This paper is devoted to the history of the Polytechnic Museum’s Chemical Laboratory, one of the oldest laboratories in Moscow. It was set up in the first months of the Museum’s operations and, over the first fifty years of its existence, was mainly used to support lectures and Sunday talks organized at the museum as well as for explaining and mounting the Museum’s collections. During that period, the Laboratory’s scientific activities had not been systematic.  

The situation changed dramatically in the early 1920s. In November 1923, a new Museum’s Charter was adopted according to which the Museum was given a right to set up auxiliary scientific organizations, testing laboratories, stations, etc.   The Chemical Laboratory was conducting material studies and technical analyses commissioned by government authorities and industrial enterprises. The range of scientific investigations included testing the products of fuel, textile, and food industries. The works commissioned by the organizations were performed both by the museum staff and by the staff of interested organizations whom the Laboratory provided with workplaces for a fee.  

The Chemical Laboratory’s successful commercial research activities were interrupted due to an extensive reorganization of the Museum in 1929/1930. During that period, a new task was set for the Laboratory: to deploy research related to national defence and commissioned by the scientific research sector of the Central House of Chemistry and Osoaviakhim (Society for the Promotion of Aviation and Chemical Defense).  

In 1936, after four years of looking for new forms and methods of working with visitors, a Regulation on the Polytechnic Museum’s Chemical Laboratory was adopted that defined the scope of its activities. The Laboratory gained the status of the Museum’s independent division (within the Chemistry Department). Delivering lectures and conducting other educational events for different student categories became the main area of the Laboratory’s future work.