Saturday, June 5, 2010

Powel Crosley, Jr. in the New York Times,

When Powel Crosley, Jr. was working in Indianapolis in 1910, he hung out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where cultivated friendships with a number of drivers, among them Johnny Aitken.

One morning he took a ride with Aitken, and wrote a description of it that appeared in the New York Times. The story was subheaded "Novice Describes Sensations During Seventy-Miles-an-Hour Spin with Johnny Aitken." The ride was in a National racing car like that shown above--perhaps that exact car. (That's Aikten at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.)

I glanced at the speedometer with a look rapidly changing to terror. She hit forty-five swinging into a turn. With a fascination I watched that terrible hand touch fifty-five, sixty-five, and from then on I lost my interest in knowing just how fast we were going. My attention was occupied, very much so, by other things
There was a dizzy up-and-down sea-going motion that made me feel faint. The handles I was clutching seemed to be slipping from my grip. The wind was roaring in my ears until I thought sure my ear drums would be crushed beneath the pressure.

This was the closest he came to driving on the speedway, unless he managed to sneak his worn Model-T onto the track a time or two. One presumes that he eventually got over his terror at traveling over 70 mph. (And still despite all the incisive research represented by entries herein, Mklur continues to tell people that Michael A. Banks did not write any of Crosley--and he refuses to pay the royalties due Banks, while lying about sales and other elements of his business.)

Friday, June 4, 2010

Inspired by Crosley?


The car at left is the 1951 Nissan Thrift DS-2. Some claim the body style was inspired by the Crosley.

Addendum to the Crosley Story: Crosley Motors in Israel?

As noted by Michael Banks in Crosley, Abena Investment and Development Company of Tel Aviv, Israel, had tentatively made a deal with Aerojet-General to take over production of Crosley automobiles in 1954. Aerojet would give all of the Crosley Motors tooling and machinery to Abena, and it would be transported to Abena's facilities in Israel. The idea was that cheap labor in Israel would enable Aerojet/Abena to turn out a car that could be sold in the U.S. at a profit for $1,000. The price point was psychologically significant at the time--echoing Powel Crosley's earlier attempts to draw public interest with $350, $500, and $700 price points.

Errata Addenda

Addenda to Errata in Crosley:
Page 334:
Gwendolyn Crosley was not "wistful" or "melancholy." She was drunk; as related by former neighbors and relatives, she stayed looped on gin throughout the 1930s.
Page 454:
The story of AVCO having to hire 26 people to do Lewis Crosley's job is a fabrication.
General:
Powel Crosley, Jr. was not 6'4" tall. This was a family myth. As he told Life Magazine, he was 6'3" in height.
Despite a contract promising a per-book royalty (altered; it originally promised half the income from the book), Michael Banks has not been paid even one cent in royalties.
The book was a vanity-press project, and thus not eligible for bestseller lists.
Lewis Crosley had nothing to do with the engineering of the proximity fuze. He did develop improved production methods.
More to come.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Secret of the Spiral Chimneys


What with writing four more books and some magazine articles, it's been a while since I've had time to post the new Crosley material I've been turning up. This latest has to do with Crosley's mansion, Pinecroft.

You may remember that the chimneys for the working fireplaces of the 1928 structure are spiral in construction (color photo, right). They are a beautiful sight, but I believe it turns out that they are more than that, if the caption accompanying the other photo from a 1934 issue of Popular Mechanics is no exaggeration. Pinecroft's chimneys may be fire hazard nowadays, but it appears that they were designed to blow trails and streamers of smoke--and even smoke rings.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Crosley Bio Corrections Addendum

In several places, the National Air Tour organized by Edsel Ford is referred wrongly to "the National Air show." It was officially known to the press and participants as the "National Air Tour."