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I am doing research on the WLS radio station in Chicago. I
know Sears owned the station in the 1920s. I was wondering what
information the Sears Archives might have that is related to WLS.
In 1924, a new Chicago radio station, with the assigned call
letters WBBX, began broadcasting under the ownership of Sears.
Despite the assigned call letters, Sears first broadcast the
station under the call letters WES (World�s Economy Store). An
immediate hit, the station kicked off a grand opening from a
broadcast station in Chicago�s Sherman Hotel using new call
letters�WLS (World�s Largest Store)�days later. The
station broadcast farm and weather reports, music, tips for
housewives, and evening entertainment. The National Barn Dance,
heard on Sunday evenings, became the most popular radio program
in the Midwest. Sears sold the radio station in 1928, but the
station continues to use WLS as its call letters today.
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| WLS schedule, 1925. |
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WLS advertisement, 1925. |
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