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Powel Crosley, Crosley Broadcasting, the Crosley automobile, and WLW are subjects that have been neglected by historians and popular culture writers for far too long. That omission has been corrected with this biography.
This volume is a true biography of both Powel and Lewis Crosley, and of their business empire. the authors show how Crosley introduced the first affordable radios to the world in 1921, thereby laying the foundation for the broadcast industry, and how he established station WLW to help sell radios (AND kept increasing power so he could build radios cheaper)
At the same time, the reader learns what kind of men the Crosleys were: Powel, a creative genius with a short temper and an attention span to match, and Lewis, a plodding, stolid engineer and just the man to harness Powel's creativity and bring it to market.
Readers will find out what it was like to own the number one brand name of the Roaring Twenties, and why Powel Crosley's ego demanded more of everything, more cars, more yachts, more airplanes, and more businesses. The chronicle of how he saved the Cincinnati Reds is in this book, too, along with the story of WLW, once the world's most powerful station at a half-million watts (no station has used that much power before or since). The WLW story includes famous singers the station introduced to the world, like Rosemary Clooney and Doris Day, innovations that the station brought to broadacsting (including participation in the first-ever network), WLW's role in World War II propaganda, and much more (cliched but true).
To go on much further would be an attempt to sum up the Crosley story in a review--something that cannot be done. Read the book and learn about the early days of broadcasting, and who really got things started; find out the real story behind the rise and fall of the Crosley automobile; experience the almost unbelievable tragedies that life handed Crosley; read about the top-secret proximity fuze Crosley produced to help win World War II; and more.
Highly recommended for historians, people who like to read biographies, baseball fans, classic car buffs, aviation buffs (Crosley built airplanes!), those who enjoy regional history, and just about anyone interested in industry, design, broadcasting, or the economy in the 20th Century.
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Crosley: Two Brothers and a Business Empire That Transformed the Nation by David Stern and Michael A. Banks and Rusty McClure
DSMorner, December 8, 2006
Powel Crosley, Crosley Broadcasting, the Crosley automobile, and WLW are subjects that have been neglected by historians and popular culture writers for far too long. That omission has been corrected with this biography.This volume is a true biography of both Powel and Lewis Crosley, and of their business empire. the authors show how Crosley introduced the first affordable radios to the world in 1921, thereby laying the foundation for the broadcast industry, and how he established station WLW to help sell radios (AND kept increasing power so he could build radios cheaper)
At the same time, the reader learns what kind of men the Crosleys were: Powel, a creative genius with a short temper and an attention span to match, and Lewis, a plodding, stolid engineer and just the man to harness Powel's creativity and bring it to market.
Readers will find out what it was like to own the number one brand name of the Roaring Twenties, and why Powel Crosley's ego demanded more of everything, more cars, more yachts, more airplanes, and more businesses. The chronicle of how he saved the Cincinnati Reds is in this book, too, along with the story of WLW, once the world's most powerful station at a half-million watts (no station has used that much power before or since). The WLW story includes famous singers the station introduced to the world, like Rosemary Clooney and Doris Day, innovations that the station brought to broadacsting (including participation in the first-ever network), WLW's role in World War II propaganda, and much more (cliched but true).
To go on much further would be an attempt to sum up the Crosley story in a review--something that cannot be done. Read the book and learn about the early days of broadcasting, and who really got things started; find out the real story behind the rise and fall of the Crosley automobile; experience the almost unbelievable tragedies that life handed Crosley; read about the top-secret proximity fuze Crosley produced to help win World War II; and more.
Highly recommended for historians, people who like to read biographies, baseball fans, classic car buffs, aviation buffs (Crosley built airplanes!), those who enjoy regional history, and just about anyone interested in industry, design, broadcasting, or the economy in the 20th Century.
(7 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)