Surely someone could get them a new set of working instruments! Doesn't have to be 1930s vintage. Modern instruments have barely changed.,(reply>), @Dana Kitsune 80 year old paint can flake and get everywhere.  it's harmless on the dials.  It's much less so stuck to you or inhaled.,(reply>), @DrFod But what if you lick it?!,(reply>), The original dials could have been restored by any watchmaker familiar with restoring old radium dial watches safely. There are modern ways of safely removing or sealing the old paint and repainting the dials with modern luminescent paint. This was simply a rather poor excuse by the museum, probably due to convenience or lack of funds.,(reply>), @Reasons_Why That's complicated. I mostly was speaking to the availability of traditional "plumbed" steam gauge instruments.  They are readily available today and have not changed.  Most small GA aircraft (including my own) are still traditional steam gauge instruments with direct plumbing and no computer in between.  Hell even if I upgrade mine to something like a Garmin G5, that plumbing of static and ram air sources will still be direct to the instrument.<br><br>As to an airliner, they are a bit more complicated. Your 737-400 had both. The primary instruments in the -400 were fed by the ADC, buy retained their traditional appearance thanks in large part to airline demands, but where not plumbed in the traditional fashion and instead had a data feed. However, the -400 still had fallback instrumentation plumbed directly to the static and ram air source.<br><br>That got more complicated than it's worth on youtube, but the tldr is this: If they wanted to restore the functionality without the radium it's 100% feasible, but perhaps not a good idea anyway. Most of these same instruments are available today and have the exact same internals.  The only exception I saw would be the 4 course radio navigation instrument,(reply>), @DruidJaidan So in aircraft like the 737-3 or -4 it would have the tubes directly to the instrument display? (analogue systems)