The booklet is 132 years old, full of handwritten notes by Gerard Philips. It gives a unique insight into the mind of the man who founded Philips in 1891. For the first time, the general public can read the notes. “The booklet shows how Gerard experimented,” says Sergio Derks of the Philips Heritage Organization.
The extremely fragile booklet has 87 pages, which has been scanned very carefully. Visitors to the Gerard exhibition can now browse it digitally.
Engineer Gerard Philips started a lamp factory on the Emmasingel in Eindhoven in 1891. Together with his father, who invested in his son’s plans. “A light bulb was very innovative at the time. People only had oil lamps and candles. Electric lamps were something special,” says Derks.
“It’s like looking at a Van Gogh painting.”
Gerard wanted to produce the lamps on a large scale. “You can make one lamp in a laboratory, but to make thousands of good quality lamps, you have to have a lot in house.” He had that.
He divided the production process into small steps. This way, unskilled ‘lamp girls’ could make those lamps. Everyone had a task, such as cutting the filaments to size, soldering wires and packaging the lamps.
“The booklet shows how Gerard experimented,” says Derks. For example, he ordered ‘medicated cotton wool’ to make filaments from pure cotton. It was a case of ‘trying it out’, because pieces of text were regularly scratched out. “You get close to him. It’s like looking at a Van Gogh painting and seeing how he painted it. You can see the brush strokes. I was struck by how experimental Gerard is: he looks at what works and what doesn’t.”
“The impact of Gerard Philips was enormous.”
The booklet is extra special, because few of Gerard’s belongings have been preserved. Most of it was destroyed during the Sinterklaas bombardment of December 6, 1942. The English wanted to use this to paralyze the production of radio parts for the German occupier, among other things. 140 civilians and 7 German soldiers died. Just like a lot of material by Gerard Philips.
Sergio Derks of the Philips Heritage Organization thinks this is a pity. “Gerard’s impact was enormous. He founded Philips, but also took the initiative to start the Physics Laboratory in 1914,” says Derks. “All bright minds from all over the world came to Eindhoven. Even Albert Einstein was here in 1923. He was very impressed. A lot of knowledge came here, and cooperation between companies started. That laid the foundation for Brainport.”
“Without Gerard there would have been no Philips.”
Gerard Philips will be honored posthumously next month. He gets a big piece of art in town. His younger brother Anton already has a statue at the station. “Anton was outgoing, a born salesman. Gerard was more introverted. He didn’t like to be in the spotlight. Still, we like to make him a little more known. Without Gerard there would have been no Philips.”
The temporary exhibition Gerard can be visited from Wednesday in the Philips Museum in Eindhoven.
