The Old Lawnmower Club
Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers
X

Suffolk Popular Mower

Enter a word or two to search the forum section and click the Search Forum button.
Ed900 Wed, 22/02/2023

Hi all 

Anyone know anything about this mower? Carn't find it on a Google search

Seems Quite similar to a Suffolk viceroy but this one has a roller.

Thank you 

Forums

Clive1997 Wed, 22/02/2023

Hello

Whilst Suffolk named the mower 'Popular'  we don't see that many, I have only come a few over the years.

Introduced in 1938/39 & continued to the early 1950's when I would assume the Viceroy replaced it.

Not sure how the Popular changed during its 12yrs (or 6 non-war years) of production, was available in 10" & 12" & in 1939 they were sold for £2 1s 6d & £2 2s 6d respectively. 

As far as I am aware all Viceroys had rollers?

Hope that helps.

stonethemows Thu, 23/02/2023

Timing is everything. As I understand it Suffolk produced the Super Clipper before the Viceroy. Opinions vary slightly as to the date of introduction but it could have been as early as the resumption of domestic production post war i.e. 1946 ? On this basis it seems likely that production was pretty short lived and would account for the comparative rarity of the the Popular. 

Bear in mind that Greens were producing their Clipper around 1938, a machine very similar to the Popular, that is to say a conventional side wheel mower with wooden T handle etc.

The Super Clipper had been replaced by the Viceroy certainly by the time Suffolk amalgamated with Qualcast in 1958. However if one assumes that manufacturers liked to use model names that were topical one might have expected that the Viceroy name could have been chosen around 1947/8 to ' commemorate ' the independence of India.

Clive1997 Thu, 23/02/2023

Not sure the Super Clipper was before the Viceroy? the Clipper was  advertised 1949-51 & Viceroy 1950 onwards, ad's for the Super Clipper are around in 1954. Appears they all seem to have a bit of an overlap, perhaps due to dealers having existing stock when new models launched.

stonethemows Thu, 23/02/2023

My reference for this is author Brian Bell who states that Suffolk produced the Super Clipper in the immediate post war years, along with the Swift and Super Swift. He then goes on to say that the Viceroy replaced the Super Clipper. However I fully accept that this is not necessarily proof of fact, no one is infallible. Contemporary adverts, where they are available, may indicate otherwise; or they may confuse the issue.

Either way it is fairly safe to say that the Popular is not a common machine !

Clive1997 Thu, 23/02/2023

I think its a case of how do we interpret Brian Bells reference to 'immediate post war period' as it would appear the Swift was first advertised 1953 & the Super Swift 1955, so 8 & 10yrs after end of war?

On the Subject of Brian Bells books, 50yrs & 75yrs of Garden Machinery, it states in both that Qualcast's first motor mower was made in 1948, but my research with evidence puts it at 1934.

Research moves on with time & I know how difficult it was to pull together the information for my book, Bells books covers a wide subject & I do regard them as a great source of information, but current research needs to be based on source material & where possible not taken from others interpretations of the subject.