James Frederick Patterson of Melvindale with his 100-year-old radio, during the city’s 100th year.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Not many people can claim to have a sound system as old as their city, but James Frederick Patterson can make that claim with his 1924 Day-Fan radio.
The radio, the first made of Bakelite in a pre-plastic era, reached the century mark this year along with the city of Melvindale.
In 1929 or 1930, Day-Fan was purchased by General Motors and became part of the Delco brand.
Patterson’s wife, singer Kate Patterson, said her husband repaired the radio himself, scrounging for batteries and searching for tubes from the era, as well as a big horn through which the sound can emanate.
Not only does our town have a 1924 vintage, but so does this working radio,” she said. “It’s probably one of the few in the country.”
James Patterson is an amateur radio operator, and holds the highest license available to ham radio operators.
“We even talk to the space shuttle as it goes overhead,” Kate Patterson said.