The BBC has gifted its collection of almost 1,000 historical objects to the National Media Museum in Bradford as part of its celebrations to mark the broadcaster’s 90th anniversary.

The collection tells the story of British broadcasting, and specifically the BBC, from its earliest pioneering days in the 1920s right up to now.

It includes important radio and television studio equipment used by the BBC over its 90-year history, along with production props, radio and television receivers, branding and merchandising objects.

A display of selected objects from the collection will open to the public tomorrow – 90 years to the day since the BBC made its first radio broadcast.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, head of the museum, said: “This generous and hugely significant gift will greatly enhance the National Television Collection held by the museum, making it probably the best of its kind anywhere in the world. It also represents another major landmark in our flourishing partnership with the BBC.”

Iain Logie Baird, the museum’s curator of broadcast culture, said: “This diverse collection of objects used by the BBC covers the evolution of public service broadcasting in this country, and celebrates the rich variety of programmes the BBC has produced over the decades. This collection will be a great asset to the museum.”

The display will give people the opportunity to see some of the original artefacts that were used in the earliest years of the BBC, including seminal microphones such as one of the original Big Ben microphones used to capture the sounds of the bell in 1924, a nostalgic “Lip microphone” dating from 1937, specially designed by the BBC to block background noise from sports commentary in the 1930s and a famous “biscuit tin” radio, dropped by parachute over occupied Europe during World War II and used by resistance fighters to tune into the secret “personal messages” sent out over the BBC.

Other highlights from the collection, to feature in future displays, include iconic objects such as an extremely rare Blattnerphone, the broadcast recording device which used steel tape to capture the voice of Neville Chamberlain as he announced the outbreak of World War II to the nation in 1939, the AXBT microphone, created by the BBC and now considered a design classic, and two original Emitron 405-line television cameras manufactured by EMI in 1936 and used at the BBC’s television studios in London for the world’s first regular high-definition television service.

Head of BBC History Robert Seatter said: “I know how absolutely fascinated audiences are to see the real objects that make broadcasting happen – whether it’s that special microphone or the particular prop from a seminal TV show.

“I’m delighted that this BBC collection is being shared with the National Media Museum. I hope this donation will enable more people to connect with the history of the BBC, which, of course, is all our history.”