The first still camera manufactured in Poland after World War II was the Start I (a prototype was built in 1953). Its design was prepared by a team of engineers of Warszawskie Zakłady Foto-Optyczne: Janusz Jirowec, Tadeusz Lisowski and Jan Matysiak. The goal was to develop a cheap, easy to operate camera ensuring high quality photographs, made solely of Polish materials. The shutter in the device was based on the design of the Soviet Lubitiel camera, which was an unlicensed copy of the pre-war German Voigtländer Brillant camera.
The Start 66 camera presented here is the fourth model in the family of devices. It is a twin-lens reflex camera, in which the photographs were made on 120 medium format film with backing paper, in a 6×6 cm size. The upper 1:3.5 viewfinder with a focal length of 75 mm is used for setting the focus and framing. The light coming in through the lens is reflected on a mirror and displays the photograph image on a focusing screen. The focusing screen is protected by a folding cover and the frame viewfinder cover. The lower 1:4 lens with a focal length of 75 mm exposes the photographic film when the light passes through the diaphragm and the shutter opens. The lenses have the same focal length, and focus is set in both lenses at the same time by moving the main plate of the camera in which they are embedded. The camera uses a three-element Emitar lens. All Start 66 units were equipped with a shutter with a new sequence of speeds: 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 and B (bulb mode). The entire camera mechanism is enclosed in a body made of a die cast aluminium alloy. On the right-hand side is a knob for moving the film and a rail for mounting a flash, a rangefinder, or a light meter. On the left is a knob for setting the focus.
The camera was manufactured by the Warszawskie Zakłady Foto-Optyczne (WZFO) in 1967-1978. The enterprise continued the activities of Warszawskie Zakłady Kinotechniczne, established in 1951. Initially, it was supposed to be named Fabryka Aparatów Fotograficznych (Eng.: Factory of Photographic Cameras) but as production of specialist optical equipment such as enlargers, flash lamps, and projectors also began in the enterprise, in the end the name was not adopted. In the late 1960s the enterprise became part of Polskie Zakłady Optyczne.

Authors: Beata Krzaczyńska, Piotr Turowski

The MK 235 cassette recorder (sometimes referred to as “ZRK MK 235” or “MK 235 Automatic”) was manufactured in 1976-1978 in Zakłady Radiowe im. Marcina Kasprzaka in Warsaw. The portable cassette recorder, positioned on the boundary of popular and standard product classes, was designed to record sound and play back recordings. Its design was based on the licensed C-235 model by Grundig. It incorporated transistors and an integrated circuit. The MK 235 is powered from an AC source or batteries (five R14 type batteries). Operation time using batteries is about 14 hours. The tape recorder is designed to play cassettes at a tape speed of 4.75 cm/s.
The device is made of black polystyrene and has the shape of a flat cuboid. In the top part there is a slide-out handle, a play button, a sideways fast-forward/reverse button, a stop button, a red recording button, and two potentiometers – one for volume and one for tone. The front face is divided into two roughly square areas. On the left, there is the white cassette tray behind acrylic glass and the eject button. Inside the tray there is a two-track play/record head. On the right, behind a perforated grille, is an oval speaker, and a microphone is placed in the upper right corner. A Grundig logo is placed in the bottom left corner. On the right side there is a multi-purpose connection socket with a microphone, radio, or gramophone input, and a mains socket. At the back, in the lower part of the housing, there is a battery compartment.
The aesthetics of the device are minimalistic, dominated by the geometry of its overall shape. Its form is livened up by the rounding of its edges, using geometric shapes and grooves to divide the planes. The lightness and reliability of the device are emphasised by contrasts of materials used in its design, as well the colours: black, white, and metallic (thanks to the use of aluminium components). Also contributing to the attractive appearance of the tape recorder are the thin black lines on the handle, a white line forming a square around the cassette tray, an aluminium decoration in the form of a stripe above the cassette tray, and the microphone grille with two rows of symmetrical, horizontal slits, whose length is similar to the diameter of the perforation holes in the speaker grille.
The cassette recorder is a simplified version of the MK 235 model. The first batch launched on the market had a battery charge indicator on the right side of the top, next to the potentiometers. The original version had only “Grundig” and “MK 235 Automatic” inscriptions. The text “Unitra ZRK” only appeared on the housing in the 1978 version.

