What is a Victa lawn mower?
Victa is an Australian brand of rotary lawn mower, first made in Sydney in 1952 by Mervyn Victor Richardson. The lightweight petrol mower became a symbol of Australian suburban lawns.
Richardson built his first mower from scrap parts and a small petrol engine in his garage in the Sydney suburb of Concord. It used a rotating blade, cheaper and easier to use than the heavy cylinder mowers of the time.
The company grew rapidly as Australian suburbs expanded after the Second World War. Victa mowers were exported to many countries.
An Australian icon
Mowing the lawn on a Saturday became a classic image of Australian life, and the Victa sound was familiar in every suburb.
Weekend lawn mowing also became part of Australian humour and advertising, and the Victa mower is often listed alongside the Hills Hoist and the Esky as a classic Australian invention of the era.
The Victa brand still sells mowers in Australia, now including battery-powered models, though ownership of the company has changed over the decades. Richardson's idea of a cheap, light rotary mower helped make the backyard lawn a standard feature of Australian homes.
Did You Know?
An early Victa mower is held in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.