Harmony/Shutt dating

[Stephen Lind]

i didn't see it and neither did my luthier (we're old)
but on close inspection, my very significant other Heather
who is a certified antique appraiser (she's also young),
found the blue ink serial number on my Harmony Shutt
it's very faint but appears to read 202393
it might be 202, 262, or 2C2

does this tell me a year?

[jeff mercer]

Stephen, I don't think the long sequence of numbers in old Harmony instruments is a dating tip. However, have your significant other take another close peek inside & see if she can make out a small circular stamp with a letter & 2 digits.
It should have either an F ( fall ) or an S ( summer ) followed by two numbers, which is the year i.e S 42- Summer of 1942, F 36- Fall of 1936 etc.
Of course there is no guarantee the stamp will be there, but it is in many old Harmony instruments.
*UPDATE*..I found it, Stephen. Your Mandolin appears on " A Page of Artistic Supertone Instruments " in the 1914 Sears catalogue, so it's quite a bit earlier than I realized ! The :cool:-est thing of all is it was referred to as a "Mando-Violino" ! It seems there were 4 different models to choose from, 2 natural & 2 sunburst, with different woods used in the construction, and a budget model & a more expensive version.
If I can get my hands on a magnifying glass, I can give you more details if you're interested ?
Anyways, hope this helps..cool Mandolin !

[Stephen Lind]

Stephen, I don't think the long sequence of numbers in old Harmony instruments is a dating tip. However, have your significant other take another close peek inside & see if she can make out a small circular stamp with a letter & 2 digits.
It should have either an F ( fall ) or an S ( summer ) followed by two numbers, which is the year i.e S 42- Summer of 1942, F 36- Fall of 1936 etc.
Of course there is no guarantee the stamp will be there, but it is in many old Harmony instruments.
*UPDATE*..I found it, Stephen. Your Mandolin appears on " A Page of Artistic Supertone Instruments " in the 1914 Sears catalogue, so it's quite a bit earlier than I realized ! The :cool:-est thing of all is it was referred to as a "Mando-Violino" ! It seems there were 4 different models to choose from, 2 natural & 2 sunburst, with different woods used in the construction, and a budget model & a more expensive version.
If I can get my hands on a magnifying glass, I can give you more details if you're interested ?
Anyways, hope this helps..cool Mandolin !

Thanks very much jeff
any info would be appreciated

i'm really thrilled with how well it ended up
playing and sounding:mandosmiley:

[jeff mercer]

Hi, Stephen, apologies, things have been busy. First off, I'm sure you'll rest easy knowing the Supertone flyer assures you your instrument was intened to be "Played like a Mandolin" ( as opposed to What, I wonder ? :) ), and furthermore, was "Preferred by many Artists to the Gourd-shaped or Neapolitan style". I can make out your Mando has "quarter-sawn Sycamore back & sides", which is interesting in itself, as the cheaper natural-topped one has " genuine Mahogany back & sides", so it seems whoever actually built them considered Sycamore a superior tonewood to Mahogany ?
Your Mando-Violino also has a top of "seasoned Spruce" , an Ebony fingerboard, and a "neck & head" of Mahogany..all in all, a sweet little mando, no?
As I said, there were two different Sunburst models..the cheaper one ( $19.45- a LOT of money in 1914, I'd assume !) had no fingerboard or back binding, the more expensive one ($24.95 !!) added those features, but all the woods were the same..Oh, & a top of the line case would set you back $5.95, or you could just get the 95c one if you did'nt intend to travel :mandosmiley:
Anyways, Stephen, hope this info is of some help, and I, like you, "dips me lid" to Allen for making us aware of it in the first place.
Nice one, Allen.

[allenhopkins]

I, like you, "dips me lid" to Allen for making us aware of it in the first place.
Nice one, Allen.

I'se blushing. You're welcome.

[Stephen Lind]

wow Jeff that is :cool:
this little sweetheart is just sounding better and better the more it's played
i wonder how many years it sat unplayed?

last night i used the neck wear on the back to help demonstrate how to hold the mandolin to a student:)

Thanks again to both of you!

[mando andy]

Sycamore---in Europe (especially England) , they refer to maple as sycamore--it is actually of the Acer genus.

Andy

[jeff mercer]

Hi, Stephen
Funny how this happens..while looking for some info on an old Harmony ukulele I just picked up for a little bit of nothing, I came across another old Sears catalogue, this one from 1941/42.
Your Mandolin is still in the line, but interestingly, its now listed under "Economy Mandolins", & has been re-named a "Playtime". The price has actually FALLEN to $9.45, which included a pick & an Instructional book :)
Validating what Andy says above, its now advertised with "Maple back & sides".
So there you go..its either a "Supertone Mando-Violino", or a "Supertone Playtime", depending on what era it was built, and which catalogue you're looking at !
Glad to hear you're enjoying it so much ! Cheers,
Jeff

[jeff mercer]

Just saw an identical one sell on eBay for a little over $460, so you got quite the bargain in comparison ! The pictures are still up..item 170279634247..

[Stephen Lind]

Thanks for all the 411 Jeff
interesting that mine's 202 393 and the other one's 020 393
:mandosmiley: