By the end of the 1920's, Sears had realized that it was a retailer and not a broadcaster. The International Harvester Company as well as WENR Radio, who shared the 870 frequency with WLS were interested in purchasing the station, but Sears felt that a sale to the Prairie Farmer Magazine would be a wiser choice, given their close association in years past as well as their longtime service to the farmer. The Prairie Farmer, first published back in 1841 was a publication designed for rural America. The paper had covered the stations sign-on in 1924 and had even purchased airtime on WLS for several years, featuring John Turnipseed and the Lazy Farmer on Friday evenings. When Sears approached Prairie Farmer with their offer to sell, owner/publisher Burridge D. Butler researched the idea. The company's sales force spent two months canvassing Midwest farmers, asking them which station they listened to most. The answer over and over was WLS. [ see table ] As a result, on September 15th 1928, Sears Roebuck sold the station for $250,000 to ABC, The Agricultural Broadcasting Company, a newly formed holding corporation with capital stock of 2500 shares valued at $100 each. Prairie Farmer Magazine was the majority stockholder with over 1200 shares. The terms also granted Sears the right to buy back WLS within 13 months if the station "... is not or cannot become self-supporting." (The Prairie Farmer eventually purchased the remaining shares.) Sears was also granted up to 12 free broadcast hours a week for the duration of the original note. On October 1st, an official on-air ceremony featuring Butler and E.H. Powell of Sears aired at 7:00pm to herald the change in management. After the transaction, WLS' main studios were moved from Sears on Homan Avenue to the Prairie Farmer Headquarters on Chicago's near west Side at 1230 West Washington Boulevard.

An early shot of one of the WLS music studios, prior to the sale to Prairie Farmer.

The remotes began in May and by August had devoted 10% of it's broadcasting time to the World's Fair. During "Farmer's Week," the station broadcast all their programming, except for news, from various parts of the fair. A survey among gate workers at the fair revealed that the question that was most asked by incoming patrons was "where is WLS broadcasting from?" Rufus Dawes, president of the Exposition commented at the time that WLS helped break fair attendance records during "Farmer's Week "Without WLS, this would not have been possible."

Since the stations main concern was the farmer, much of WLS' broadcast day catered to the rural areas of the Midwest. Informing the farmers was as equally as important as keeping them entertained. Market reports aired twice daily direct from the Union Stock Yards through remote broadcast lines. WLS used these new remote lines extensively, and promoted themselves accordingly as being on the cutting edge of this new medium. State Fairs, corn husking contests and even live coverage from the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago were just a few of the many remote broadcasts that WLS aired.

As a part of "Farmer's Week" at the World's Fair, this WLS Barn Dance was the biggest ever put on. Nearly 35,000 spectators attended the show at the Court Of The States. The Barn Dance played at the fair for four successive weeks on Wednesday nights.

Up-to-the minute livestock and produce reports were also featured and weather reports became an integral service, as the forecasts often determined whether hay should be cut, and where prices for produce and grain would be set. Many of the Prairie Farmer Magazine editors and reporters such as Floyd Keepers, Clifford Gregory, Check Stafford and John Lacey among others, were heard on WLS. Due to their prominence in the magazine, the company felt that these trusted names lent credibility to the new radio acquisition. The weather proved to be a big factor in the development of WLS as an effective and trusted institution. When a tornado ravaged southern Illinois in 1925, WLS rallied to the aid the victims by setting up the Storm Relief Fund. When the station joined the Prairie Farmer, it also began to promote the Prairie Farmer Protective Union. This organization provided legal aid to it's members, as well as act as a liaison between farmers and local law enforcement. These organization came to the aid of farmers over and over throughout the years and solidified WLS' place as a good neighbor. These actions were huge considering that radio ownership was modest in the 20's and 30's and WLS was only on the air part of the day, having to continue to share their frequency with WENR.

