Errors in the Crosley Book

CROSLEY: Two Brothers and a Business Empire that Transformed the Nation
Errata and Addenda, version 1

Special thanks to Clyde Haehnle and Paula Gold Frank for help in preparing this document.

• Powel's first call letters were 8CR (per Clyde Haehnle).
• By Powel Crosley, Jr.’s own accounts, he and Lewis built their electric-powered buckboard in 1898, not 1900.
• WLW’s Harrison transmitter (1928) was not the first remote-controlled transmitter ever; it was the first transmitter remotely located from the studio. Remote control of broadcast transmitters was not authorized until 1980.
• The Senate resolution that limited Standard Broadcast stations to 50,000 watts in 1938 was railroaded through the Senate by Senator Burton Wheeler of Montana, not Tennessee. This was done on behalf of his constituent, Ed Craney, who wanted to construct a new station in Montana on 700 khz. Craney founded KFDC in 1922, and went on to found the Z-Bar Network and build Montana’s first television station.
• Crosley's Florida mansion is located in Manatee County, not "Sarasota County." The property is also owned by Manatee County.
• James D. Shouse's partner was Robert E. Dunville, not John Dunville. (Probably the result of confusion between Dunville and John T. Murphy, later President of AVCO Broadcasting Corp.)
• The Federal Trade Commission investigation into the Xervac was the reason Powell chose to incorporate the Broadcasting Division separately from the Crosley Corporation.
• When AVCO acquired Crosley Stock in 1945, the broadcast company was a wholly owned subsidiary, and AVCO lawyers neglected to seek FCC approval of the transfer. This caused the creation of the “AVCO Rule,” which mandates prior FCC approval of any change of ownership.
• The Crosley Broadcasting Corp. name was retained for 20 years after the sale of Crosley’s broadcasting properties to AVCO. When the AVCO conglomerate moved into a new round of expansion in 1965, the company changed Crosley Broadcasting to AVCO Broadcasting
• The speed limit on Spring Grove Avenue past the cemetery where the Crosley family plot is located is 35 mph, not 50.
• Two of the principal engineers on the Proximity Fuze project were George "Fritz" Leydorf and E.J.H. Bussard. Leydorf also took part in the development of WLW’s 500,000-watt transmitter.

There are several more; they need to be double-checked before being added to the list.