A story about a purported on-air mistake by Harry von Zell has been shared for many years. The alleged incident involved von Zell introducing President Herbert Hoover, but supposedly mispronouncing his name as "Mr. Hoobert Heever". This story has been considered one of the funniest mistakes in radio history.

The incident was said to have occurred in 1931 when von Zell was a young CBS announcer. Von Zell himself played along with the story for many years before eventually setting the record straight.

Further details about the incident and von Zell's clarification are available from the source.