Established by Henry Kay Kurhmeyer in Chicago in 1931, Kay initially manufactured only traditional folk instruments and later developed a line of mid-range guitars. In addition to their own brand, Kay also manufactured a series of house branded guitars made specifically for various department stores: Silvertone and Supertone for Sears, Sherwood and Airline for Montgomery Wards, Old Kraftsman for Spiegel, Custom Craft for St. Louis Music, Truetone for Western Auto, Penncrest for JC Penney, Barclay for Unity Buying Service, Orpheum for the Wards catalog and Suprema for Eaton’s Canada. Kay also produced a line of archtop acoustic guitars called Kamico.
Notable players include Jimmy Reed, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Jack White, T Bone Burnett, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan and Sarah McLachlan.
