Moore's Lawn Mower Ad – August 11, 1955

It's been a tough summer for lawn mowing this year up by the lake.

Usually in the middle of July or so, the lawn goes dormant and you get a week or two off from mowing. Not this year; my kept on growin' all summer long, to my annoyance.

I doubt if I'll break my record of 41 mowings from a few years ago, though, since I've stopped mowing it every 4 or 5 days. After doing this since April, I'm just plain pooped and I wait until the weekend.

And soon – *gulp* – the leaves will be falling.

Needless to say, lawn mowing is always on my mind. That's why I'm posting this vintage ad for Moore's. It ran in the Lorain Journal on August 11, 1955. (Click on it for a larger view.)

I originally thought Moore's was a Lorain company, but the tiny, barely visible tagline at the bottom of the ad – "Busy Stores Everywhere" – convinced me it was a chain.

A quick internet search revealed that Moore's was indeed a regional chain of stores that offered automotive parts and accessories, as well as paint and hardware. (Here's the link to a short article about the company.)

Anyway, the ad is interesting for a few reasons. The dominant brand of mower in the ad is Monark, which I've never heard of. There are two models listed, the Economatic and the Rotomatic. The Rotomatic does have a Briggs and Stratton engine, same as my Toro.

There's also a Roto-Rugg mower, made by the E.T. Rugg Company of Newark, Ohio. (Here's a link to a vintage mower website with a picture of one, if you're interested.)

It also appears that E.T. Rugg manufactured the Suburbanite model shown in the ad, based on information found in this E. T. Rugg Yahoo Group.

I found the illustration of the woman with the mower (and man admiring her from a distance) rather amusing. Although I see more and more women pushing lawn mowers these days (not at my house, though), I've never seen one dressed quite like that.