As we prepare our gardens ready to take the party outside for this year’s sunny Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of June, we at Hyundai Power Products have been looking back to 1952 when Queen Elizabeth II first took the throne. 

With the leaps and bounds in garden technology that have come about over the past few years, we’re left to wonder what gardening looked like back then. Has a lot changed? 

Back in 1952, many people were still in the ‘grow your own’ mindset, maintaining their Victory Gardens leftover from both world wars. Increasing morale during World War Two and encouraging everyone to do their bit for the war effort, Victory Gardens allowed people to grow their own fruit and vegetables to prevent food shortages and give their family’s meagre rations a bit of a boost. 

When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, the war was long over, but rationing was still ongoing. In fact, in 1952, meat, sugar, sweets, and confectionery were still being rationed, and cheese remained in short supply for a number of years. Even after rationing ended in 1954, Victory Gardens allowed British people to be more self-sufficient, stretch their food budget further, and encouraged community spirit by people being able to share any excess produce with friends or neighbours. 

Whereas today we’re used to all our mod-cons such as lawn mowers, grass trimmers, and hedge trimmers all powered by petrol, battery or electric, for the majority of people in the 1950s, a lot of garden maintenance was done by hand. 

70 years ago, a garden essential would have been a small scythe for cutting back long grass or stubborn weeds (which we would now use a brushcutter to tackle!). To keep your grass trimmed and neat, most people would have used hand-propelled push reel mowers – not a quick or easy task if you have a very large lawn to mow! The most modern lawn mowers of the time would offer electric or petrol options (the first petrol mower was invented in 1919), but these were mostly a luxury only afforded to the middle or upper classes. These mowers wouldn’t have grass collection bags, leaving the grass to mulch on the lawn as a natural fertiliser or having to be manually raked away. 

Garden tools in the 1950s would be expertly cleaned, sharpened, and maintained to last for as long as possible. In many places around the UK, there would be a local service where you could arrange for someone to visit your home to sharpen and maintain your garden tools for you to keep them in tip-top condition. 

Looking back at the amount of effort that went into keeping a garden looking neat and tidy in the 1950s makes us at Hyundai Power Products more grateful than ever to have access to a plethora of fantastic garden machinery to make our lives just that little bit easier. 

Supplied with our Hyundai warranty for added peace of mind, whether you’re looking for a new lawn mower, grass trimmer, brushcutter, hedge trimmer or even a tiller to prep your vegetable patch to grow your own modern-day Victory Garden, we’ve got you covered. Click here to shop. 

For expert advice or any questions you may have, you can give us a call on 01646 687880, fill out the contact form here or drop us a message on any of our social media pages - Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter.