Lawn Mower
The B-M Mower Company kept Kansans supplied with this essential tool for beautiful lawns during the 1940s.
Many Americans think of a well-kept lawn as a symbol of the good life, but only since World War II has the average homeowner been able to get everything needed to grow a velvety green carpet of grass. Essential products for the American-style lawn include specially bred grass seed, a big water supply, pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and--most important of all--a good reliable lawn mower.
The B-M Mower Company of Blue Mound, Kansas, produced power mowers from the mid-1940s until 1957. In promotional brochures like the one pictured at bottom, the company promised customers that its aluminum-body mowers would save time, work, and money "and make mowing your lawn seem like child's play instead of hard labor."
This lawn mower and a B-M promotional brochure are in the collections of the Kansas Museum of History.
Specifications of the Model VD 17 B-M Power Mower
- Aluminum body
- 17-inch blade (owner added second blade for mulching)
- Clinton two-stroke gasoline engine
Entry: Lawn Mower
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: November 1997
Date Modified: December 2014
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
