1941::The Leaf Picker-Upper

A manly machine that did everything but toast the marshmallows.

"1941::Demonstration of the Leaf Picker-Upper"

Clip: Times Colonist (1941)

Victoria, British Columbia

In 2019, Elon Musk tweeted that his next invention would be a quiet leaf blower. Well, we're still waiting for that to happen. But back in 1933, the first semblance of a leaf blower was a leaf sucker. No photograph of the machine exists, but news of its invention got around. This innovative idea sparked the creation of other lawn machines developed by garage inventors. In 1941, the Leaf Picker-Upper was one such invention. It was created in Wyoming by a man who had worked off the leaf sucker idea presented in the newspaper several years earlier. A photograph of his machine reached newspapers across the continent, but it was never marketed.

The inventor said that he had put together his leaf-sucking machine with some old chicken wire, an old truck, an old motor, an old fan, an old pipe and many other old things. His machine sucked the leaves into a tube where several grinding wheels mashed them and spouted them into a catcher. He then used the pulverized material as fertilizer. It did everything but toast the marshmallows! Its demonstration garnered much attention and inspired a generation to further develop gardening machines.

"1947::The Triple Duty Gadget"

Clip: Kansas City Star (1947)

Kansas City, Kansas

In the years that followed, next-level all-in-one machines began to appear. The Triple Duty Gadget was one such machine. It was a gas-powered leaf sucker, snow blower and grass cutter all in one. It was also reasonably priced and more compact than the enormous Leaf Picker-Upper. Its revolving brushes sucked up leaves and shot them into an attached burlap bag. Removing its front cover exposed the brushes that were detachable and replaceable with a device that converted the machine into a snow blower. The blower and the brushes could be detached and replaced with cutting disks to convert the machine into a lawn mower. It was a brilliant idea, but it took at least twenty more years for the machine to evolve into a leaf blower resembling the ones we see (and hear) today.