Radius AB
Stockholm, Sweden

This is an Radius model No 50. With the flat burner this blow lamp was designed to burn in tar into wooden skies.

In January 1913 a strike broke out at the Primus factory in Stockholm, Sweden. At this time the Trade Unions were not so powerful & the union backing the striking Primus workers was faced with the financial burden of supporting a strike that could go on indefinitely. In a brave move the union decided to form a new company producing the same goods that the workers were familiar with. The union used 10% of it's own capital to start the company, raising the rest from outside investors. This was the birth of Aktiebolaget Radius.

A small building was bought in Tellusborg, south of Stockholm while a new bigger factory was built and fitted out with specialist machinery and tooling.The new company started trading on the 14th June 1913. Its first director was J.T. Johansson, the former Union representative. Other directors were Tor Bonnier, Eric Lange, Eric Lundberg and Olof Lundberg.

The end of 1913 finished the new factory and by the middle of 1914 Radius was ready to deliver their first orders. Just as things seemed to be coming together for the new company disaster struck in August 1914 with the outbreak of World War One. The war made export very difficult & the home market was hit by a paraffin shortage. The new company was faced with difficult decisions.

The new Radius factory in Tellusborg, Stockholm.

Like a lot of other factories Radius had to lay-off a lot of its work force due to the loss of production. This brought the workers into conflict with the management. The workers felt they had more control due to their Trade Unions share in the company. The union committee however fully appreciated the difficulties that the company was facing and was able to prevent industrial action. The dispute did however lead to the directors proposing that the union make a choice - either acquire all the shares in the company or sell their own holding. At the unions congress in 1916 the decision was taken to sell their shares.

During the war Radius was forced to diversify. I don't know what they produced at this time but they were able to keep the company going until, at last, the war came to an end and the laid-off workers could return to work, hopefully to look forward to a brighter future.

Radius No 65 with string insulation on the pump handle.

With the war over and a big potential export market Radius was eager to develop, they sent out their representatives to renew foreign trade contacts and forge new business. An extensive worldwide network of agents was set up & at last the company could more forward after a very difficult start. So successful were their products abroad that exports at times accounted for 90% of the company's production.

Competition however was fierce. Their competitors had been making the same paraffin burning equipment for up to 25 years before Radius came on the scene and there was little to distinguish the Radius products from the others on the market. The directors therefore decided to focus on quality and innovation. Radius introduced several new patents to their products. Among these were an adjustable burner with built-in cleaning needle, a fuel gauge and a safety pressure release valve.In 1924, Radius introduced storm lanterns, table lamps, heaters and sanitary fittings to their range of paraffin cookers and petrol and paraffin blowlamps. In 1927 production had increased enough to require a new extension to the factory to double the capacity with further expansion in 1936.

Radius fishing reel.

Radius diversified their product range over the years. In their time they patented an automatic gear box for automobiles, an electric, and steam insect killer and in the 1940's produced a range of fishing reels! 50 years after their formation in 1963 Radius stopped production & the sole rights to the Radius trademark was sold to rival manufacturer Optimus. The trademark however was not used again - the shooting star unfortunately, had burnt out.

Two Radius No 170. The one to the right is plated and I am unsure if this was a factory option or if it has been done at a later stage. I have never seen any catalogues showing this treatment.		This Radius No 58 shows two major Radius invention - the saferty valve located in the filler cap and the side mounted adjusting knob.		Two early Radius No 76 and No 74. The one to the right has the wooden adjusting knob badly burned by leaking fuel.