The lawn mower was invented by Edwin Budding in May of 1830. Before he invented and patented the lawn mower for production, it was common for young men to spend countless hours manually maintaining lawns, sport fields, and other grass areas with curved blades on the end of a pole called a scythes. It basically looked like the Grim Reapers staff, but scythes are still commonly used in farming wheat. Edwin Budding teamed up with John Faradee to mass produce the lawn mower made of wrought iron behind cast-iron wheels with gears that pushed the knife-like cutters on the bottom when pushed from behind. The clippings ended up in a collection box in the front of the mower. The lawn mower is estimated that 2 men could do the work of 7 with a scythes. This invention led to insanely well kept lawns as a symbol of wealth and elitism, affecting the culture of gardens and lawns to this day. A movement of Generation-Z kids in 2020 is opposed to mowing lawns because of the effects it has on the land's natural bio-diversity and that it can promote elitism (I learned this on TikTok). The invention of the lawn mower also caused a rise in unemployment for young men in England who worked cutting lawns with scythes.
I recently celebrated my twenty-second birthday with my wife in our tiny little home. I am very glad that I did not lose my grass-maintenance job at the mansions of the wealthy Brooke family. I have worked for them since the day I turned fifteen, earning a small wage cutting the grass with scythes. Since Edwin Budding’s new ‘lawn mower’ machine invention, many of us grass guys have lost our jobs. They say we are getting as much work done as three or four people but I still think everyone should have kept their jobs. I think they chose me to keep my job because I’ve been cutting grass for seven years and I still have all my fingers and toes, unlike some of my buddies. Guess they consider me a skilled worker. Just because they keep making fancy new inventions for us to do our jobs better doesn't mean that our livelihoods should be at stake. I am very grateful to have kept my job, especially with our first baby on the way. I will admit that the fancy lawn mower makes my life a little easier, I come home from work a little less exhausted and sore than I used to. So I guess I should thank Mr. Edwin Budding for that.
Works Cited
“Lawn Mower.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Sept. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_mower.
Pod, History, director. 18th May 1830: The World's First Lawnmower Licensed for Manufacture by Edwin Budding. HistoryPod, Youtube, 18th May 1830: The world's first lawnmower licensed for manufacture by Edwin Budding.