I was online and came across an image circa 1957. The photo was of a woman in a plexiglass domed lawnmower, with her husband relaxing nearby, laying on a lawn chair, in their yard. The black & white advertisement must have been interpreted from the actual photo.
We probably laugh like they did, 65 years ago, when they saw the photo. This led me to recall an event that happened a few years ago, when I was eating lunch at The East Village Grille in Asheville, NC. This restaurant, as you can see, is located almost on the main thoroughfare, with not even enough room for a sidewalk between the building and the road. Note the windows located next to the street. The Grille is located diagonally across the street from the VA Hospital. [ NOTE 12/13/23 ]: I just did a zoom from Google StreetView, and there is actually a sidewalk, but it is jammed between the street & the restaurant building. [ end NOTE ].
I was seated in a booth, facing out, toward Tunnel Road and I could see that someone was mowing the Hospital lawn directly across the street. I included the picture of a John Deere lawnmower above because it was this type of mower that was being used. Note the steepness of the bank on which the trees are growing.
I wasn’t the only customer in the restaurant that began to watch the mower.
At first I thought that the bank was too steep to mow using this tall mower. I thought it would be too “top heavy” and might tip over. But the person mowing didn’t hesitate. He turned the mower so that it was headed directly up the bank. He went up the hill, and then backed down. He moved over slightly and then went up & down again. He did this until he was past the trees, and then he started mowing, running parallel to the road. The mowing completed without an incident.
As I said, several customers either looked, or turned to look (when their table mates pointed it out) at the mowing event. So, although we laugh at our home lawn mower being air conditioned, it makes perfect sense for someone that has to mow a large area, especially in the summer heat.
NOTE [05/30/22]: I tried Tiger Sauce (c.2011) for the first time while eating at the East Village Grille, and during my Pastrami Reuben Tour (c.2017), this was the second restaurant where I ordered a Pastrami Reuben. The sandwich here was a little less delicious, but this would have been ranked #2.
ADDENDUM [01/02/25]: I visited Asheville back in September 2024, just about five weeks before the Hurricane came through and devastated the area. I only spent a day there, and I ate at the East Village Grille for dinner the first & only night. They had changed their menus which at one time had been quite a few pages, but now was pared down to about maybe 6 pages, two sided, and laminated. The waitress said they no longer offered a Pastrami Reuben. How sad. [end NOTE]
ADDENDUM [05/31/22]: The “Southern Highland Craft Guild, Folk Art Center” and the “East Village Grille” are about 2,500 feet (about half a mile) from each other, “as the crow flies” and with the VA Hospital Complex being directly between the two. That amazes me, because I normally would have thought of these two locations as being a great deal further apart. I normally stop at the Folk Art Center after driving down the Parkway, having come from Weaverville, and up the back way to the Parkway. For the public, except for “bus groups”, you can only get to the FAC from the Parkway. Staff have to come to the FAC a different way, and there appears to be no connecting way between public parking and staff parking.
When you come to the FAC, the area is shrouded in trees and having been there several times, I did not realize that just a few yards past the trees is a large nursing home.
It is a short distance from Tunnel Road to the entrance of the FAC, but coming from the opposite direction, via the Parkway, you are lulled into thinking you are deep in the forest.
The FAC parking area is surrounded by trees and vegetation, and this is the walk up to the FAC.
[ADDENDUM 02/14/25]: I visited Asheville last year, about 5 weeks before Hurricane Helene came through and severely devastated the area. It was a short, but extremely pleasant visit & stay at a Quality Inn near downtown. I arrived in Asheville in the late afternoon, and went immediately to the East Village Grille for dinner. Their extensive menu had been severely shortened, and they no longer offer a Pastrami Reuben. I think I had a Philly Cheese steak, which I’ve had before (Tiger Sauce intro years ago.). [end]
Bill Gibson, II 