Is it appropriate to call 1941 American items "prewar"?

Question

Not sure if this question has a defined answer, or is a matter of opinion. I have a 1941 piece of radio equipment I am thinking about restoring, and I told my dad it was "prewar". It was manufactured before December 7th 1941...so it was before the war in the US, but not prewar overall.

Answer 1

War always brings necessity-driven rapid innovation, and of all the wars in history, World War II triggered the most change and provided the sharpest line of demarcation in most areas of technology. The term pre-war is usually used to discriminate between the old stuff used and manufactured prior to hostilities and the newer stuff that received the benefit of the war-driven innovation. Your radio received no benefit of any war-driven changes or innovation, and so most folks (especially Americans talking about American products) would agree with the definition that your radio would be pre-war by U.S. standards. You are technically correct in all the other definitions and if someone wanted to judge by European dates, then I suppose Europeans would see it as manufactured during the war, by their viewpoint.