I bought this stove at a flea market in Krakow ( I have lived in this city since I was born). It was very dirty, but I could tell by some details what I was dealing with. It was an old worn-out Primus No1 from before 1911. My greatest joy was the plate on the side of the tank. It showed the name of a vendor who had a hardware store in Krakow. I In the address books of Krakow from 1908 and 1910 , I found an advertisement for this place. put quite a lot of work into cleaning the stove from a layer of dirt and managed to uncover to some extent , the already heavily worn embossing. I did not eliminate the dried out original filler cap gasket, but placed a thin nitrile o-ring over it. It fired with a beautiful green flame, which turned blue after a few minutes.
@Knee Beautiful stove!! And with the very local link to your home city..what a find! Lovely to see fairy-flames turn to ice-blue. Very thoughtfully restored- well done Pharael.
@Pharael .Thank you very much ! Maybe my compatriot (also from Krakow) @Maciej Górecki , would like to do a little digging in his family tree?
Wonderful example , beautifully presented . The Krakow connection make it so special . Congratulations and thank you for this terrific post
@Knee Stanisław, you found a pearl.This is first Primus with such a splendid plaquette which I see. Your research which revealed the sources brought me in the past to the old Krakow...
Great find, especially the Górecki dealer's cartouche, those old plates always add something really special to any stove
@AAC, @Tony Press , @Stanisław Grajewski ,@igh371 .Thank you for your interest and kind comments. Such a search in digitized , old archives is really fascinating. Attention is drawn to the very wide range of assortment offered by such stores, goods.
@Knee, what a superb find, that really is a very nice old vintage stove, i very much like the way you sympathetically restored this stove removing all the dirt yet maintaining some of its patina and old charm. And great idea leaving the old filler cap seal that has dried out but still has the Primus lettering on it, it could possibly be the very original, if not a early replacement. Looking at the photo of the pump rod at the angle it is in, it looks like the pump cap is had a lot of ware and the stove has had a lot of use, This stove sure has some fantastic all round history, especially with the the brass plate with the vendors name on
Always a pleasure to find a stove with that extra something- signs of the human touch of care, repair or modification, personal stories from previous owners, or as in this case- a record of where the stove originated well over a century ago. Wouldn't it be wonderful to travel in time and visit the premises of Mr Górecki when this No.1 was sold. Full of all sorts of wonderful things- cast iron, wood and brass in abundance, and very little plastic! I'll have to be content with just enjoying the wonderful sequence of photos of this great example coming back to life.
@mr optimus , @Blackdog .Thanks guys! It's always nice to learn, even a small part of the history of the old stove. It undoubtedly adds a certain flavor to our hobby. Greetings Stanisław.
