The Esquire was the original name for what is now called the Telecaster. It was the first solid body electric guitar made and was built in 1949. The name was changed from Esquire to Broadcaster in 1950 which was when the guitar actually went into production. At the time many other Guitar Manufacturers actually called the guitar a Canoe Paddle or snow shovel. Today Fender still makes the Esquire and the Nocaster (Broadcaster with the 'Broad' scratched off read below) as reissue guitars.

The early test versions of the guitar used headstocks from Fenders lap steel guitars which has 3 tuners on each side. The production version had a new headstock that featured all six tuners on one side of the neck. This allowed the strings to align themselves in a straight line. Remember this guitar was made before the Stratocaster - in 1949. That year 11 Communists found guilty of conspiracy to overthrow government, USSR tests its first atomic bomb and Miles Davis came out with 'The Birth of the Cool'.