If that missing part of the veneer on top was in a less conspicuous place I might try to patch it. Looks like a total new piece for the top would be the way to go. Who knows. I haven't seen the rest of it yet. I prefer sets with challenges, they take longer, there are more things to figure out. I had a look at the schematic on NostalgiaAir and it's an AA6 series string set with an RF stage and 3 gang tuning condensor (we'll call it that instead of a capacitor since she's so elderly, pre-1948 per NostalgiaAir) so should work well as reported above, as long as I feed her 60 cycles, not Hz.
From the style I would have said 1940-41. Maybe they had leftover cabinets after The War to use up.
EDIT: 4/4/10 -- I still haven't seen this set and sure would like to work on it.