Like the Siemens & Halske AG company in Germany, Lars Magnus Ericsson benefited significantly from the negligence of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, regarding patents. As early as the 1870s, Ericsson established a company to produce and repair LM Ericsson telephone equipment. His factory supplied high quality telephone equipment to the Scandinavian markets at prices below those of the Bell Telephone Company.
In the late 1890s, when the Scandinavian market was already saturated, LM Ericsson expanded to other countries, acquiring concessions and building its own factories (in Russia and in the United Kingdom) or taking over existing enterprises (S.I.T in France, Dekert & Homolka in Vienna, a telephone factory in Budapest). The period until the outbreak of World War I was a time of global expansion for the company. Over that period, by selling telephones to the British colonies, stabilising its position in Europe, and continuously increasing production, the Swedish company was able to become one of the global telecommunications powerhouses.
It was in that specific period that the item presented here was produced – the LM Ericsson six-number private branch exchange. It was used for handling an internal telephone network, for example at home, or in an office or small company. The exchange was not designed to work with the city network, although it operated in the central battery (CB) system, i.e., from an external power supply instead of its own inductor, as is typical for exchanges with a similar purpose. It has the shape and size of a telephone. The base of the exchange is made of a single embossed and painted piece of machined wood. Inside it is an electrical system connected to sockets. On the side of the base is a hole with a cable sheathed in canvas insulation and terminated with a knob-shaped plug in a wooden housing. On the opposite side is the cable that connects the handset. On the base, in the middle, is the cradle plinth, which consists of stepped drum shapes. It is decoratively profiled and made of painted wood. On the plinth is a chrome-plated metal cradle socket, and in it the cradle of chrome rods, carrying a metal handset with a wooden grip, ending in a receiver in the form of a metal can with a screw-on cover of black Bakelite. The handset is fitted into a sheet-metal chrome-plated housing.

The D12 detector radio, produced by Zakłady Radiowe Natawis in Warsaw, is a single-band device for individual reception of radio broadcasts on medium wave. The use of the receiver did not require an external source of electricity, but it was necessary to use one of two pairs of earphones to listen to the radio.
The electrical system of the device is enclosed in a black Bakelite housing. The radio is tuned using a knob with a scale. There are two earphone sockets in the front wall. On the top plane is a crystal detector socket, the container of which is made of metal and glass. Inside the container is a galena crystal, to which a thin steel wire is attached. The wire is mounted to a control on a ball bushing for closing the circuit, isolated by a plastic handle. This enabled the creation of a metal-semiconductor rectifying connection. The mechanism of alternating current rectification was discovered by Karl Ferdinand Braun in 1874. Thanks to this achievement, as well as the development of the rectifier and a crystal detector, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1909.
The Wabo model B glass-covered detector used in the D12 was manufactured in Fabryka śrub toczonych, części fasonowych i części radiowych Wabo in Warsaw. The design of the crystal detector socket was developed in June 1928, and then patented at no. 9009 by Wacław Bożym – the company owner.
In the first years of existence of the Second Polish Republic, the Zakłady Natawis, established towards the end of World War I by Natan Wisenberg, supplied equipment to the Ministry of Military Affairs and other governmental agencies. This was the case as the state had a monopoly on all forms of radio communication. The company’s product range was expanded to include tastefully designed reaction receivers at the beginning of the 1930s, and vacuum tube receivers (in the early 1930s). Natawis had dealerships and shops in Łódź, Kraków, and Poznań. In the face of strong competition on the domestic market and difficulties posed due to the Jewish origins of the owner, apart from the sales of complete radio receivers the enterprise also focused on sales of radio parts. Sales of parts for “radio-active” equipment was augmented by the company’s publishing activities. Natawis continually published instructions and tutorials (with diagrams) for building radio receivers oneself. It was a great marketing tool, as revenue from sales of radio parts at the break of the 1920s and 1930s in Poland exceeded sales of complete radios by about one third.

