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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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070389
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07038900.037
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1990-09-22
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BUSINESS, Page 45Business NotesLAWN CAREMowing with The Reel Thing
For Dagwood Bumstead types, the old-fashioned manual lawn mower
was a suburban symbol of dread. Among modern-day gentry who want
to get a little exercise and avoid fouling the neighborhood with
noise and exhaust pollution, however, the motorless mower is making
a quiet comeback. Sales of reel mowers by the American Lawn Mower
Co. of Shelbyville, Ind., reached 100,000 last year, a 47% increase
over 1986. Average price: less than $100, in contrast to $250 or
more for motorized models.
Today's manual mowers typically weigh about 20 lbs., less than
half their clunky progenitors, thanks to lightweight alloy blades
and polymer wheels. But for lawn connoisseurs, the manual mower's
greatest advantage is its quality performance, claims Jim Hewitt,
American Lawn Mower's vice president for marketing and sales. "A
power mower can fragment the end of the grass like the split end
of a hair," he explains. "A manual shears the lawn real smooth,
like a crew cut."