Orlov, Mikhail G.

Mikhail Grigorievich Orlov was born in the family of Grigori Semenovich Orlov, a Russian master who was one of the first to start making glass objects on a soldering lamp . In the 1840s, the French mainly engaged in this type of entrepreneurial activity, such as making work on a blowtorch ^[1] .

Grigory Orlov in 1848 worked at the glass factory “A. I. Ge and Martin ”, which was located in the Korchevsky district of the Tver province . There he saw the process of blowing different objects out of glass tubes, and decided to independently begin to engage in such a direction. Initially, for this he used the easiest and most well-known method ^[1] .

He used the "dandelion", which resembled a modern instrument - a blazer, and hemp oil as a material for burning. A wick made from cotton wool and rags was inserted into hemp oil. After 10 years of work, Mikhail Orlov improved his production a little by combining a dandelion with airy fur, pumping up air with his foot. This allowed him to make his business more profitable. Over time, he changed the material for burning, going to cow fat, and then to paraffin . He worked on these technologies until 1877, making earrings, cufflinks, round beads, cigarette smoking cigarette holders ^[1] .

In 1877, the son of a master, Mikhail Grigorievich Orlov, decided to improve his work. He traveled to Petersburg , and there he learned the subtleties of using a special blow lamp. He began to use it until 1882 in a village in the area of ​​Krug, which was located on the territory of the estate of Prince Menshikov in the Klin district of the Moscow province ^[1] .

Soon he moved to live in St. Petersburg and continued to work in the glass manufacturing industry, aligning himself with foreign masters who made subtle and complex products. After 30 years of his activity, he graduated apprentices who had studied in his workshop. His students could work along with foreign masters. Later, glass products in his workshop began to be conducted on city gas, using a special burner with two taps. This device instantly changed the flame from large to small, which could not be achieved using kerosene lamps ^[1] .

He created the instruments and put them out in 1896 at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod , received a silver medal for them. In 1899 at the St. Petersburg Handicraft Exhibition, he was already the owner of the gold medal. Reading the reviews of the examination of the works of M. G. Orlov, one can see that experts called him “Russian Greiner” ^[1] .

In 1906, Mikhail Orlov opened his shop, which was selling pharmaceutical glassware, chemical glassware, laboratory supplies. There were devices for chemical, bacteriological and pharmaceutical laboratories, devices for the study of lower organisms, mercury-air pumps, thermostats, chemical thermometers, devices for sterilizing milk, preparing oxygen, hydrometers, burners , lamps of various kinds, apparatus for inhaling saturated air, sprays , room disinfectors that were used to disinfect residential premises ^[1] .

In 1910, Mikhail Orlov released an illustrated price list , thanks to which his company became better known in the province. There were cases when devices were needed that were not in the price list, then they were created by the master according to the drawings that were sent to him as soon as possible. The company constantly received orders from higher educational institutions of St. Petersburg and other cities. Also, the company was engaged in the device of chemical, physical and bacteriological laboratories, created a complete equipment for hospitals, pharmacies and dispensaries ^[1] .

• Platonov Oleg. 1000 years of Russian entrepreneurship. From the history of merchant genera. - Contemporary, 1995. - 478 p.