Like today's Wal-Mart and Target, the department store had become the primary low cost outlet for the common household consumer of the 1930's. When families wished to purchase items beyond the basic necessities such as food, they turned to respected, nationally known retail houses such as J. C. Penney, Montgomery Wards, Western Auto, and of course, Sears. And then, just as now, the department store offered a wide range of items like clothes, appliances, housewares, and electronics, that were manufactured by in dependant firms, and then branded and sold under their own logo. In this case, the Silvertone line was Sears and Roebuck's house brand for radios and phonographs.
