Car radios in the 1930s were plagued with electrical interference from naked electrical sparks in the automotive ignition system. This Super Power Auto Radio contains a “Magic Eliminode” (presumably, a diode in the power supply) so that you won't need a “spark plug suppressor” (a capacitor on the electrical system), but I'll bet some crackle was still audible.
The “universal control” that could be mounted at the center of the steering column seems an exciting idea—but in an era before pushbuttons, let alone signal-seeking electronics, you would have been finding your favorite stations by peering at the tuning dial. Today, in a more safety-conscious era, the dual threat of regulation and litigation would make such a device vanishingly implausible.
