Radio: 8-Ball

NBC’s Vice President and Chief Engineer Oscar Byron Hanson appeared last month before the FCC monopoly investigators, read a 91-page statement. In his lapel he wore a black spherical button marked with the number 8 in white. When he left the stand, he gave the button to the next witness, who pinned it to his lapel, passed it on to his successor. Last week, when the hearings recessed, the button returned to Manhattan. Last man to wear it on the stand was NBC’s Vice President William S. Hedges. When it appeared in his lapel, FCCuriosity boiled over. Commissioner Paul Atlee Walker asked if it was a short-wave transmitter.

Witness Hedges gave him a good look at the button. But he did not explain that it is the badge of the 8-Ball Club, organized years ago “by a group of the dog-house boys for their mutual protection against the pitfalls in life.” Members include NBC-RCA engineers, salesmen, sales managers—people who consider themselves most frequently behind the 8-ball.