First came part 15 AM, then came part 15

[tybee]

You know it's kind of interesting.. The very first part 15 devices ever sold were AM transmitters (phono-occilators), they came on the market sometime around November of1938.. about a month before part 15 was created.

So technically they were illegal. The Part 15 rules allowing for intentional broadcasting were literally created to accommodate the legal use of those tinytransmitters, as well as for the upcoming Philco remote control - which went on the market slmost immediate after Part 15 was inacted, as did also electric garage door openers.

But the original part 15 device was LPAM,

Part 15 in general is a multi-billion dollar industry today (I think 90 billion has been quoted). If it hadn't of been for a little 1938 AM transmitter with a range hardly capable of crossing the room over 80 years ago, we might not have things like wifi, cellphones, remote controls and what have you today.

I still haven't pinpointed exactly who was manufacturing phono-occilators in 1938, but they were on the market.

[tybee]

After an inquiry at https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=419324&p=3583238#p3583238
I've come to realize phono-occilators had actually been around for years, at least since 1935, yet despite it being illegal they wer not causing a problem so evidently the FCC just looked the other way while they were manufactured and sold.