Authors: Filip Wróblewski

Streetlighting has accompanied city dwellers from the moment when electricity was used for lighting. The luminaire presented here was made by the General Electric Company from the USA, established in 1890 by the inventor and designer Thomas Alva Edison. The interesting features of this model that contributed to its popularity, are: a modular design allowing the device to be adapted to the specific conditions of where it is installed; lenses improving light dispersion; an autotransformer that, if the lightbulb fails, protects other luminaires on the same circuit from voltage surges that would result in them burning or being damaged; the possibility of adjusting its position, which allowed different types of light bulbs to be used. Other important characteristics of this model include the use of corrosion-resistant copper and bronze alloys in corrosion-prone components, which significantly extended the life of the luminaire. The housing was designed to enable its quick and easy removal, and no tools were needed to replace a light source thanks to the clamp holding the lens in place.
From the very beginning of its operation, GE has been in the business of a broad range of applications of electricity in daily life and industry. The company still exists today as an international, multi-industry corporation.
Interesting fact: initially, before incandescent light sources became widespread in streetlighting, arc lamps were used, based on the same housing and with an electric arc between electrodes that emitted the light.

References:
General Electric (GE). Novalux Form 6 Street Light With No. 87 Light Carrara Globe, Willis Lamm website, http://www.kbrhorse.net/streetlights/ge_6_8701.html (Accessed: 10.05.2021)
“Thomas Edison” entry, official GE website, https://www.ge.com/about-us/history/thomas-edison, (Access 9.05.2021).

A theodolite is the basic measurement instrument used in land surveying and construction. It enables measuring distances between points in the field, based on angles measured and trigonometric calculations performed. Devices used for measuring angles in the field had been known for centuries, but not very convenient in practical use. The design of the theodolite was perfected in the 16th century by the English mathematician, Leonard Digges, who enhanced the device with the possibility of rotation on two mutually perpendicular axes, which made measurements less laborious and faster. A modern theodolite, like the one presented here, consists of a base plate, limbus (circle plate) and the alidade, i.e. the turning part, which includes the scope, among other parts. The theodolite presented here was made about 120 years ago in the Viennese establishment of Joseph and Carl Neuhöfer, specialising in production of different types of optical surveying instruments for clients in different countries. The company’s products have become widely recognised on the international arena, as they were awarded the Gold Medal on the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, among other distinctions. Nowadays, apart from traditional optical theodolites, electronic theodolites are used, which further simplify the operation of the device.

References:
C. Neuhöfer, Neuhöfer & Sohn of Vienna, translated by J. B. te Pas, “Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society” 1997, issue 52 (1997), pp. 31-32, https://cdn.website-start.de/proxy/apps/ilai8i/uploads/gleichzwei/instances/83BA095F-F52A-41E5-A000-752EC15ABDB0/wcinstances/epaper/f390f418-fd31-482d-b173-cde29019c6ce/pdf/Neuh%C3%B6fer-&-Sohn.pdf, accessed: 01.06.2021.

The CB-35 is a landline telephone, with pulse dialling using a rotary dial. It was manufactured by the PZT (Państwowe Zakłady Tele- i Radiotechniczne) from 1935 until the first years after World War II. It was the first Polish telephone with a Bakelite handset and a centrally located cradle button activated by picking up the receiver. Its design is typical of the telephones of the 1930s.
The main part of the telephone was mounted on a steel base. The housing is made of sheet metal painted black. The telephone was equipped with a metal cradle, and a black plastic and metal dial. On the right side of the housing are sixteen elongated rectangular acoustic slots of the telephone ringer, while on the left are two grommets for the telephone line and the handset. At the bottom are four spacing feet and seven acoustic slots for the ringer. The handset is made of Bakelite. The cable connecting the main body with the handset, which is twisted into plastic insulation, was added later by a user (it is not original). In the unit presented here, the microphone insert was replaced with a later model, the CB 68.
What was exceptional about the CB-35 telephone was the place and time of its production. The dial bears a circle enclosed in a triangle of three lightning bolts – the symbol of the Państwowe Zakłady Tele- i Radiotechniczne. The letters inscribed in the circle, however, are not PZT but FSW, which resulted from reorganisation of the factory by the occupying German authorities. Państwowe Zakłady Tele- i Radiotechniczne was divided into the Fernmeldetechnische Staatswerk Warschau (FSW), which dealt with remote transmission and was subordinated to Deutsche Post Osten, and the DeRuFa Warschau, which was involved in radio-related production and was a subsidiary of Lorenz AG. Production was discontinued in September 1944 when the occupiers blew up the factory buildings

