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Thread: Orville's mandolin

  1. #1

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    I was just in D.C. with my Dad for a reunion of his South Pacific fighter squadron from WWII so I got to hear stories from guys that strapped P-39's, 47's and 51's to their butts. Absolutely ordinary folks put into an extraordinary situation. Many of these guys and their wives are in very good health and just great folks to be around.
    We took a bus trip to the Air and Space Museum and in the room dedicated to the Wright brother's, I came upon the display of Orville's mandolin.
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  2. #2
    Registered User Ken Berner's Avatar
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    Jim, It seems as though Mr. Wright was flying high with this joy stick! Nice mandolin, for sure.

  3. #3

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    This old guy made the rounds at the Cafe some years ago. #It looks to be a pre-1904 Washburn by Chicago's Lyon & Healy Co. #It also looks like he didn't manage to play it much after taking up the airplane-making business.




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    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Perhaps the light frame, delicate strings, aerodynamic bowl, and elegance served as an inspiration? The mandolin as a muse for flight? Crazier things have been postulated before...

    Jamie
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

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    Registered User Ken Berner's Avatar
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    Jamie, I think our modern-day bike racers stole the bowl, enlarged the sound hole, removed the neck and used it for a helmet!

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    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Ken,
    Some of them left part of the neck on!


    Jamie
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

    + Give Blood, Save a Life +

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    That's a Style 122 Washburn from around 1900...

    In the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio in Oak Park, IL, I noticed a Washburn bowlback too. Wrote to the curator about it - she said that it was a gift by someone, and never owned by FLW or his family.

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