WLW Radio 1938 Mobile News Units

WLW was big on mobile news coverage coverage in the 1930s. The station equipped large automobiles with transmitters, and reporters went out to cover breaking news in the region. Two units are shown here--one a newsman interviewing champion Indy driver Louis Meyers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway early in 1938, the other supporting an interview with Eastern Kentucky coal miners. Lettered on the side are "WLW-WSAI, Cincinnati, Mobile Unit No. x." This appears to be a Buick Series 40 trunkback sedan.

This was not new in the 1930s. I have a photo of an early 1920s mobile rig that I'll post at another time. I also have some fascinating images of the outside and inside of WLW-TV's first mobile unit, a 1948 bus.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com/

Former Crosley Broadcasting Properties on the Web

Here's a quick tour of former Crosley Broadcasting Corporation properties now on the Web:
WLW AM http://www.700wlw.com/
WLWA FM, now WIZF: http://www.wizfm.com/
WLW TV, Cincinnati: http://www.wlwt.com/
WLWC TV, Columbus (now WCMH): http://www.nbc4i.com/
WLWD TV, Dayton (now WDTN): http://www.wdtn.com/
WLWI TV, Indianapolis (now WTHR): http://www.wthr.com/
WKRC AM (originally owned by Crosley as WMH): http://www.55krc.com/
WSAI AM: http://www.1360espn.com/

The Dayton, Columbus, and Indianapolis TV stations, together with WLW-T, made up the Crosley network. All were NBC afilliates, and carried some of the same homegrown programs, most notably Ruth Lyons' 50/50 Club. The 50/50 Club audio was simulcast on WLW radio. Crosley Broadcasting also operated WLWA FM in Cincinnati, WLWD FM in Dayton, WLW-A TV in Atlanta, and several other radio and television stations that were acquired by AVCO after it bought the Crosley broadcast properties.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com/

Recommended Reading: Radio History Post-Crosley

If you've finished reading CROSLEY and want to know where radio went after Powel Crosley, Jr. dropped out, I recommend a new book titled Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution that Shaped a Generation, by Marc Fisher. It's a chronicle of the evolution of radio broadcasting and programming after World War II. Learn how the "Top 40" concept originated, where radio went from there, how radical FM programming led to radical AM programming and angry white men taking over talk radio--pretty much everything that's happened and who's responsible. And all the angles are covered: social, political, corporate, financial, cultural, ethical, and legal.

Of course, literally everything and everyone could not be included in one book, but every aspect of the radio evolution is covered. Lots of fascinating people and anecdotes, too. The intro to Rush Limbaugh's story will surprise many readers, and the tale of Jean Shepherd's I, Libertine book hoax on WOR (aided and abetted by Ian Ballantine and Theodore Sturgeon) is worth the price of the book on its own. If you want a fascinating page-turner, Something in the Air is it.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com/

Crosley Censors Labor News

Back in 1935, Norman Corwin was having trouble finding a job in New York City, just like a lot of people. So it was that he answered an ad trolling for radio talent and writers on behalf of WLW in Cincinnati. Amazingly, in the middle of such hard times, Crosley Broadcasting was hiring! This was largely because WLW's 500,000-watt transmitter had sparked a tremendous growth surge. Too, there was always a bit of a turnover, helped along by WLW's low pay scale.

But it was a job, and rail transportation from New York to Cincinnati was free, with return fare guaranteed if things didn’t work out. So Corwin interviewed for a job as a writer and was hired.

The low pay wasn’t enough to deter Corwin, but almost immediately he was finding fault with the working conditions. His office overlooked a factory (Gee, Norm, what did you expect—a wilderness view? Not near the Crosley factory—nor in midtown Manhattan.) It was too hot (put up some curtains and get a fan). And the studios were too cold (put on a coat). This probably motivated him to argue with management over a directive he didn’t like: a memo advising employees that strikes were not to be mentioned on the radio news. The original memo is shown above, the bottom of the two, dated May 20, 1935. You can see a larger, readable image by clicking on it, but it says, "No reference to strikes is to be made on any news bulletin broadcast over our stations" (referring to WLW and WSAI).

Corwin asked for clarification (though he was not in a position where he’d be saying anything into a microphone), and received the reply shown above on May 31. This memo reads, "Our news broadcasts, which you have already been told, and which has been our practice for some time, will not include mention of any strikes. This includes students' strikes and school walk-outs."