Author: Filip Wróblewski

The vehicle presented is the newest development variant of the Polish off-road Honker vehicle, which has been manufactured since 1988 mostly for the purposes of the military.
Work on the first Polish off-road truck began in the late 1970s. The prototypes and trial runs prepared the ground for mass production, which was launched in 1988 in the Fabryka Samochodów Rolniczych in Poznań under the name Tarpan 4011. In subsequent development stages the truck’s name was changed to Honker; a name derived from the codename of the Polish attack on Monte Cassino during World War II – in English it means the call of wild geese.
In contrast to the basic Honker 4×4 model, which was mostly produced for the military, the pickup truck was intended predominantly for the civilian market. The prototype built in 2009-2010 differs from the mass produced Honker 4×4 not only in body shape and dimensions, but also in the luxury elements used in its interior, including leather upholstery. As part of the promotional campaign, the vehicle presented here took part in the expedition from Lublin to El Aaiún in Morocco. It travelled tens of thousands of kilometres, a large part of the route being off-road in the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains.
The prototype Honker 4×4 pick-up truck has a body-on-frame structure and a steel body. A turbocharged diesel engine drives both axles with differential locks via a five-speed gearbox with a reduction gear. The brake system is a dual circuit arrangement with a booster – it is fitted with front disc brakes and rear drum brakes. The front and rear suspension is on leaf springs, and vibrations are damped by hydraulic telescopic dampers.
This vehicle variant did not go into mass production as the Fabryka Samochodów Honker found itself in financial difficulties. For this reason, the unit presented here is the only one in existence.
Some of the solutions implemented in the prototype presented here made their way to mass-produced vehicles, e.g., the electronically controlled gearbox made in Korea (KIA).

The Polonez radio was manufactured in 1956-1958 by the Dolnośląskie Zakłady Wytwórcze Urządzeń Radiowych w Dzierżoniowie (later renamed to Diora). The device allows reception of radio signals in the short, medium, and long wave bands. It is the first Polish radio receiver with a built-in electric gramophone. It is a six-circuit superheterodyne equipped with four vacuum tubes, one of them acting as a rectifier. The design of the Polonez is a developmental version of the Mazur radio.
The built-in GE-56 electric gramophone (with the drive applied on the edge of the turntable), made by the T-4 plant in Łódź, allows playback of microgroove and normal groove records. When the electric gramophone appeared it became possible to reduce the mass of the adapter head, which resulted not only in the reduction of the pressure applied by the needle to the record surface from about 150 g to slightly above 15 g, but also enabled the use of reusable needles. After World War II, changes in the design parameters of adapters also affected the cartridges. Their sensitivity was increased, which enabled their miniaturisation. Piezoelectric cartridges appeared first and were then followed by magnetic ones. This allowed the introduction of records in which the groove width was reduced from 120 (normal groove records) to 65 µm, resulting in increased capacity of mechanical recording and thus extension of playback time.
In the Polonez receiver, the horizontal box layout already present in the Mazur model was maintained, except that the top wall of the housing was lowered by adding a lid on it to create a niche in which the gramophone was placed. Visually, the Polonez is a variant of the Pionier radio. It is from the Pionier that the layout of the front wall was taken, in which a magnetoelectric speaker was placed behind a dense fabric, and a square scale surrounded by a wooden frame was placed on the right. The front and top edges are softly rounded. The front wall is covered in fabric and adorned by three parallels strips of wooden slats. The corners of the lid were originally made of putty, probably in order to reduce production cost. Wooden surfaces are varnished. Originally, an evenly yellow scale was used in the Polonez, applied on glass using offset print. In earlier models, the inscription “Polonez” was vertically placed to the left of the scale, and in later models the inscription was changed to “Radiola”. In the receiver presented here, a three-colour scale from the Pionier was applied on top of the original, worn off scale.

Author: Filip Wróblewski

The MTV-10 is a device used for recording and playing back sound and monochrome images on magnetic tape. It allows recording programmes in the ORIT standard for broadcasting in television programming, and preparing one’s own recordings using a special television camera. The MTV-10 is designed for semi-professional applications but, above all, for home use and for training and amateur science, etc. The device was designed by Zbigniew Orliński, Bohdan Ufnalewski, and Wojciech Wybieralski of the Artistic and Research Unit of the Fine Arts Academy. In 1972, Zakłady Radiowe im. Marcina Kasprzaka launched production of the MTV-10 video recorder, which makes this model the first Polish reel-to-reel video tape recorder. It is modelled on the basis of the Philips LDL-1001 recorder, which was used for recording and playback of monochrome images and sound on half-inch chrome tape. In the 1970s, a video tape recorder was luxury equipment in schools, cultural centres, clubs, and Communist Party committees. Launching the production of such devices aimed at fulfilling the internal market’s need for modern equipment for individual use, as well as for use in hospitals, educational and cultural institutions, special services, or the television. Due to the pioneering nature of the project and Polish engineers’ lack of experience in this area, the development of the tape recorder required a significant amount of research work in the domain of television and measurement technology. Short-series production of the MTV-10 recorder continued until 1978. A total of 6000 units were produced, which were mostly used in schools. In 1974, production began of the MTV-10s successor, the MTV-20 video cassette recorder operating in the VCR system, enabling recording of colour television signals.
The main panel of this device features a power switch with control light, two hubs for videotape reels, a covered record/playback mechanism (for recording black-and-white television images on half inch chrome tape), three potentiometers (phase, video, audio), six buttons (record, rewind, fast forward, play, still, stop), as well as two indicators (video, audio) and a tape length counter with a reset button. On the side of the recorder is a mains cord, two potentiometers, camera and microphone inputs, and a switch for two sockets (TV set, microphone).

