Filmoscope / Фильмоскоп filmstrip projector with original box

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

"Filmoscope" / "Фильмоскоп" filmstrip projector with original box

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.179

Description

A small tabletop filmstrip (diafilm) projector with a green/mint-painted sheet-metal body, a chromed front lens mount with a glass objective, a brass/metal film gate and feed assembly on top, a black focus knob and a film-advance knob, ventilation louvers on the rear/side, and small splayed feet. It projects rolled diafilms with an 18×24 mm frame. The accompanying paperboard box is printed with a large stylized "Ф," the word "ФИЛЬМОСКОП," "МП РСФСР ГЛАВУЧТЕХПРОМ," a stylized filmstrip-perforation motif, a yellow projection-beam graphic, and a circular factory stamp; the box is heavily worn, soiled, and edge-damaged.

Use

Purchased by María A. Arús Caraballo for her daughters. In a diary entry the donor’s mother wrote in December 1973, when the donor was only 2-month old, she mentions that she had bought a filmstrip for the projector.

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Manufacturer

Zagorsk School Instrument-Making Factory

Date made

1973

Time Period

1970s

Place

City

Zagorsk

Region

Moscow Oblast, Eastern Europe

Country

U.S.S.R.

Continent

Europe

Notes

Maker: Zagorsk School Instrument-Making Factory (Завод школьного приборостроения, Zagorsk / now Sergiev Posad, Moscow oblast), under МП РСФСР / Главучтехпром (Main Directorate of Educational-Technical Industry of the RSFSR), USSR — per the markings on the lens bezel and box and the "Made in USSR" plate. A standard Soviet filmoskop of the Ф-series type.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Makers Mark

Location

bottom of item

Transcription

OTK (illegible) 70 22 FEB 1973

Language

Russian

Type

Label

Location

Box

Transcription

МП РСФСР ГЛАВУЧТЕХПРОМ

Language

Russian

Translation

MP RSFSR GLAVUCHTEKHPROM

Notes

Box: stylized "Ф"; "ФИЛЬМОСКОП"; "МП РСФСР ГЛАВУЧТЕХПРОМ"; circular factory stamp (Zagorsk School Instrument-Making Factory, Moscow oblast); filmstrip-perforation and projection-beam graphics. Lens bezel: engraved "МП РСФСР ГЛАВУЧТЕХПРОМ … ЗАГОРСК … №…" with focal-length marking (e.g., "F=…cm"; periscope-type objective ~77 mm on this series — exact figure on this unit not read). Side plate: "MADE IN USSR."

Dimensions

Dimension Description

dimensions without film holder

Height

9 cm

Width

14 cm

Depth

19.5 cm

Dimension Notes

box:10.5 x 25 x 16.5

Parts

projector body, film holder, box, and lid

Accessories

Accessory

Box

Material

Metal, Plastic

Condition

Overall Condition

Fair

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

María A. Cabrera Arús

Notes

owner

Person or Organization

María R. Cabrera Arús

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

acquisition, ownership

Place

City

Zagorsk

Region

Moscow Oblast, Eastern Europe

Country

U.S.S.R.

Continent

Europe

Notes

production

Web Links and URLs

historical overview

Research Notes

Notes

"Filmoskop" = the Soviet name for a simplified diaprojector for rolled diafilms (18×24 mm frame); cheaper and simpler than a full diaprojector, hence ubiquitous in the USSR for home and school filmstrip viewing.

Notes

Zagorsk School Instrument-Making Factory, under МП РСФСР/Главучтехпром (RSFSR educational-technical industry directorate). Documented as the maker of the Ф-series filmoskops (Ф-64/Ф-68/Ф-75); earlier "ФГК-49/завод №6" carbolite models are 1940s–50s. This metal-bodied unit fits the later Ф-series.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

June 3, 2022

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026