My buddy Dan collects radio station stickers and sent along a scan of this vintage beauty. KANA is an Oldies station from ANAconda, Montana. Feel free to accidentally send this sticker to me in the mail, Dan.Besides being the slogan for KANA many years ago, the "First Lady of Radio" was also the nickname of an almost forgotten singer named Vaughn De Leath.
In 1920 De Leath was brought to New York City by radio pioneer Lee DeForest where she performed Swanee River. Some consider this the first live singing broadcast in history. She was told that the high notes in her soprano voice might shatter the fragile vacuum tubes in her mics amplifier so De Leath changed her singing style and in doing so invented "crooning" which became the dominant pop vocal style of the next 30 years. She later became an executive at radio station WDT-AM in New York City. De Leath also ended up suing singer Kate Smith for using the "First Lady of Radio" designation.
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