Good job tracking down that concurrent Waltons promo! The receipt holds special interest to me, as our Victa Waltons store brand Celestial 160 low arch mower was bought from Waltons in the late 70s.
I remember it had a white nose cone on the orange engine cover that broke off not long after use. It would have looked amazing coming out of the box. I can vaguely recall the day.
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Our Victa Waltons store brand Celestial 160 low arch mower was bought from Waltons in the late 70s. I remember it had a white nose cone on the orange engine cover that broke off not long after use
Hello Mowerfreak
Brilliant! Is it possible the mower was mid-'70s? I say that because nose cones were replaced by all-plastic dress cowls in the late 1970s.
Hi CJ, the first one in the 1978 advertisement is almost identical to the one I described. Differences are bright orange cowl with white plastic nose cone added on to the same style plastic cowl shown. I recall it was attached by two plastic pins at the top of the dress cowl. The broken off white pins from this missing nose cone remained on the cowl. Wheels and base are the same. Is this what you call the mid arch base? You can see a slight raise in the base before the catcher. Our catcher had those pins that located on the hooks built into the handles as seen in the earlier Celestial 160s, like the VC-160s had also, as an attaching method. Not sure ours had the magic eye originally as it got damaged pretty early on and we didn't order a replacement catcher until 1989!! It didn't have this feature. Our next door neighbour's mower, which was an older version with the same base and impulse starter, had the same catcher with the indicator. We sometimes borrowed theirs to use on our mower! I used to mow this widow's lawn on a regular basis using her mower and she had a Waltons Celestial 160 as well. It was interesting as it had the older style top and the wheels as seen in the first two files, but was equipped with the plastic G4 carburettor setup. I used to love using her machine as it went really hard but used less fuel than mine! Happy memories.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
G'day Mowerfreak A great memory there. New information too; about a plastic nose cone on a plastic dress cowl.
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Is this what you call the mid arch base?
Yep, it's a term I use to better describe the historical changes to chutes. It is my view that many mid-arch mowers had as-good performance as high-arch jobs. What they lacked in chute height was gained in chute width.
G'day Mowerfreak A great memory there. New information too; about a plastic nose cone on a plastic dress cowl.
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Is this what you call the mid arch base?
Yep, it's a term I use to better describe the historical changes to chutes. It is my view that many mid-arch mowers had as-good performance as high-arch jobs. What they lacked in chute height was gained in chute width.
Cheers --------------------- Jack
Ours was nearly always used to tackle foot long lawns as my dad wasn't inclined to mow often and I can't ever recall the grass clogging under the base. Who mows wet grass anyway? The catcher aperture was abit restrictive for emptying, but the thumb latch catchers really weren't any better in this regard, I would later find out, and I often have to give it assistance with my hand as well. This discussion is making me realise, while my dad did go for the cheapest model in the Walton store, he didn't go for nasty. It was indeed a sound machine and turned out to be possibly more durable than the high arch bases.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Good job tracking down that concurrent Waltons promo! The receipt holds special interest to me, as our Victa Waltons store brand Celestial 160 low arch mower was bought from Waltons in the late 70s.
I remember it had a white nose cone on the orange engine cover that broke off not long after use. It would have looked amazing coming out of the box. I can vaguely recall the day.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Every time I saw a Waltons ad when I was a kid I thought of The Waltons TV show. In fact, for some years I thought the Australian stores were run by the Walton family... until I got a bit older and knew better.
And... I cannot believe what else I just found. A sunbeam with the same base but with a Briggs four stroke. I have never seen this combination, nor a Sunbeam label on this base. The large rear wheels don't look to be correct, but the hubcaps do! Possible bitsa? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/vintage-victa-sunbeam-lawnmower/253619378900
Last edited by CyberJack; 17/05/1808:04 PM. Reason: Fix Links
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
G'day Gizmo and Mowerfreak. I'm so glad folk like yourself are contributing to these heavenly Celestials. Gizmo has contributed great images for the record. Thank you.
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while my dad did go for the cheapest model in the Walton store, he didn't go for nasty.
Mowerfreak, that is so true!
The Walton's Celestial brand was their premium store brand. The Celestials of the early to mid 1970s were essentially Victa's premium chassis from the 1960s (Corvette), but with 1970's powerplants.
I am better starting to understand the chronology of the Celestial. I will say something significant here; in that Waltons gained access to the Victa high-arch design by about 1977. Prior to this, high arch Victas were exclusively Victa branded.
Thus, for a year or so, the Celestial would be offered as both a low arch (Corvette) chassis, and with a high-arch (Monaro) chassis. By the end of the 1970s, the mid-arch machine would struggle for commercial acceptance. It would disappear.
Waltons was big enough to offer more than one store band. When they dropped the mid-arch Celestial they offered their mid-arch Charger. The Charger had a stencil Victa Mayfair chassis, extensively used by Victa for store branded mowers in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Walton's Celestial should be remembered as one of the significant store brands of the period. Many survive to this day.
The rest is history. -------------------------------- Jack
How many have you had/got Gizmo? I wonder why some came with ball bearing wheels and others with the nylon bearing type? Those 160s could really tackle the tough stuff. I remember eating through tall kikiyu grass like a V8 with one of these, transforming it into a bowling green with ease. It was so satisfying. I like the red Vortex trying to be in the picture as well.
CyberJack, those newspaper clippings and your input have been invaluable in answering the Celestial store brand story around the time of my father's purchase during my early childhood memories. Wow that hi arch Celelestial Deluxe looks impressive in those shots, yet the Mayfair based charger was a very capable player as well for regular lawns. Amazing how the second tier high arch took over from the Corvette based mid arch chassis, while the Mayfair low arch continued on for a little while. Fantastic information and piccies to peruse through!! Many thanks for digging these gems up CJ! I'd be a kid in a candy store if I could revisit Waltons in this period.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Every time I saw a Waltons ad when I was a kid I thought of The Waltons TV show. In fact, for some years I thought the Australian stores were run by the Walton family... until I got a bit older and knew better.
G'day vint-mow That's a fantastic, honest story about childhood. I have had many similar misunderstandings.
Hi Mowerfreak. I only have one such waltons mower. i have similar models Eg: the corvette 2. Mine is a direct hand me down from my" father in law" whom purchased it brand new from the Bankstown Waltons store. He always was meticulous in taking care of stuff and till this day it still purrs like a kitten, i love the shape of this mower and have owned it for way longer than i started collecting mowers. l dept stores branded victas. Godfreys, Retravision, Grace Bros, Pattersons etc.
Last edited by Gizmo; 18/05/1802:30 PM.
If my collection is complete ( then how come i keep buying stuff ? ) 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Yep, but it would have been a 'Big W' product line, not a variety store/supermarket one!
Victa started a big marketing push of 'store brand' mowers in the 1970s, through the then emerging 'big box' store chains. Minimum order was about 200 mowers, to be taken in a single delivery, to get 'house brand' decals/paint on them!
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
Yep, but it would have been a 'Big W' product line, not a variety store/supermarket one!
I don't believe Big W came onto the scene until well into the early 80s. That mower base is from the 70s and has the old Woolworths logo that was never used with Big W. I think this mower was probably sold in select Woolworths department stores, the ones with the concertina wooden framed doors that so many had. I always saw that as their signature feature.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
