This three-tube radio receiver originates from the early period of the development of radio broadcasting in the territory of Poland, when the network of radio stations was only beginning to form. Polish Radio began regular broadcasting on April 18, 1926, which provided the conditions for launching mass production of radio receivers. Starting from the mid-1920s, radios were assembled by amateurs from purchased parts, using instructions distributed in the form of pamphlets, manuals in the radio-related press, ephemeral print devoted to this subject, or information sections of sales catalogues. The first receivers were also assembled in small factories and workshops. It was only at the beginning of the 1930s that specialist radio equipment manufacturers began to grow, such as the Towarzystwo Radiotechniczne Elektrit or Państwowe Zakłady Tele i Radiotechniczne (PZT) in Polan. Some companies in the sector, such as Telefunken, Philips or Marconi, had access to foreign capital, as well as access to their own patterns and ready-made production solutions, which afforded them a privileged position vis-à-vis the competition on the nascent radio receiver market.
The radio receiver presented here was produced in the watchmaker/jeweller workshop of Antoni Kresopolski in Zakopane, located at 65 Krupówki street. The workshop operated in the 1920s and 1930s, mostly dealing with goldsmith and engraving work. The advertising published in “Echo Zdrojowe” of 1934 informs readers that the workshop also offered “electrification and sales of radio devices, gramophones and records”, and that the offering also includes sales of rechargeable batteries, as well as repair of watches, radios, and gramophones. From at least 1935, Kresopolski’s firm operated as an authorised sales outlet of radio receivers made by Philips. Other small workshops operated in a similar fashion in Poland, also dealing with the assembly and repair of simple radios in their back offices. Over time, some of the repair workshops transformed into larger establishments producing their own radio devices. A typical radio receiver of the 1920s looked like a cuboid box with vacuum tubes inside. In the initial period of radiophony, a radio receiver did not have its own speakers so it had to be equipped with an external sound emitter. Radios were battery-powered, and earphones or a conical speaker, a ground wire, and an antenna were connected to the receiver. The antenna had to be turned towards the selected radio station when tuning the radio.

Authors: Piotr Turowski, Filip Wróblewski