What did the usual household appliances look like at the dawn of their appearance
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first Philips laboratory, which appeared in the Dutch Eindhoven. Incandescent lamps, radios, televisions, audio cassettes and CDs were invented there, which became revolutionary for their time.
(12 photos in total)
Lamps
1. Philips started its business with the production of incandescent lamps, which at the beginning of the XX century were more of a fashionable technical novelty than an everyday household appliance. In 1913, the production of the Halfwatt lamp began, it was distinguished by a tungsten spiral and the use of gas inside the bulb. However, it did not become popular, and two years later the company released its more popular smaller version — the Arga lamp. It got this name due to the use of the inert gas argon in it, which reduced the evaporation rate of the metal thread.
2. In 1933, one of the first modern Bi-Arlita incandescent lamps with a sealed double helix was released. This made it possible to significantly increase the resource of lighting devices. In them, instead of inert gas, sodium vapors were used, due to which the glow turned yellow-orange. Therefore, such lamps were mainly used for street lighting, common areas, but not in residential premises.
3. In the future, the improvement of lighting devices continued, fluorescent lamps already familiar to us appeared, and manufacturers competed in their efficiency, environmental friendliness, and so on. And Philips, in addition to its developments, already at the end of the XX century, pleased with such an advertisement.
Radios
4. The first Philips radio appeared in 1927 and the speaker looked more like a gramophone. He worked only in the VHF band, and during the tests he was able to transmit an audio message on short waves to a record distance - from Holland to Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies).
5. A few years later, the then popular model of the Chapel receiver went on sale, which, thanks to the design, looked very futuristic. At the same time, Chapel was much closer to modern ideas about household radio, the progenitor of the current audio equipment is easily guessed in it.
6. Later, the company mastered other areas — car radios, portable receivers, boomboxes and even a radio built into the refrigerator.
Televisions
7. Simultaneously with the radio, Philips began developing the first televisions. Initially, it was based on the Nipkov disk, named after the German inventor who lived in the XIX-XX centuries. This mechanical device allowed both scanning and line-by-line reproduction of the image. In 1928, the world saw the first Philips TV, showing a picture of 48 lines on a tiny screen.
8. In the early 1960s, the company introduced its first color television. It is curious that it began to be sold first abroad — in North America, where color television broadcasting was launched earlier than in Europe.
Audio cassettes and CDs
9. In 1963, the company released the world's first compact audio cassette with magnetic film, which essentially became the standard. Cassettes have not changed their appearance for several decades and are familiar to most living people. Along with them, tape recorders, car radios, voice recorders and other audio equipment close to modern appeared. A little later, a similar technology began to be used for video recording.
10. Another revolution in recording and storing information occurred in the early 1980s, when Philips, together with Sony, introduced the first CD. First of all, in comparison with the then popular gram-plates, the radically smaller size of the carrier was striking. It is curious that at that time it was only enough for 60 minutes of music, but over time the technology was improved many times. This novelty has also become a world standard.
Small household appliances
11. In 1939, the world's first electric shaver with rotating heads appeared — Philishave. According to one version, they were originally a by-product from the production of incandescent lamps. However, diligent engineers have figured out how to put them into action.
12. Since the 1950s, following the consumer boom in Western countries, the company has actively joined the competition for the production of home appliances. Irons, refrigerators, washing machines, as well as compact coffee grinders appeared in millions of families.
Keywords: Invention