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that direction. He was interested enough so that he did go to Philco with me and he did go to Dumont. Where else did we go? We looked around. Then we bought a totally, just totally shabby operation. I'm ashamed of the fact that I was a participant to it. When he saw that it didn't work, he certainly didn't try to pour good money after bad. We got out of it. That was the end.
You say that he blamed you for this. How exactly do you mean? For the television venture? Or for Hytron?
I think in his book, I think I remember something to the effect that this was my fault. He's right. The idea was mine. Hytron was the last place I would have gone. But I went. I think he was a little ashamed of the group when Bill and Dave Sarnoff and I had lunch together one day. It was probably illegal. He and I both had our offices in the St. Regis at that period, because we were redoing the executive office floor. Sarnoff made some aside about the quality of our little plant up in New England. He just sort of brushed it off like this. I could see Bill wince. He knew that wasn't in the league that he wanted to be in. He said if Dave would help us, wouldn't he rather have us as a good competitor than having somebody that wouldn't do a quality job. How could he help us be a little stronger? Not strong enough that we would threaten him. There was a lot to what Bill was saying that I'm sure Sarnoff sensed. If anybody had tried to make anything of it from an anti-trust point of view -- It was in jest. If Sarnoff had said, “Bill, look. I'll put you in the business and I'll show you how to do it right,” I don't think Bill would have done it, because the price tag would have been staggering. But I think if the price tag hadn't been staggering, Bill would have jumped because I think he knew that he'd made a mistake in getting in bed with the Coffin brothers [Bruce and Lloyd]. This was just so degrading. It was just awful. They
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