27 WLS Chicago Radio Station Annual Mags FAMILY ALBUM Prairie Farmer 1931-1957

Description

27 WLS Chicago Radio Station Annual Mags FAMILY ALBUM Prairie Farmer
Annual "In-House" Booklets" w/ Classic Covers
Photos & News of Radio Station's Staff
Titles:
WLS FAMILY ALBUM (The Prairie Farmer, Chicago, Illinois)
Issues:
1931- 1957 (Prairie Farmer's Centennial Year)
Summary:
In the 1920s, Sears, Roebuck and Company was a major mail order company. To target farmers, Sears bought time on radio stations, and then decided to form their own station. Just before the permanent station was ready, Sears began broadcasts on March 21, 1924 as WBBX with noon programs. Sears broadcast test transmissions from its own permanent studios on April 9, 10 and 11, 1924, using the call sign WES (for "World's Economy Store"). On April 12, 1924, the station commenced officially, using the call sign WLS (for "World's Largest Store"); and on April 19, aired its first National Barn Dance...
Sears originally operated its station at its Chicago headquarters on Chicago's West Side where the company's mail order business was located. Sears then moved the WLS studios into the Sherman House hotel in downtown Chicago. Sears sold it to the Prairie Farmer magazine in 1928. The station moved to the Prairie Farmer Building on West Washington in Chicago, where it remained for 32 years