Author: Piotr Turowski, Filip Wróblewski

The item presented here is a slide projector that uses an optical arrangement typical for a laterna magica, in which the light source is a pressure lamp burning benzine or pure alcohol vapours. Inside the wooden box of the projector, which is lined with asbestos plates (for thermal insulation), is a Mita burner manufactured by the Dresden enterprise, established in the second half of the 19th century by Gustav Barthel. The burner consists of a brass reservoir (equipped with pressure gauge) with a logo on its wall (crossed swords with the initials “GB” surrounded by an oval). At the base of the reservoir is a pump, connected with an arrangement of tubes and a condenser. On the opposite side of the reservoir is a burner with a sheet metal hood, covered with a fine mesh. The burner with the reservoir is placed on a stand, and a precision compass allows it to be adjusted vertically and horizontally. This allows precise adjustment of the light source position in relation to the lenses of the optics. Thanks to the (now incomplete) set of lenses the device can project glass transparencies, which are inserted in the metal carrier between the lamp body and the bellows. Ventilation is provided by the upper hole, which was probably covered by a sheet metal chimney. On the side walls are doors with a round inspection glass. The nameplate is attached to the front of the case, above the condenser lens. The projector housing stands on four metal feet, attached to a board.
Projectors were often used in public shows performed at theatres and other public places in the second half of the 19th century. Their purpose was to provide entertainment to adults by impressing them with extraordinary images or photographs of remote places.
The A. Pichlers Witwe & Sohn publishing house of Vienna was established by bookseller Anton Pichler in 1794. After his death in 1823, the management of the company was taken over by his wife – Elisabeth Praller – and later still by their son and then their grandson – both named Franz Pichler. The business scope of the enterprise was extended in 1884: several bookshop branches were opened and an Education Institute (Lehrmittel-Anstalt) was established, which dealt with making teaching aids. The company offered specialist educational literature (including several series of periodicals on pedagogy and upbringing), school textbooks, and youth literature. It also sold a range of teaching aids including school equipment necessary for teaching chemistry and physics (optical instruments, models for demonstrating physical phenomena), natural history (cases with minerals) or biology (anatomical models, zoology tables). They were aids for all levels of education, from primary schools all the way up to universities.

Author: Filip Wróblewski

The Cezar Quadro DKS-201 16001 is the first and only Polish quadrophonic transistor radio receiver. It was manufactured in 1976 (the year it was also presented at the Poznań International Fair) and marketed during the following year by Zakłady Radiowe Diora in Dzierżoniów. It was designed by engineer Stefan Herc – a promoter of the quadrophony format in recording, broadcasting, and sound reproduction techniques. The design was based on solutions adopted in the DSH-101 and DSH-102 Elizabeth Hi-Fi receivers. According to the manufacturer, “the four amplifier channels and the quadraphonic SQ decoder allow playback of radio broadcasts and records in the SQ system, as well as tape recordings in the discrete system. The receiver can also be used to play back pseudo-quadraphonic, stereo or mono sound”. The Cezar Quadro has five reception bands (UHF, two short wave ranges, and one range each for the medium and long wave bands) and automatic frequency control, which stabilises its operation. The device can be controlled using the rotary and button switches, as well as VU meters and station indicators on the metallic front wall (different from the veneer housing). The receiver combines the function of an electroacoustic amplifier and a radio tuner, which operates using the power supply unit, audio decoders and input/output sockets. It is the core component of musical combos. The Cezar Quadro was sold with a set of four, two-way, closed cabinet (“compact” type) Tonsil Zg-25C speakers.
The quadraphonic system is the first ever commercial multi-channel sound system, and was developed in the 1970s. According to the assumptions of its designers, for sound transmission it uses “four acoustic paths terminated for playback with four speakers, two of them placed in front of the listener, and two behind. Such a placement of speakers allows echo effects to be reproduced. Two-channel stereophony does not afford such possibility”. In this way, quadraphony – or four channel stereophony – allows reproduction of sounds in a three-dimensional space, i.e., in a full, undistorted way”. Even though the system enabled the creation of an impression of spatiality and depth of sound, it didn’t prove to be successful due to its high production cost, as well as the lack of compatibility between the signal format and the receivers possessed by most listeners, which is why it was abandoned near the end of the 1970s. Multichannel sound playback wasn’t attempted again before the 1990s, when the Dolby Surround standard became popular.

