Have you heard of the Wonder-Boy X-100? Maybe you know it by a different name — the “Comfort Lawn Mower” or “Power Mower of the Future”? No?
Check it out…
The above is a real photo that appeared in Mechanix Illustrated magazine in March 1958. This mower of the future — with air-cooled luxury — was introduced by Simplicity Manufacturing Co. in 1957 as a futuristic prototype.
Wonder BOY — Lazy MAN…
I guess back in the day (before I was born, I might add), women didn’t mow grass. All that outside work was much too manly for the lady of the house. The Wonder-Boy (before being politically correct was a thing, obviously), featured a large clear plastic bubble dome — about 5 feet in diameter — over an air-foam-cushioned seat on a rear-engine riding mower, meant to evoke space-age luxury and keep the operator clean and comfortable.
The dome was never mass produced.
Maybe if it would have been, I wouldn’t be riding a mower in 2026! 😉
And the puppies wouldn’t be required to patiently wait for me to finish…
Now you know: Michael Corke, a Chicago man with fatal insomnia, was so sleep-deprived that he was fully awake for 6 months before he passed away in 1993. He was 42 years old.