Traces of Mukachevo’s Czechoslovakian past can still be found in the city. (During the interwar period, Mukachevo along with the rest of Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) was part of Czechoslovakia.) “In 1883, Antonín Kunz (1859–1910) founded a company in Hranice [Czech Republic] for the repair and production of small farm machinery and then specialized […]

This sidewalk stamp says: “Zarząd Miejski m. Łucka” (Municipal Board of the City Lutsk). This curb dates from the interwar period when Lutsk was part of the Second Polish Republic (1920-1939).

Ferrum-Lwów Machine Factory and Iron and Metal Foundry was part of a large company that had factories in several cities including Lodz, Poznan, Krakow, and Sosnowiec near Katowice. In Lviv, the factory was located in the Pidzamche neighborhood and in addition to various iron and metal works such as manhole covers and […]

Giovanni Zuliani (1843-1909) moved from Italy to Lviv and in 1892 founded a company specializing in mosaic and granite terrazzo prepared in Venetian style, marble ornamentation of walls and furniture, and all kinds of cement work. The company had branches in three other Galician cities: Stanisławów (Ivano-Frankivsk), Chernivtsi, and Krakow. […]

Annapolis has it’s fair share of antique iron fences. Like in Chicago and Winnetka, there are many fences made by The Stewar Iron Works, formely the largest iron fence maker in the world. The Stewart Iron Works The Stewart Iron Works, 3rd & Culvert St, Cincinnati, O *** G. Krug […]

I found two antique fences in Winnetka—both made by the Stewart Iron Works. Stewart Iron Works, an ironworks plant located in Covington, Kentucky, was founded in 1886 and incorporated in 1910. A branch in Cincinnati operated from 1903 to 1915. The Stewart Iron Works — Cinncinati, Ohio The Stewart Iron Works Co. — Covington, […]

I discovered some old fences while in the States this summer—first I found several beautiful antique fences on Hoyne Street in Chicago, and then I came across some in my suburb and in Annapolis, and now back in Lviv I have also started paying attention to them. In all three places—Chicago, […]

I found a few vault lights in Tallinn made by а Russian company before the Russian Revolution. The inscription says: “С.-Петербургское стекольно-промышленное акц. о-во” The St. Petersburg Glass Work Manufacturing Company (Санкт-Петербургское стекольно-промышленное акціонерное общество) existed between 1911 and 1918, but as St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd in 1914, it […]

Vault lights are glass prisms set into sidewalks to let light into basements below. I first came across a vault light in Lviv, but I didn’t know what it was until I saw them in Edinburgh and Tallinn and started researching what they were. Hayward Brothers In Edinburgh, I found a […]

n Riga I found a manhole cover dating from 1901. Upon researching it later, I realized it was made by the Swedish company called Stockholms Allmänna Telefonaktiebolag. Sweden’s first telecom operating company (founded in 1883), Stockholms Allmänna Telefonaktiebolaget (Stockholm General Telephone Company) (SAT) installed and operated telephone equipment. The company had […]