I second that NJ.
These AC/DC radio sets with "live chassis" were also very common in the U.K. right up until the 1960s. As someone with a great interest in older equipment I still like to work on restoring these old sets (when I get the time that is!). For bench servicework, it's necessary to use a 1:1 isolation xfmr, not just for personal protection but also so that grounded test equipment can be used (e.g. signal generator, oscilloscope).
