The most bizarre inventions of pre-war Poland

Who wouldn't want to be a great inventor? Come up with something new, revolutionary that will change the world. When it comes to a wheel, car or plane, the culprits from abroad have managed to beat us. But it is no loss. The most ingenious ideas were really born in Poland.

Only in the years 1918-1934, over 45,000 inventions were registered in the Commonwealth . In the fall of 1933, even the Polish Association for the Promotion of Inventions was established in Łódź. A lot of ideas have been patented.

Usually they were improvements to already functioning items, often they improved the metal, machine, chemical, mining, metallurgical and textile industries. The rationalizers of that time moved technical progress forward with their small adaptations. Even if only centimeters…

However, there were also some initiators operating in the world of a kind of abstraction. They only had a general vision, or gave the impression that they were the direct descendants of medieval alchemists who turned metals into gold or produced philosopher's stone. Remigiusz Piotrowski writes about some of their bizarre ideas in his book Absurdy and Curiosity of Pre-War Poland.

The interwar period was a period of passionate fantasies about the future. The illustration shows a drawing by a German engineer A. Benz showing the transoceanic expressway in 2000. Polish explorers had similar fantasies (source:Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-11217, license:CC-BY-SA 3.0).

Planks extremely progressive

Hurrayoptimistic inventors sought media support in the editorial offices of local newspapers. They wanted to advertise their garments and often themselves. Piotrowski says with a grain of salt:

It is better not to run away from this one, it is better not to dismiss it with a gruff word, and you should never mock it, because he is ready to leave us alone for the rest of our lives. You will recognize them by their misguided eyesight and a newspaper-wrapped parcel under your arm.

Inside - weird wonders:a pencil sharpener made of a piece of glass that serves both as a razor and a kaleidoscope, a steam-powered watch, and finally a dowsing apparatus consisting of beer glasses, cork, needle thread and three metal spheres to indicate underground water sources, undiscovered coal deposits and other treasures.

There were even more bizarre products. Until today, it may be surprising that then:

" handy sliping", which - as the author of the miracle claimed - will prove to be an indispensable accessory for every rail traveler in the near future. The handy sliping consisted of a planed board finished with handles, which had to be attached to the luggage shelf above the head. Thanks to this, as the inventor assured, a person can comfortably rest his head and take a pleasant nap (quoted after:"Absurdities and curiosities of pre-war Poland").

Nice on board, right! More technologically advanced was the idea of Targuś, i.e. a small-size automat, which was to be used - as the name implied - for bargaining in shops and at fairs on behalf of its owner. Of course, there was a risk that the seller would buy such a Targuś and then both machines would bargain amen.

Miracles from the Vistula River

In newspapers, inventors talked about other miracles they had developed: a device for removing the smell of boiled cabbage and cauliflower from the kitchen , ointments for mending tights, apparatus for making champagne from ... milk or a machine that can cut bread and butter the slices at the same time.

Eng. Michał Petryhorski from Warsaw, who, as reported by "Dziennik Lubelski" in 1932, worked on the project of the postal-air missile for truly express delivery of letter-post items. As it seems, the rehearsals ultimately did not take place. The idea of playing cards laundry was patented that amateurs of bridge have the opportunity to always play with clean cards.

Good because Polish? Not necessarily. The idea of engineer Michał Petryhorski was not absurd at all ... this performance sucked. In 1959, the Americans used the Regulus I rocket to transport mail. The photo shows the Regulus I rocket in 1957 (source:public domain).

Many interwar ideas concerned the automation of simple and repetitive activities. Devices selling drinks or snacks are not surprising today, but somehow the idea of selling hard-boiled eggs in vending machines did not catch on.

Egg machines

An inventor, hidden behind F.S. a thimble and a set of buttons.

The same newspaper reported on another innovative idea. Well, Mr. A. L. Hofmann from Warsaw discovered how you can save time while reading (lost on taking your eyes off the end of a poem and moving it to the beginning). The solution would be simple - print back. So one line would print from left to right and another from right to left.

Interwar fantasies about technology. If the automatic comforter looked like this, it's good that it was never made ... Still from the movie "The Master Mystery", 1919 (source:public domain).

Remigiusz Piotrowski also writes about the idea of a comforter-machine. It was supposed to work on a 20-cents coin and after selecting the appropriate button (for example, "marital infidelity"), he was to deliver an uplifting litany . It was to be a very useful accessory in cemeteries, hospitals, dentists and prisons.

It is not known how much such a miracle was supposed to cost, because it did not go beyond the concept phase. Hence, there is also no information about its effectiveness.

In turn, a certain Mr. Herc came up with the idea of "street-salon bank" . The idea was that on the one hand of the bank in the counter, money was to be transferred by the rich, and at the cash desk, on the other hand, without unnecessary formalities, it was to be granted interest-free loans to the poor. The debtor would himself determine the repayment date of the loan taken. The idea of interest to the poorer, due to the skepticism of the richer, remained only in the sphere of plans.

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