1. “The Raggedy Man,” by James Whitcomb Riley, a children’s poem about a handyman.
2. Interview with Chuck Peterson.
3. Buffett tells the story, which Charlie Heider recalls and found unforgettable. Parsow doesn’t recall it.
4. Both Byer-Rolnick and Oxxford were acquired by Koret in 1967.
5. Interview with Sol Parsow.
6. Gottesman worked for Corvine and Company, which, he says, was going out of business. He founded his own firm, First Manhattan Co., in 1964.
7. DRC Offering documents for 8% debentures, December 18, 1967.
8. He gave them the money anyway, and partnered with National City to provide $9 million in short-term financing for the deal. Diversified Retailing Company, Inc., Prospectus, December 18, 1967. According to Gottesman and Moody’s Bank & Finance Manual, Martin Kohn was on the board of Maryland National Bank.
9. Charles T. Munger testimony, In the Matter of Blue Chip Stamps, Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated, HQ-784. Thursday, March 20, 1975, page 187.
10. Interview with Charlie Munger. The company was purchased in April 1967.
11. Diversified Retailing Company, Inc., Prospectus, December 18, 1967.
12. Buffett says Rosner told him he got Aye Simon’s consent to sell the business by saying something along the following lines: “And to hell with you. If you’re going to second-guess it, you come down and run the store.” The relationship was irretrievably broken.