Help With a possible vintage mandoilin identification

[ViperSRT87]

Hello All,

A friend of mine recently passed this a long to me to see if I can identify it/determine a value. He said it may have been his grandfather's and dates back to the 1930s or 40s. (To the best of his knowledge at least.) It needs some tlc that is for sure and I am trying to determine if it is worth restoring. The funny thing is that there are no determinable markings or logos on the outside or inside the sound hole that indicates what brand it is. I am a guitarist but do not have any experience with mandolins. I know it is a long shot, but I was wondering if someone might be able to help in identifying this mandolin. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for any assistance!

[NickR]

It was probably made by Harmony in the early 1930s at the latest. It may have been branded as a Supertone- in other words a mail order sale from Sears Roebuck. Here is one- not a great photo but it appears to be the same:

https://www.banjohangout.org/photo/33204

[MikeEdgerton]

To answer the question of value, they are fairly common as they made them for decades albeit with small differences. It was an entry level mandolin. The question of value is that they don't sell for very much and if you can do the work yourself it might be worth restoring but if you're going to pay someone to do the work it will never be worth the cost financially.

[NickR]

Here is the 1923 Sears, Roebuck catalogue page. Your mandolin is at the top right hand corner.