A Short History of Sears & Roebuck-- Part 3: WLS and Spanish Peanuts

In 1911, a Scientific Laboratory was added so Sears cold test the products it sold.  The lab was known as "the watchdog of the catalog" and promoted as a means to "give out customers the service they have a right to expect."

The centerpiece of the complex on Homan Avenue was a 250-foot tower.  Then the tallest building outside the Loop, and Sears' corporate signature, it appeared on the catalog's cover.

Beginning in 1924,it housed a radio station on its 11th floor.  Its call letters, WLS,stood for "World's Largest Store.  Reflecting Sears' customer base, its motto was:  "Bringing the World to the Farm.  It signed on and off the air with a train whistle.

For my family, and especially Dad, no trip to a Sears was complete until we had gone by the candy/nut counter and bought a small bag of fresh hot fried Spanish peanuts.  That and a Coke was just way too good.

And, of course, that radio station changed to a pop music format in 1960 and with its huge 50,000 watt signal, it (and competitor WCFL) was what all of us kids listened to growing up in the 1960s.  Teenagers across most of the nation could pick up the signal at night.

Art Roberts' Top 3 At Ten On WLS.    --Cooter