The history of the CB-35 telephone is associated with the rollout of telephony in the Second Republic of Poland (1918-1939). There were only and estimated 2500 telephone subscribers in Warsaw towards the end of World War I, but it only took four years for that number to grow to 31,000. The affordable subscription fee (between 10 and 12 zlotys per month) generated demand, which private and state-owned enterprises worked to fulfil. Apart from the obvious demand for telephones, the telephone infrastructure needed repair and expansion (at the time, this only pertained to urban centres).
The Polish national telecommunications industry in the 1920s was represented by two enterprises: the Państwowa Wytwórnia Aparatów Telegraficznych i Telefonicznych (PWATT) and the Państwowa Wytwórnia Łączności (PWŁ). As both of these establishments operated in the area of radio and communications technology and their offices were in Warsaw, the decision was made in the early 1930s to merge the enterprises. This led to the creation of Państwowe Zakłady Tele- i Radiotechniczne (PZT). Its headquarters was at 26/34 Grochowska street, and its general director was inż. Tadeusz Graff. Until the outbreak of World War II, the establishment employed around 3600 people and work was conducted in a three-shift system, ensuring fulfilment of orders from civilian and military clients alike.
The CB-35 is a central battery telephone manufactured by the PZT from 1935 until the first years after World War II. It was the first Polish telephone with a Bakelite handset and a centrally located cradle button activated by picking up the receiver. Its housing is made of painted steel, and the PZT emblem is punched into the dial. The telephone represents the design language typical for telephones of the 1930s.

The Roma was advertised in the 1937-1938 production season with the help of the slogan: “Phonoradio – a musical instrument for an exquisite home”. The radio combined the functions of a radio receiver and a gramophone. Like other Capello receivers of late 1930s – the Roma uses an exceptional “Geographic” scale. It presents a political map of Europe on which the locations of main cities and their radio transmission broadcasting stations are marked with backlit dots. This scale, innovative in both technical and design terms, was built using a bundle of glass tubes lit with lightbulbs placed on a moving screen controlled by the device’s knob. As the radio was tuned, different points lit up on the map, thereby showing the location and reception of the band from one of the 120 stations available at the time. Due to the Austrian Anschluss, in radios produced in 1938 and 1939 the map presented on the scale was different from the one used in the Roma. The “Geographic” scale was produced under licence from the Austrian Radiofabrik Ingelen of Vienna. In the period of the Second Polish Republic, the Capello plant held an exclusive licence for assembly of the company’s radio receivers.
The luxury Roma device was a precious decoration of living rooms in the 1930s. The mains-powered radio has a vertical housing, covered in fine veneer with a contrasting layout of areas – the light ones are made of walnut, the dark ones – ebony. The fittings and inlays enlivening the cuboid shape of the cabinet are made of chrome. In the top part, an Always is installed, whose adapter housing has the shape of an inverted shield. On the front side, there is a cabinet with a geographic tuning scale, closed behind two doors, concealing a Milano radio behind it (five-valve, seven-circuit superheterodyne). Placed below, behind a densely woven fabric cover, is an electrodynamic concert speaker.
Polskie Zakłady Radiowe Capello operated in 1935-1939. The factory was located in Wełnowiec, now part of Katowice, and the offices and sales department were located in the city at 23 3 Maja street. The factory took its name from the name of the company’s founders – brothers Adolf, Eryk, and Ignacy Kapellner. Interestingly, this was not Adolf Kapellner’s first business enterprise, as he had founded a wholesale warehouse of bicycles, pneumatics, sewing machines, parts, and mechanical tools. After Hitler’s aggression on Poland, the brothers’ economic activity was seized due to restrictions imposed on the Jewish population.

Authros: Piotr Turowski, Filip Wróblewski