Vintage Pick Holder on Teens Martin Mandolin

[BradKlein]

HERE (https://www.ebay.com/itm/1918-Martin-A-Style-Mandolin/253760443186?hash=item3b154d1332%3Ag%3Amh0AAOSwuyN bIYTR&LH_SiteWideCondition=Used285fdd&_fln=1&_sop=10&_nkw=mandolin+-new&_catref=1&LH_ItemCondition=3000%7C7000%7C10&_ssov=1&rt=nc&_ipg=&autorefresh=true) is what seems to be a 1918 Martin A mandolin with what the seller describes as a vintage 'pick holder'. I was skeptical at first, but in fact, that's just what it seems to be. And patented too!

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[Ryk Loske]

What a simple and clever idea. Somebody with a modicum of metal work skill might be able to make a buck or two recreating those.

Ryk

[MikeEdgerton]

That pick holder has actually been posted here before. I don't have the time to search it out right now. It might have been on the same instrument, I can't remember that part. I have a pick holder (not like that) that was built into the armrest of a Silvertone Tenor banjo I have. I thought the arm rest was defective :)

[MikeEdgerton]

It was easier to find than I thought. Here's (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?106404-Need-help-identifying-pricing-this-mandolin) one on an old Gibson.

[MikeEdgerton]

And the patent is here (https://patents.google.com/patent/US749616?oq=pick+holder).

[BradKlein]

Well done, Mike! Since the patent dates to 1904, we have no record of the furious social media exchanges, for and against adding a heart-shaped pick holder to your headstock! ;-)

[MikeEdgerton]

As my former spouse used to say "If it's a fight you want it's a fight you've got!" :cool:

I actually think they are quite quaint. It wouldn't be too hard for a person with the right press to start making them. I'm not sure I'd jam a Blue Chip pick into one though.

[BradKlein]

I'm still hoping that the Blue Chip that I lost, then found, then lost again, will reappear someday. I had to pull out the oven the other day, and found a long missing serving spoon and pot holder - so I sifted carefully through the grimy dust hoping for that pick! maybe I should check under the refrigerator...

[Jeff Mando]

What a simple and clever idea. Somebody with a modicum of metal work skill might be able to make a buck or two recreating those.

Ryk

I don't think anybody would screw one of those into their boutique mandolin, IMHO! 100 years ago we lived in a more function-based society. I was thinking during the ham radio craze, how people would bolt those gigantic ugly whip antennas to the side of their new car with no thought of how it looked -- they just wanted the range.....

[allenhopkins]

I'd put one on my Strad-O-Lin in .25 second.