Research

By the end of the 1930s the number of employees had returned to pre-Depression levels. Major investments in research led to a steady stream of new products and technology, including the X-ray tube, radio, television, the Philishave dry-shaver, sodium lamps and mercury lamps. Frits Philips took a keen interest in the research activities and often worked closely with the renowned professor Gilles Holst, who had held sway over the Philips laboratories since 1914. 1938 saw the start of a project championed from the outset by Frits Philips: the Stirling motor. Despite many attempts, the hot-air engine was never a great success.

In 1935 Frits Philips accompanied Gilles Holst on a business trip to Russia. The trip served to reinforce the loathing for communism he had already developed earlier in life. During state-supervised visits to schools and universities he was struck by the sorry state of the buildings. The people made a similarly sad impression: ‘It was a depressing sight to see so many women dressed in sacks, sweeping the streets. Sometimes people looked as if they were going about in one another’s clothes. They never really fitted. People seemed to be trying to express their individuality with caps (…) caps with a huge peak, some turned upwards. Between ourselves we called the wearers with the upturned peaks the optimists.’ That particular trip to Russia was unsuccessful, in business terms.

In 1934 Frits and Sylvia Philips made the acquaintance of the American Frank Buchman. His movement, also responsible for initiating the Moral and Spiritual Re-Armament program, brought about a radical change in their lives. Its message was brief but far-reaching: listen to God, live an honest, pure and selfless life and exercise charity.