Blitz Fogger Devices

By Leslie C. Mcmanus
Published on March 10, 2015
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Clay Brown's restored Davis push mower, complete with a Blitz Fogger attachment. The Davis mower was manufactured in Richmond, Ind., the self-proclaimed
Clay Brown's restored Davis push mower, complete with a Blitz Fogger attachment. The Davis mower was manufactured in Richmond, Ind., the self-proclaimed "lawn mower capital." Manufacturers once building mowers there include Moto-Mower, Dille & McGuire, F & N Lawn Mower Co. and G.W. Davis Co.
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Detail showing how the Blitz Fogger taps into the Case 150's exhaust system.
Detail showing how the Blitz Fogger taps into the Case 150's exhaust system.
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Close-up of the Blitz Fogger attachment on Clay's Case 150 garden tractor.
Close-up of the Blitz Fogger attachment on Clay's Case 150 garden tractor.
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The restored 1966 Case 150 and Blitz Fogger attachment.
The restored 1966 Case 150 and Blitz Fogger attachment.
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A new-in-the-box Blitz Fogger setup complete with a can of pesticide.
A new-in-the-box Blitz Fogger setup complete with a can of pesticide.
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Pesticide content gauge on a Blitz Fogger.
Pesticide content gauge on a Blitz Fogger.
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The Blitz Fog Rover, a hand-held unit, and the
The Blitz Fog Rover, a hand-held unit, and the "thermalized" pesticide sold for use with the Rover.
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This photo from a Case dealer banner suggests the Blitz Fogger was so safe and easy to use that even the lady of the house could do it.
This photo from a Case dealer banner suggests the Blitz Fogger was so safe and easy to use that even the lady of the house could do it.
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Components of a Blitz Fogger unit for a push mower. Clay believes Blitz Fogger products were distributed nationwide.
Components of a Blitz Fogger unit for a push mower. Clay believes Blitz Fogger products were distributed nationwide. "Case, Bolens, Wheel Horse, Cub Cadet...a lot of garden tractor dealers had Blitz Foggers," he says.
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Close-up of the Blitz Fog Rover display packaging.
Close-up of the Blitz Fog Rover display packaging.

When we look at innovations of the past, some seem primitive. Others have a certain quaint factor. And then there are those that, for a variety of reasons, fall into the incredible! category. Clay Brown’s collection of Blitz Fogger devices is solidly in the latter camp. “Driving through pesticide,” he says, “is just not a safe thing.”

Manufactured for about a decade, from the late 1950s to the late 1960s, Blitz Fogger products were offered as an aftermarket attachment for garden tractors and push mowers. A canister of pesticide (including DDT, chlordane and lindane) was attached to the mower and the contents were fed into the exhaust port. Exposed to heat, the solution became a fog, which was expelled through the exhaust system as a dense cloud.

“I’ve thought about what it would be like to use one of these,” says Clay, who lives in Georgetown, Ohio. “I get a kick out of the ad showing a picture of the woman who looks like Jackie Kennedy, all dressed up in nice clothes, running her garden tractor and blowing fog. That just wouldn’t work out.”

Never say never

Clay’s interest in Blitz Fogger products is an outgrowth of a collection inspired by his daughter, Madison. As she watched her dad show full-size tractors, Madison (then age 9) wanted in on the action. The two settled on garden tractors. After setting her up with her first Case garden tractor (a 1966 Case 150), Clay started looking for related memorabilia. One of his first finds was a 1966 dealer poster offering a Blitz Fogger with purchase of a new Case garden tractor.

Clay was hooked, but other collectors offered little encouragement. “They told me I’d never find a fogger,” he recalls. “They said they were dangerous, they rusted out and people threw them out.”

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