Entertainment fare was another big part of WLS' appeal. Programs included The Smile-A-While Show , The Dinner Bell Program which aired at noon, Everybody's Hour conducted by the WLS Orchestra and Old Kitchen Kettle . Red Foley, Gene Autry - the singing cowboy, George Goebel, Pat Buttram (who went on to star in movies and as "Mr. Haney" on the TV show Green Acres) and many others appeared on WLS and the National Barn Dance . Martha Crane, Lois Schenck, Mary Wright and later Helen Joyce and June Merill offered tips and advice during Homemakers Hour , while the news of the day was handled by Julian Bentley, Ervin Lewis, Howard Black and a young reporter named Herb Morrison.

An early adoptee of remote broadcasts, WLS was proud of their use of new technology.

(L-R:) William Cline covering the 1933 World's fair; "the dean of livestock market reporters" Jim Poole; Dave Swanson of the Producers Livestock Marketing Association reports on the latest off the ticker.

Throughout the heyday of the Prairie Farmer, listeners were able to keep up with their favorite radio stars via several publications. The Prairie Farmer Company mind you, was in publishing! Listeners were treated to "Stand By!" magazine every other week, which featured interviews with the WLS stars, a gossip column called "Fanfare by Marjorie Gibson," a questions and answers section, as well as news of interest authored by Jack Holden and Check Stafford, cartoons and other features such as "Homemaker Tips and Recipes." It also contained a schedule of upcoming WLS programming. Then annually, WLS would release it's version of a yearbook called the " WLS Family Album ," which not only published pictures of the station's performers, but also featured portraits of station personnel and their families. Prairie Farmer owner/publisher Burridge Butler and Program Director Harold Safford went out of their way to portray WLS as being a part of the family! The conservative and no-nonsense Butler even crafted a station code of ethics, known as " The WLS Creed . "

Both men were awarded gold watches by Burridge Butler for their efforts in bringing back the story. Morrison left WLS in 1939 to join the Mutual Broadcasting System, while Nehlsen stayed well into the rock 'n roll era, retiring from WLS in the late 1960's.

Listeners in Chicago and across the country didn't hear Morrison's coverage of the disaster until the next day because his report wasn't broadcast live from Lakehurst. He and engineer Charles Nehlsen had been experimenting with field recordings on huge acetate discs. They realized the gravity of their recordings as they found themselves being followed by German SS Officers! After hiding out for a few hours, the two managed to make a clean getaway and get back across the country to WLS. The chilling account aired the next day on the station and was the first recorded radio news report to be broadcast nationally by NBC.

After Morrison recovered from the initial shock of the tragedy, he went on to calmly describe what he had witnessed. The Hindenburg explosion killed 35 of the 97 people on board and one person on the ground. A cause of the disaster was never discovered.

"It's crashing. It's crashing terrible. Oh, my...get out of the way, please. It's bursting into flames. And it's falling on the mooring mast. All the folks agree this is terrible, one of the worst catastrophes on the world. Oh, the flames, four or five hundred feet in the sky, it's a terrific crash ladies and gentlemen. The smoke and the flames now and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast. Oh, the humanity and all the passengers."

When the Hindenburg arrived at the Lakehurst Naval Station in New Jersey, it appeared to be just a routine story. The airship had already carried over a thousand passengers on ten round trips across the Atlantic. Morrison smoothly described the scene as the huge airship approached its mooring mast, then panic set in when the Hindenburg exploded.

History was made as the words Herb Morrison spoke May 6th, 1937, will forever be etched in broadcasting history. His anguish was felt coast to coast as the Hindenburg , a German airship filled with hydrogen, burst into flames before his eyes and was destroyed in a matter of seconds.

The National Barn Dance, featuring acts such as Patsy Montana, George Goebel, the Arkansas Woodchopper and Mac & Bob aired live from Chicago's Eighth Street Theatre from 1932 to 1957. (Click on the bottom picture for more on the National Barn Dance)