Polska Fabryka Rowerów A. Kamiński
The A. Kamiński Polish Bicycle Factory

Summary/Abstract: Polska Fabryka Rowerów A. Kamiński (The A. Kamiński Polish Bicycle Factory) wasestabilished in Warsaw in 1924. It was one of the most important bicycle workshopslocated in the Polish capital city. From the second half of the 1930s, it signifi cantlyexpanded its sales market to cover most of pre-war Poland. This made it one of the mostrecognizable domestic brands, which is remembered to this day.The growing popularity of the bicycle in the late 1930s persuaded the company owner,Adam Kamiński, to build a new factory. It was located at 151 Wolska Street. The investmentrequired taking out loans to fi nance construction and provide salaries for the growing crewduring the dead winter season of 1938–1939. Thanks to the preserved documentationrelated to the loan granting, we can analyze the company’s fi nances, infrastructure, andequipment for the factory and company store. This is a very rare opportunity due to thescarcity of preserved materials regarding Polish bicycle factories.As primary sources related to the Polish pre-war bicycle industry are scant, this role isfulfi lled by preserved bicycles – technical artifacts. The analysis of bicycles and factorydata allowed for the characterization of the basic models produced in the factory. Theauthor has attempted to assign frame numbers to years of production and characterizedthe most important color schemes. The locations related to the factory’s activities and itspreserved relics were also discussed.

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