old mandolin

[jhs48]

Here are some pictures of a mandolin I am trying to identify,inside is a parcile sticker with the #f13410,an S sourounded by fern branches,and a white circle with f32 in the middle.The fret board is celoid covered,and 17frets. http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp30/jhs48/

[Jim Garber]

I do not see any picture.

[jhs48]

check post again

[allenhopkins]

Guessing -- inexpensive American-made from '20's-'30's. Celluloid fingerboards were popular for a short period. Also, the surface decals were found on a bunch of Chicago-made guitars and mandolins (Washburn, Stromberg-Voisenet, Kay Kraft etc.) from the late 'teens up to the Depression.

I'm sure other Cafe experts can do better than I can. The label doesn't ring a bell with me; the "S" might be associated with a number of manufacturers.

[MikeEdgerton]

It was made by Regal in Chicago c 1930.

[MikeEdgerton]

And a picture for posterity

[Jim Garber]

It was made by Regal in Chicago c 1930.

I dunno, Mike. There was such incestuous relationships with those big Chicago companies but most of the headstocks I see in my catalogs for Regals were more the American Conservatory style with the concave top as opposed to what we see here (convex and wider headstock). I see similar ones with Harmony on the headstock.

I don't have any catalog cuts with those fern leave decals but I have a very similar instrument in this #4006 "Buckeye" Special from a 1935 Grossman catalog. I like the MOTS fretboard as described as "silver-like crystalline".

Still not sure what the S and the ferns on the label means. Probably yet another store relabelling mandolins from a wholesaler.

[MikeEdgerton]

I had one just like it labeled Regal, down to the gold fronds, minus the MOT fretboard. I'll go with Regal. The label was probably put there by a retailer or a teacher. It was after all made for the trade.

[jhs48]

[QUOTE=jgarber;582541]I dunno, Mike. There was such incestuous relationships with those big Chicago companies but most of the headstocks I see in my catalogs for Regals were more the American Conservatory style with the concave top as opposed to what we see here (convex and wider headstock). I see similar ones with Harmony on the headstock.

I don't have any catalog cuts with those fern leave decals but I have a very similar instrument in this #4006 "Buckeye" Special from a 1935 Grossman catalog. I like the MOTS fretboard as described as "silver-like crystalline".

Still not sure what the S and the ferns on the label means. Probably yet another store relabelling mandolins from a wholesaler.

[jhs48]

I have been searching alot on the internet,and I keep reading about some mandolins made by Harmony and several other makers , that when sold through Sears catalog the dating system for instruments could be like in this case F-for fall and 32 for the year .What is your take on this?

James

[Jim Garber]

Mike:
Did yours have the same headstock? I agree is can certainly be Regal. Oc course, we can never be 100% sure, catalogs or not.

I think that Sears would have used the Supertone brand in the 1930s -- I am not sure if that S label referred to that.

[MikeEdgerton]

The Harmony date code would hae been stamped inside with an ink stamp. The numbers were like S-34, F-53, etc. S would be summer, F would be fall. The code would then be Summer of 1934, Fall of 1953. It wouldn't have been on a paper label, it was stamped right on the wood.

Harmony was owned by Sears for a number of years but the company did manufacture for Sears before they were owned by Sears and after Sears sold them. The earlier Sears instruments didn't have brand name labels. Most of the early 1900's guitars I've seen were identified by the catalog number written in pencil on the top brace. Later they did adopt the Supertone brand (around the time this would have been built). The Silvertone brand came decades later.

Jim, Regal made so many headstock shapes that point wouldn't bother me. Unless it was a Kay headstock shape that was instantly recognizeable as a Kay. The body and the decor were the same.

I do agree that they cross sold to each other, bought from the same suppliers, etc. but I'm going to assume that if the body shape and the gold fronds are the same that they would be the same. You're right, though, even with catalog pictures and labels I guess it could have been sold to one of the other Chicago builders. There's an obvious Kaycraft mandolin someplace on one of the Harmony sites labeled Harmony. It probably depended on who had what in what phase of being finished when the orders came in.