The video was made from archive footage filmed by the Ford Motor Company around 1917, for a film titled "The Making of a Ukulele". Around that time, Ford made many educational films showing scenes from the U.S. and abroad, and this was one example.

Featured in the movie is an unidentified ukulele maker, quite possibly an employee of Manuel Nunes. Nunes himself makes a brief appearance, as does an ukulele player who is also not identified in the film.

Some things to note:

  • 1:30 mark, the builder adds a curved brace to the inside back of the uke.  He then places the back wood over top an secures the entire thing down with either rubber or leather strapping.
  • The 2:30 mark gives a quick glimpse of the builder adding frets.

The ukulele player at the very end may be Henry Kailimai. Kailimai was a talented ukulele player and music composer, his best known composition being "On the Beach at Waikiki". Kailimai's Hawaiian Quintet played at the Hawaiian building at the Pan Pacific International Exposition in 1915. Henry Ford visited the Exposition, and was so impressed with the band's music that he hired the quintet to come to Detroit and play at Ford company events. They were renamed the Ford Hawaiian Quintet and recorded a number of records for the company of Henry Ford's good friend, Thomas Edison.

The original film footage was silent. The video soundtrack consists of pieces of various 78 rpm records.

Views: 1991

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

This video is a great production from beginning to end

I loved this video, it's great to see old style craftsmen at work, their techniques and methods, it gives me some ideas for instrument construction as well. Thanks for showing it.

That is great, the builder has some serious skills - not sure how he still has all his fingers though!

Madeira family in Portugal were the inventors of the uke.....the portuguese wrked in the cane fields in hawaii and brought the instrument over......the locals thought the sailor playing it was trying to kill a flea off the stick......turns out he was playing the instrument....

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

Nut

Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. 1 hour ago. 1 Reply

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

Latest Activity

BrianQ. replied to Bill Andy's discussion Nut
"It’s customary to include a pic of the neck when you’re asking these kinds of…"
1 hour ago
BrianQ. liked Rob (Uker) Porras's photo
1 hour ago
Bill Andy posted a discussion

Nut

Just got a prefretted walnut neck, it does not have a lip to glue nut against, should i dado to set…See More
6 hours ago
AGP # commented on AGP #'s photo
Thumbnail

AGP 8 Stand Carousels

""Thanx A.D." I tried slowing down the number of builds, but I enjoy it too much! :-)"
8 hours ago
Rob (Uker) Porras posted a photo

Soresto ukulele

My wife actually asked me to build this. Every time the dog gets a new collar she tries to find a…
8 hours ago
3 String Blues posted a video

Delta Blues Freestyle Slide - MXL 990 Microphone Recording

Recorded with a MXL 990 Microphone that I bought used off ebay for 40 bucks. Music - from the webpage https://www.reddogguitars.com There is CBGs for sale...
8 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for Clydr
11 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for James C Bailey
11 hours ago
BrianQ. left a comment for Airam
11 hours ago
T-Gripped liked Dogleg Steve's video
12 hours ago
T-Gripped liked Gary O'slide's video
12 hours ago
Uncle John commented on Uncle John's photo
Thumbnail

Chugger Review 2nd from left

"Thanks. Ron.  I agree on the Padron boxes.  I think they are close to the best for looks…"
13 hours ago

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->