1935 Truetone (Western Auto) 3-band console radio.
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 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."
