Kumalae Style 2 Ukulele - Hawaii c.1913

Jonah Kumalae - who first advertised his ukes in 1911 - was by far the most prolific of the early Hawaiian makers. However, his early (pre-1915 'Gold Award') ukes are exceedingly scarce.

It has the seldom seen "cigar-label" on the bottom of the instrument as its sole source of identification & places it in the c.1913 timeframe. It has overall slightly larger dimensions than the later Kumalae sopranos, when production numbers rose markedly around 1918 or so. It also sports an early Bergstrom Music Co. decal to the rear of the headstock, the "oldest Music Store in Hawaii",as they advertised!

Ukes of this period could all be considered "one-offs", as the worldwide Hawaiian music "craze" was still several years into the future & there were only a small handful of makers on the Islands at the time this uke was built.

Comes with its original canvas case.