Wholesale Art Deco tube radio, solid mahogany wooden cabinet, shortwave–medium wave–longwave dial, late 1930s–early 1940s.

There is something of the raw history of France in this radio. It was made in the late 1930s or the very beginning of the 1940s, in those years when the radio was the only link between the French and the world. Its solid mahogany-stained wooden case, with the rounded angles characteristic of late Art Deco aesthetics, bears the marks of time with a certain dignity. The chrome metal front, now oxidized and flaking, frames a speaker grille with a diamond pattern and a station dial with columns engraved in green on a blue background: OC, PO, GO, with period names — Andorra, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Paris, Bordeaux. Four white bakelite knobs at the bottom of the front. No visible power supply. Not tested; offered as-is for decoration or to be returned to service by an electronics technician. Condition satisfactory given its age. Placed on a desk, a console or a shelf, this radio is an object of memory of rare authenticity. It survived the Occupation and the Trente Glorieuses without losing its soul. The patina of its wood and chrome tells more than any restoration ever could.