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Street Prophets Friday: Photos from Prague's National Technical Museum [1]
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Date: 2023-05-26
We went through the big room and managed a peek into a couple other areas of the museum, but once again I failed to visit the coal mine in the basement. Do 8 year-olds ever stop running?
From 1929, the arms factory Zbrojovka Engineer Frantíšek Janeček in Prague made Jawa motorcycles; which in a few years became the most widely sold machines in the country. So, in 1934, Janeček also launched production of small passenger cars with twin-cylinder, two-stroke engines and front-wheel drive. This model, from 1935, is the only known example of the Jawa 750 to still exist.
This 6=liter, 12-cylinder Tatra 80 was made specifically for the first President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in 1935
Did you notice the steam train in the background of the last photo? The train carriage belonged to Masaryk himself. Here's a peek inside.
I thought this next item was wonderful: A wartime creation from Zbrojovka Engineer Frantíšek Janeček. As part of secret project development at the arms factory, some builders and engineers were encouraged to undertake their own projects. Around 1942, pilot Jan Anderle made a number of prototype vehicles, each called, "Dálník”. The idea was to create a two-wheeled vehicle with the economy of a motorcycle and the comfort of an automobile.
Dálník, around 1942. 248.5 ccm capacity, output: 6.6 kW (9 hp), max speed: unknown, weight: 120 kg
Czech Automobile Company's Sc Scooter from 1921, capacity: 180 ccm, output: 0.9 kW (1.25 hp), max speed: 35 km / h, weight: 48 kg — another lone surviving model!
Indian Four, Indian Motorcycle Co.; Springfield, Massachusetts, USA 1931. 1.265 liter engine, 22.5 kW (30 hp), max speed: 121 km / h, weight: 175 kg
Not many folks in these parts could afford a top-of-the-line import from Indian, but we do have one in the museum!
Czech author Karel Čapek wrote the play: Rossum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.) in 1920 and brought a Slovakian verb for drudge work into noun form and applied it to androids, and thus giving the English language the word “robot.” I was a bit surprised when this robot jumped out at me:
Jawa Robot, 1937— 98.8 ccm, output: 1.9 kW (2.7 hp), max speed: 65 km / h, weight: 49 kg
Quality — Speed — Joy
How about this stationary training bike, from 1884, modeled after the crazy big front-wheeled creations popular at the time.
Or this old diving suit ...
Or this hybrid creation by Engineer Jan Kašpar? Based on the design of an imported French Blériot XI monoplane and fitted with a more powerful, water-cooled, in-line, four-cylinder Daimler engine. The first long distance flight in Czech aviation history was made in one of these on May 13th, 1911. It lasted 92 minutes and Kašpar flew 121 km from his home town of Pardubice to Chuchle, just south of Prague.
Just one more poster, I do love the posters:
A bit of American WW II, propaganda encouraging you to be— on the job — on time — every workday!
We did manage a couple rooms outside the big one, and that last poster was from the room dedicated to devices related to time.
Speaking of time, nearly time to get this thing published.
Thanks for stopping by.
This is an open thread.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/26/2171572/-Street-Prophets-Friday-Photos-from-Prague-s-National-Technical-Museum
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