'bull horn' handle bar hangers rather than the hooks that hook to the base and the offset chute, would really like to find a green one but have settled for the black as Mark from Barossa small engine wreckers reckons in the 30 years he has been in the industry that's the only one he has come across and he didn't even know what it suited, there has to be more around though as I believe there was a corvette/cortina model that used the same catcher

Ah righto Lenny, that one you have pictured has definitely had a repaint. Wasn't aware that you had a pic of a Lancer that you'd found; thought you may have found the ODK images via a websearch, but it's all good. Adds to our knowledge base of these largely undocumented Victa-made machines.

As Sir_Chook says, the Wertheim name has a bit of history - there was indeed a sewing machine brand of that name, and Godfrey's did sell sewing machines for quite some time...

The NLA's Trove newspaper archive comes up with quite a few ads for instore sewing machine sales positions for Godfrey's Appliances. None for mower sales though.

But as said, Wertheim now seems to be Godfrey's house brand of vacuum cleaners.

Another deluxe feature visible in the mower pics is the optical fuel gauge - not all that common on low/medium arch Victas, as against the high arch VC series.

Yeah going to have to come clean on the green fuel cap, was one off of a basket case vc160 that I smashed the end of the fuel gauge off because it was too long to fit into the tank, did look good with the matching green though and stopped my fuel leaking everywhere while mowing the lawn

Good to have some knowledgable guys have an input into this thread though!!

Thanks heaps guys!!!
Very greatly appreciated!!!
Lenny

Side view of the old girl before she got a good scrub!





Original catcher in the green, showing the 'bull horn' handle bar mounts that I would so dearly love to come across in perfect condition

Well, that wrecks everything now!

It's amazing how these stories unfold - and everyone learns from it.
Thanks to Sir Chook for the local perspective and Gadge for his research.
I continue to find connections between sewing machines and lawnmowers!

Thanks to Lennyb and all for this interesting post.

---------------
Jack

All good Jack!!
I guess it's the little things that annoy us are the same little things that annoy others!
I've learnt a lot from reading the many victa identification threads in the odk forum, one thing that seems to keep popping up is the lack of information or records kept that can be referred back to for information on certain models and machines, I guess they never thought they'd be one of the most popular items for collectors 50-60 years down the track, which is some ways is a real shame!!
I also have a rotomo 2 and 4 other 18's that I can't really seem to get my head around that I might get to posting eventually and seeing what you guys can come up with in the terms of dates and originality of them, will save that for another day though!!
Big thanks again!!!
Gadge, Sir Chook, and Jack!!!!
Awesome stuff there guys and fully answers what I set out to find and more!!

Hi Lenny,

mine's a bit older but sort of similar. A Victa-labelled base with a "Premier" logo and Pace stickers. Must say your chrome front trim's certainly in better order, other bits too!

G'day Patrick and thanks for the link to your thread, a good read and another twist in the victa history that I'm sure left you with many questions over the years, I guess it gives us something to do in life, chase up and piece together all the little twists in victa history!