(Thru Sears, JC Penney's too, over the years, especially in the 1950's and 1960's.). You guys are nasty. Harmony was a major player until around 1940, when the company was sold back to Harmony executives and they continued manufacturing their own inexpensive guitars under over 57 different brand names. Some small Airline-branded tube amps were also made around . Per Michael Wrights Guitar Stories: the History of Cool Guitars, Sears went right back to relying on Harmony for their guitars. David @ Tedium. Repair pictures can be seen at the end of the photos. I also bought a baritone guitar, but thats a story for another time. The Airline Professional Vibrato was Valco's top-of-the line Res-O-Glas model. Besides featuring home decor, the catalog also sells housewares, tools, electronics, jewelry, clothing, gifts, and toys. Carson Robinson was a popular cowboy actor/singer of the day. christmas.musetechnical.com. The Windy City always played a major role in blues music, but it was also a hub of guitar manufacturing. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Silvertone brand is how many different companies manufactured instruments under the name. Then arguments start over the quality etc.. One piece of that knowledge, however, wasn't about this Sears . Hey all, Ernie here with a piece from from David Buck, who felt compelled to do a pretty sizable refresh of a piece he wrote last year on a certain kind of guitar with a certain retail tie. Please check the fields highlighted in red. The guitar and the case may be worth between $75.00 to $125.00 USD depending upon the condition of both the case and the guitar. Vintage Kay Carson Robinson Guitar and Louise Massey - Premier Guitar While its not in every single song, the guitar makes its indelible mark on her music with the track Cruel, as best experienced in this 2011 clip from Late Night with David Letterman. We accept advertising, too! Learn More. Vintage 1953-MONTGOMERY WARD CATALOG-Fashions-Ladies-Gents-Kids-Home Furnishings-955 Big Pages-Vibrant Color-Sepia-Excellent Condition-Rare 5 out of 5 stars (1.8k) $ 159.00. In this slice of musical paradise, one can easily find values and other instrument info all in one place. He wrote over 300 songs in his career, including his 1948 hit, "Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don't It," featured in episode 123 of the original Muppet Show, which is how I first heard of him. Perhaps well revisit the topic in a future issue! With its close proximity to several manufacturers and the reach of their catalog, it probably made perfect sense for Sears to hop on board the musical instrument trade. Montgomery Ward Airline (c.a. Used - Very Good. Music shops like Sam Ash and Guitar Center had been around for quite some time, but they were much smaller and more localSam Ash didnt really expand much until the 1960s while GC really didnt hit its stride until the 90s (though they did open a store in Chicago in 1979)and many towns probably had their own music shops, but the catalog was something else entirely.