RCA Victor A-20 Globe Trotter Radio A3117

A beautiful working example of the 1930's streamline Moderne design 

13 3/4 x 10 1/2 x 9

working order

The Canadian General Electric Co., Ltd., and the RCA Victor Co., Montreal were important centers of radio development and production during the 1930's. Up for sale is the second instance of this prominent and rare example for this period, a Canadian RCA Victor A-20. An enthusiastic account of the radio has been written by John Rose (ref.2), who found his at the Bayhead Radio Museum in Bayhead, Nova Scotia, Canada. John as well as Mark Stein in his book "Machine Age To Jet Age I" attribute the cabinet to John Vassos (see below under Vassos). The radio as many of Vassos' designs (pict.36), features chrome parts, here two vertical bars across an arched speaker cloth. The slanted dial scale, and the intricately interleaved round and sharp edges give the radio a unique and rarely seen look. The set features a wide frequency range, with expanded broadcast-band including police band, and two shortwave bands continuously covering the whole SW range from 2.3 to 22 MHz.