The KWTO Dial (46 Issues of This Obscure Country Music Monthly)

Springfield, Missouri: KWTO: The Dial, 1951. Pictorial wrappers. Very Good +. A very impressive run of this post-War country music periodical, spanning March 1948 through December 1951. Consisting of 46 issues all told, the final 10 months of 1948 and the full runs of '49, '50 and '51. Issued monthly out of Springfield, Missouri and offering groundbreaking covereage of all things country music. With its sketches and photos of local as well as national radio personalities (such as Chet Atkins, the Carter Family and Porter Wagoner), The KWTO Dial also promoted the Ozarks and traditional hill music of the region. Missouri State University is the only US institution to hold the entirety of this publication and, as WorldCat demonstrates, deep runs such as this are truly uncommon. This collection has held up very nicely. All issues are clean and bright in their stapled, pictorial wrappers. Fragile and ephemeral to be sure, the magazines are nonetheless well-made and have held up nicely. A small number (6-8) of the covers have loosened to a degree but remain sturdy and tight. (From the colophon: "The Dial is published the first of every month and serves radio fans in more than 100 counties in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, as well as former Ozarkians in other states who are old friends of Radio Station KWTO."