Summary

A manual cylinder lawn mower with 4 blades and cutting width of 12 inches, made by Henley Lawn Mower Co. of Richmond, Indiana, U.S.A. circa 1925.

The lawn mower was purchased and used by Claude Fankhauser (1895-1996) at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Blackburn during 1920s -1930s. In 1915 Claude enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and, after surviving the battle at Gallipoli, was sent to France where he received a facial injury at Pozieres on 27 July 1916 which resulted in blindness at the age of 21 years. He married a nursing aide from St Dunstan's, a specialist blind hospital in England where he had returned for treatment, but was left widowed in 1926 with a four-year-old son, Frank. Claude was a keen gardener and his back-yard had a lawn, fruit trees, a vegetable garden and a poultry shed. He mowed his lawns himself, tying a string line to a stake as a guide, until his son Frank was old enough to do the mowing.

Physical Description

Steel construction. Four spirally-mounted, self-sharpening blades (crucible steel) supported by three decorative brackets on a shaft. Two metal wheels with perpendicular grooves on surface. Rectangular, wooden handle with black inscription and decorative motifs. Turned wooden hand grips.

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