TECHNES Encyclopedia Database

In this branch of the industry the focus was on personalizing the “talking machine,” on individualizing its use and simplifying its handling; in short, on configuring it for the listener’s domestic space. When a Paillard radio entered the home, it could take the form of an elegant credenza. The device was housed in precious wood, polished and decorated with three metallic bars, perfectly in keeping with the interior decor of a fashionable home. “The world at your fingertips” was one of the slogans used in the 1930s to promote it. An expression such as that gave the idea that the simple gesture of turning on a radio would cause sounds from around the world to fill the room.