plasticbasket: June 2018

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

“Sorry to see you go, Tony. You were a terrific judge, and I never listened to people who said that you were older than dirt. I could have, but i never did. Feel free to stop at the gift shop on the way out. Pick out anything you want. Up to $40. We’ve got some phenomenal pens in there.”

sum. persp.

KC TRUETONE WESTERN AUTO RADIOS

Truetone was the private label radio, television and electronics brand of Western Auto Supply Company of Kansas City, Missouri. Western Auto was a company founded in 1909 to sell tires and automobile supplies for the Model T Ford and other cars through its catalogs and, starting in 1913, through retail stores in Kansas City and other major cities. In 1915, Western Auto was split into two companies, one in California and one in Kansas City. These were separate companies with a common founder and they had virtually identical catalogs and merchandise offerings. The two companies merged again in the mid 1950s.

In the late 1920s, radio was taking the country by storm and Western Auto was looking for new items to add to its merchandise lines. After selling radio tubes under its "Wizard" brand in the 1920s, the company offered its first Truetone brand radios in 1931. Truetone was the radio brand sold by Western Auto of Kansas City while the California company sold its radios under the name "Western Air Patrol."

Truetones were never made by Western Auto itself but, like many private brands, were made by several manufacturers who were able to offer quality radios at a good wholesale price. Over the years Truetones were made by the same companies that manufactured private label electronics products for many major nationwide or regional retail chains. These manufacturers included Admiral, Belmont Radio, Wells Gardner, Detrola, Kingston Radio, Warwick, Air-King, Stewart-Warner, Maguire Industries, McGrade Manufacturing, Connecticut Telephone and Electric, Electronic Laboratories, Tele-Tone Radio, Fada Radio & Electric, Telechron, Sentinel Radio and others. The nearest Western Auto came to actually owning a manufacturer of radios was in the 1960s when it purchased Midland Radio and Electronics, also of Kansas City; but Midland's products were also largely made by contractors, primarily in Asia.

Truetone became a very popular brand of radio, particularly in small towns and cities where Western Auto, starting in 1935, contracted with local merchants to operate as Western Auto Associate Stores. Millions of Truetone radios were sold in these stores and in Western Auto's own hundreds of retail outlets in larger cities. By 1940 the company was offering many different designs of Truetone radios and record players with table, console and portable models powered by batteries and standard 120-volt current.

The Truetone line disappeared for a couple of years during World War II as electronics manufacturers switched to producing items needed by the military. By 1947 Western Auto was again offering Truetone radios and record players and had added Truetone televisions. The top of the line post-war radios included the new FM frequency band. By the 1960s, Truetones were sold in over 5,000 Western Auto stores in all 50 states and in Puerto Rico and Guam.

Truetone radios, televisions, record players, tape recorders, hi-fi systems, car radios, CB radios, tubes and even musical instruments were sold by Western Auto until 1981, when the company decided to cease marketing electronics products under its private brand of Truetone.

Today, millions of Truetones continue to give good service and numerous models have become prized collector's items, selling at auction for many times their original price. Western Auto was sold to Advance Auto of Roanoke, Virginia in 1998 and has ceased operations. Advance Auto operates stores in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands under the Western Auto name.