How to Navigate the 1923 Polish Business Directory

Shelley Kellerman  Pollero

The "Handlowa ksiega  adresowa Polski i Gdanska," a 1923 commercial directory for  Poland, including Gdansk (Danzig), totals about 700 pages. In the November 2002 issue of The Galitzianer, I described the version of that  directory that is on-line on the Library of Congress website http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/scd0001.20020613002po.2.

I soon realized that a more  detailed explanation was needed in order to navigate the site and access  the non-searchable information on the IMAGE pages. This article is intended  to assist you in doing this.

The above URL will take you  to the starting point. On the directory pages, at the top and bottom, you will find a field into which you can enter an IMAGE number. For  example, a map of Poland is located at IMAGE 37.

The site presents an introductory  section, including an alphabetical index of businesses and goods, in  seven languages, at the following IMAGE numbers: Polish 38-65, French  66-83, German 84-117, English 118-134, Czech135-155, Russian 156-175,  Ukrainian 176-191

Entering IMAGE 118 into that field will take you to an IMAGE of the first of several images containing a Table of Contents and introductory material in English. For additional navigation, click on the PREV IMAGE | NEXT IMAGE or enter a new IMAGE number in the space provided. To enlarge an IMAGE, click on Higher Quality  Image (JPEG - 500K or JPEG - 1,406K, for example) to enlarge it to ”larger”  or ”largest”. To go back, select your usual BACK button.

Note that the IMAGE numbers do not correspond to the page numbers of the directory itself. You must navigate through the directory by IMAGE numbers.

There is an Alphabetical Index of Branches and Goods in the seven languages. The English language index  begins on IMAGE 126 (page 91) and ends on IMAGE 133 (p. 98). Here you can locate the industry/goods you want, note the page number next to  it, and ADD 199 to that page number in order to locate the IMAGE where  that business begins. (See below.)

The Directory’s list of Branches and Goods begins on IMAGE 198 and is in alphabetical order by the Polish word(s) for the industry or goods offered, followed by the word(s) in  each of the languages described above, for example the listing for pharmacies  or drug stores:

Apteki

Pharmacies

Apothetken

Chemists (Pharmacies, U.S.)

Lekarny (with accent marks)

Apteki (in Cyrillic)

Apteki (in Cyrillic)

After the name of each industry/goods, you will see listed, in alphabetical order and bold type, names of towns,  each followed by names or surnames of subscribers (businesses and merchants), in alphabetical order, and sometimes their street address. [It appears  that the city of Gdansk (Danzig) is the last town listed under each  business category, often following Warszawa.]

There are four columns to a  directory page, so check all the columns for the business heading, which  is separated from the other business headings by a row of diamonds.  Some may continue for several columns or pages until another business  is listed. For example, for “Eggs, wholesale”: Go to the English index  located on IMAGES 126-133 to locate ”Eggs, wholesale” (IMAGE 128 - See Eggs, wholesale -  page 222). Add 199 to the number 222. Go to IMAGE 421 to see “Eggs, wholesale” partway down in the first column. The  first town listed under this business is Jaslo, the last is Gdansk - Danzig - at the top of the third column. The following section is Silk Yarn, the previous Isolation  Works.

I would like to thank GG member  Debbie Raff for her invaluable suggestions and assistance in editing  and refining the very detailed work necessary to explain how to navigate this web site. I hope that this guide will facilitate your research. Let me know if this “how to navigate” guide was useful or if you have any suggestions. Contact Shelley Pollero at geshergalicia@comcast.net.