In a classic romanticized
view of farm life in the 1880s, a young lady and small boy admire a stylishly
dressed farmer operating a Eureka
mower. The only thing more unusual than a farmer in formal wear is this
center-cut horse-drawn mower, a product of Eureka Mower Co., Utica, N.Y.
Levi J. Pierce, Forestville, N.Y., used
The caption presents an irresistible sales feature: “See! My father can do as
much work with the new broad-cut Eureka
as he used to with two side-cut machines.”
John Wilbur, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.,
won patents in 1863 for his famous and rather ornate center-cut Wilbur mower.
Wilbur, Stevens & Co. was established in 1867 to manufacture the machine in
Poughkeepsie.
At some point, perhaps 1873, the operation was relocated to Towanda, Pa.,
and the company name was changed to Towanda Eureka Mower Co.
Wilbur’s Direct Draft Eureka
mower won a gold medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. In
1879, the company was sold to Eureka Mower Co., also located in Towanda. In
1884, the again renamed Eureka Mower Co. moved to Utica, N.Y.,
and began to expand its line of farm machinery. Eureka
continued to build Eureka draft center-cut
mowers in Utica
in 1- and 2-horse sizes until at least 1918. FC
Grateful acknowledgement
is given to David Schnakenberg, who contributed this image from his collection
of pre-1910 chromolithographs of farm machinery advertising.
For more information:
— Contact David
Schnakenberg at 10108 Tamarack Dr.,
Vienna, VA 22182; (703) 938-8606; dschnakenberg@verizon.net.
— View the Schnakenberg Collection.
— To submit a vintage advertisement for publication,
send it to: Iron Age Ads, Farm Collector, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka,
KS 66609;
or submit high-quality digital images by email: editor@farmcollector.com.