Author: Filip Wróblewski

The Amator-Stereo DSS-101 is the first widely available, Polish standard class stereo receiver produced by Zakłady Radiowe Diora in 1976–1985. The receiver was designed for a wide range of customers and was distributed at a relatively low price. It was presented for the first time at the Poznań International Fair in the autumn of 1975. Its release coincided with the end of the glory days of radios with a gramophone, and with the discontinuation of the production of vacuum tube radios. It was in the mid-1970s that stereophony became popular.
The design of the Amator-Stereo uses integrated circuits, ceramic and hybrid filters, and a plastic chassis. The receiver is designed to receive long, medium, short (two ranges) and UHF wave. It has a built-in ferrite antenna. It was sold as a set with two compact wooden loudspeakers with Tonsil ZG-10 broad-range speakers.
Thanks to the use of integrated circuits the Amator is flat, and its housing is made of veneered wood. The front plate of the receiver and the loudspeaker grilles are made of black plastic. On the front, on the left side, there are four vertical sliding potentiometers for adjusting volume, tone, and balance. Next to them, behind a transparent cover, is a Varia pendulum tuning indicator, a well-lit scale, and an LED signalling stereo operation. Below there is an earphone socket, radio band switches, and an automatic frequency control system switch. The manufacturer offered the possibility of “changing the graphical layout of the scale” at the customer’s request.
The Amator-Stereo DSS-101 is a receiver through which (according to the Unitra. Radio ‘77/78 catalogue) “the wishes of users are fulfilled, such as modern form, simple control, high quality, reliability and a relatively low price”. In 1974, an opinion poll titled A radio for everyone was run on Polish Radio, in the Trybuna Ludu daily newspaper, and in “Temat – wynalazczość i racjonalizacja” magazine, in collaboration with the Unitra union, which resulted in developing the specification for the Amator model. Thus, it is the first in a series of receivers whose design was based on suggestions submitted by future users. The results of the survey indicated that the radio should be cheap, stereo, tabletop, and have an independent speaker. It should enable the use of a gramophone, tape recorder, and headphones, and it should offer playback at a quality close to hi-fi parameters. The receiver was developed two years later, in a collaborative effort of several institutions. The electrical part was created by a team of designers from the Industrial Telecommunications Institute headed by mgr inż. Janusz Czerniewski. The design was prepared in the Unitech Industrial Design Centre, and the mechanical structure was designed by Mieczysław Białek of Diora.

Authors: Piotr Turowski, Filip Wróblewski

A power isolator, whose purpose is to isolate power transmission wires, is one of the most widely used objects of this type found in power engineering. Power isolators were initially made of glass or, as is the case here, of electrical porcelain – at the time both materials were considered cheap and durable. Over time technological progress allowed new materials to be used for their production. One such material is silicone rubber – which is cheaper by about 1/5 than the traditional counterparts, as well as being lighter and more mechanically durable. The item presented here was produced by the factory of the descendants of the Wroclaw merchant Jerzy Giza (Georg von Giesche), which operated without interruption from the end of the 17th century until the mid-20th century in Upper Silesia. The enterprise operated the mining of coal and metal ores, a steelworks, and a fertilizer factory. In 1925 it opened the Giesche Fabryka Porcelany SA porcelain factory (previously Czuday), which produced electrical engineering products and porcelain tableware. After ownership transformations and a rebranding, production continues on the same location to this day.
Interesting fact: The surname of the founder of the enterprise is referenced in the name of a residential development for workers in Katowice, Giszowiec, originally inhabited by employees of Giesche’s company.

References:
T. Kostro, Na początku był cynk…, Sosnowiec 2004, a book fragment reproduced on the web page “Giszowiec. Poznaj unikatowe osiedle-ogród” at: https://www.giszowiec.info/pl/index.php?co=giesche (Accessed: 9.05.2021).
M. Krysiak, Porcelana na Górnym Śląsku 1922–1939 (analiza wyrobów ze zbiorów Muzeum Historii Katowic), „Kronika Katowic: rocznik Muzeum Historii Katowic”, vol. 2 (1984/1985), issued 1986, pp. 40-62, 1986.
Giesche SA, entry in the dictionary published on the “Polin. Wirtualny Sztetl” website, https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/slownik/giesche-sa (Accessed 9.05.2021).
Die Montanindustrie Polnisch-Oberschlesiens, Katowice 1922, book available at:
http://www.sbc.org.pl/Content/85010/ii344543.pdf (Accessed 9.05.2021).