Mower Story

Around 1967/1968, my dad went over to the local Western Auto shop and sought a new mower, for the new house property. 

Western Auto, in this glory period of the 1960s and 1970s....really had a very limited selection of anything they sold.  The local guy probably had no more than four types of mowers, and it didn't really matter what you selected....you were going to spend between 100 and 150 dollars. 

For roughly $125, he bought the Wizard high-wheel mower.  It was a mower destined for early replacement (not for the quality though).

This was a fairly heavy-steel American-made mower, with high rear wheels.  I would guess the weight at near 80 pounds.  For some folks, this big wheels on the rear meant that you could 'swing' the mower and do a 90-degree turn fairly easy.  But by the time you add in the heavy weight, no propulsion, and a 2-acre total yard....you could easily sweat out a bucket of liquid and probably burn through 2,000 calories on a hot Alabama July afternoon.

It made it through 1.5 summers, and went into a early retirement as a riding mower was then purchased.  Quality-wise, someone was probably still using it ten years later.  And that someone was probably a fit and trim individual who actively burned off calories every week mowing.