Not long after that he was let go. His boss told him that WLW was doing away with the news department. Naive, Corwin believed this. Until, that is, he got back to New York and showed a friend the memos. His friend set him straight, and Corwin eventually took the memo to attorney Mina Kassner at the Civil Liberties Union, who gave them to The Nation magazine. I think he did this in part on the advice of his friend, and in part because he was embarrassed to have been taken in.

The revelation of the memos generated some heat for Crosley Broadcasting, and thereafter news of strikes no longer completely banned from WLW and WSAI. Neither Powel nor Lewis Crosley signed the memos (that was left to a Mr. Ries), but the Crosleys were responsible for the ban; the corporate culture was based on the Crosleys’ beliefs and practices.. The Crosley Corporation had already had its fill of strikes (but would see more), and it’s a cinch that they figured it would be better if the radio didn’t put ideas in workers’ heads.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com/
Copyright © 2007, Michael A. Banks

Powel Crosley's Airline

Powel Crosley, Jr. and Junky Fleischmann (aka Julius Fleischmann, Jr., of the yeast and whiskey family) were members of the same Cincinnati polo team, headquartered in the rural area northeast of the city, known as Indian Hill. They played regularly in the mid-1920s, and Powel kept his horses at Junky's Camargo stables, conveniently adjacent to the polo field and Junky's new country estate. They got to know one another well enough to decide to get involved in a couple of businesses.

First was the Metal Aircraft Company. Powel and Junky each put up more than $100,000 to become vice-presidents of the company, which would manufacture the "Flamingo" series of all-metal aircraft. (The designer was a veteran of Stout, the company that created the Ford Tri-Motor.) They set up a factory at Lunken Airport (same place as Aeronca) and started taking orders. Perhaps the orders weren't coming in quickly enough, or the guys were just really into aviation (Powel already had an airport to the north, where he was designing and building airplanes), but they decided to create a market for the Flamingo. They started an airline.

Specifically, it was the Mason & Dixon Air Lines (two words, with an ess at the end). The airline was incorporated on June 19, 1929, and soon began daily service to Detroit, and was all set to expand into the Southeast and create an aviation network into South America. In support of this, they bought an aircraft service company and a large field near Dayton.

But in October, 1929--just days before the stock market crash, they sold the whole enterprise--airline, airplane factory, everything. Did they have some sense of the coming disaster? It's difficult to say. Fleischmann went off with his family to sail around the world on his yacht, the Camargo, and Powel went back to broadcasting, radio manufacturing, and refigeration. He remained an aviation enthusiast and continued his work on Moonbeams, but it wasn't long before that enterpise faded away. Powel operated private aircraft up through the early 1950s, and was an early investor in Pan Am and later a major stockholder in TWA, but never again did he get into aircraft as a business. Through a series of merges, the company that bought the Mason & Dixon Air Lines went on to become American Airlines.

(For more info on Mason & Dixon, Crosley aircraft, Lunken Airport, and Aeronca. check out the Aerofiles Web site.)

--Mike

http://www.michaelabanks.com/

Copyright 2007, Michael A. Banks

What a Difference a Decade Makes!

A decade makes a world of difference, as illustrated by these two covers of Crosley publications, ten years apart. On the left is The Crosley Broadcaster for December 15, 1935. Peace on Earth. On the right is the Crosley employee newspaper for December 1945. I was inspired by all the recent focus on WWII this month, what with the release of Ken Burns' "The War" and PBS stations telling local war stories.

Floyd Clymer and Powel Crosley

If the name "Clymer" rings a bell, it's likely you recognize it from the Clymer series of repair manuals for automobiles. But Floyd Clymer has an interesting history that predates the Clymer manuals. He was a new car dealer when he was 11 years old (in 1903), a successful motorcycle racer (for the Harley factory team in 1920), an automotive journalist, pilot, book and magazine publisher, and more.

Clymer seemed to have an affinity for Crosley automotive products. He first gave Crosley automotive ink back in 1911 when Crosley built the De Cross cycle car. Clymer wrote it up in a now-unknown publication, and included its specs in a list of cycle cars in his famous book Early American Automobiles, published in 1955. Clymer also covered the Crosley car in other publications, including his 8-book "Motor Scrapbook" series. One of the volumes in that series features a 1916 display ad for Crosley's "Insyde Tyres" product.
--Mike
http://www.michaelabanks.com/
Copyright © 2007, Michael A. Banks