B.A. Hjorth & Co. (Bahco) by Ross Mellows B.A. Hjorth B.A. Hjorth was born in 1862 in a small village near Tarku, Finland. He worked for several years in different factories as a fitter and as a salesman amongst other jobs. In 1889 he started a small sales company in Stockholm with a partner F.H.Getzmann. Called B.A. Hjorth & Co., the company started operations on an extremely modest scale. The two partners tried their hand at selling tools and machines, came into contact with some German manufacturers and were able to establish permanent agencies. Early success came when they obtained the sales rights to the newly invented universal pipe wrench and adjustable spanner. These were manufactured by Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad, the company of their inventor J.P. Johansson and sold under Hjorth’s “Bahco” trademark. The products were a huge success and Hjorth was soon able to start exporting on a large scale, which laid the foundation for vigorous expansion of the companies' operations. There was another product that was to help the company achieve major export success – the “Primus” stove. F.W. Lindqvist, the inventor of the stove and his partner J.V. Svenson (J.V.Svensons Fotogenköksfabrik) employed the services of B.A. Hjorth & Co to sell and market their new product and Hjorth’s skill soon turned “Primus” into a household name with worldwide sales which contributed to rapid growth for both companies. In 1898 the business was reorganised as a limited company under the name AB Primus. In 1918 B.A. Hjorth & Co. took over Primus and the company became part of the Bahco group. In the mid 1920’s the factory at Lilla Essingen had a labour force of 600 which increased to 700 by the early 1930’s. The Primus product range was increasingly broadened. Apart from stoves, blowlamps and lanterns, a number of household appliances with the stove as a basis were also manufactured. Iron heaters, toasters, griddles, ovens and coffee roasters are all examples of the new products designed to work with the stoves. The world wars were serious interruptions in Primus’ operations as the company was strongly export-oriented. However the company succeeded in keeping the labour force employed to a large extent through alternative production, including orders from the armed forces. At the end of the 1940s the Primus designers were working on appliances to work on the new LPG. By 1953 production had begun of LPG appliances and LPG cylinders. Just as early endorsements by Nansen and Amundson helped establish Primus as a household name, the use of Primus stoves on the successful 1953 Everest expedition helped maintain their reputation as stoves not just for the home but also in the great outdoors. By the end of the 1940s the factory at Lilla Essingen was becoming outdated and plans for the Essingen Highway meant no possibility of expanding the factory and Primus had to look for other premises. In 1950 a factory became available at Hagfors and after leasing new plant and converting the premises Primus relocated in 1954. In 1956 they also moved into a new factory at Flen, built next to a forge acquired by Bahco the previous year. The old factory at Lilla Essingen was by now closed down. Paraffin and Petrol stoves were made at Hagfors but LP gas appliances gradually took over more and more of the production facilities. Finally in 1962 Primus stopped production of all paraffin and petrol stoves and AB Optimus acquired the rights to produce and market the stoves under the Primus trademark from Bahco. Primus the company remained in the Bahco group until 1966 when Primus were merged with Esso company AB Sievert Apparater as Primus-Sievert AB. Primus continued to make LP gas stoves under their own name for the leisure market whilst Optimus sold the traditional paraffin and petrol stoves under the Primus brand (as Primus Trading AB) alongside their own brand until the 1970s when the range was eventually dropped. In the late 1990s Primus started manufacture of non-LP gas stoves again with their Himalaya range of multi-fuel stoves. On the 1st of August 2002 a company called Fenix Outdoor (more commonly known as Fjällräven) bought the trademark Primus and the leisure-market division of Primus AB from the current owner, investment bankers Euroventures. Acknowledgements Historical information and photos courtesy of Primus AB __________________________________________________________________________________________ Primus Dating Chart 1911 – 1963 From 1911 Primus paraffin stoves are stamped with a letter code. This is found under the tank. The codes Q and AQ are not used. From 1955 a six digit number was used, the last two digits corresponding to the year. This stamp is often found on the leg or burner riser tube depending on model. The code was also used on the petrol model No:71 but not from the first years of production. With regard to the later 6 digit date code it would appear that post-1963 the code may have been continued but stamped on the cardboard box rather than the stove. I have a Primus 5R with such a stamp on the box and the date corresponds to the date of the invoice which was with the stove. Many thanks to Peter Benscher, Bo Ryman, Dr.Peter Watchorn, Neil McRae and Arne Aasgaard for their assistance in compiling and updating this chart.
For those interested in what Lilla Essingen looks like today. Lilla Essingen is a small island about 3 km west of the old town of Stockholm. Notice the names of the streets - Primusgatan, Luxgatan, and Luxbacken - the only remains of this industry. /P-O
Even though there is a road shown on the south of the island called Primusgatan the Primus factory was actually in the north-west corner of the island. The area on the south shore is where the Electrolux factory was.
Found an interesting information... B.A. (Berndt August) was born in Finland close to Turku (not Tarku) and his mother was a Finn. He was working in a shipyard at Turku (There is still a shipyard in Turku). While he was working in a shipyard he was studying in technical college in Turku. Among with other orders in shipyard he was working for torpedo boats that were going for Russian navy (Finland was under Russian colony on that time). He also was responsible about tool storage in shipyard. Maybe from that shipyard work he got his inspiration to buy Johan Petter Johansson's Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad and to make nice (BAHCO, B.A. Hjort & CO) tools.
This needs to be updated to include 1964 as the last year of BAHCO manufacture (as I have included a photo of one with a code ending in 64)..
