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Banjo-ukulele

Alternate name:Ukulele-banjo
Alternate name:Banjolele
Alternate name:Banjo uke
Alternate name:Banjulele
Trade Name: Concertone (trade name of Montgomery Ward)
Distributor: Montgomery Ward & Company (distributor)
Date: 1920-1935 ca.
Place Made:United States, North America
Model: Concertone
Serial No: none
SignedBranded onto dowel stick, in cursive text: Concertone
DescriptionNeck: bird’s-eye maple with dark-brown-stained maple center stripe
Peghead: bird’s-eye maple with black celluloid veneer; center stripe continues up from neck; integral with neck; mother-of-pearl five-pointed star inlay on face
Fingerboard: brown-stained maple; 15 nickel-plated brass frets; single diamond mother-of-pearl inlays behind 5th and 12th frets; double diamond mother-of-pearl inlays behind 7th and 10th frets
Heel cap: 3-ply dark-brown-stained maple/maple/dark-brown-stained maple
Head: calf skin
Tone ring: nickel-plated brass
Rim: bird’s-eye maple; lower edge brown-stained
Bracket hooks: 12 nickel-plated steel
Shoes: 12 nickel-plated brass
Tension hoop: nickel-plated steel
Resonator: none
Dowel stick: maple
Nut: bone
Tuners: 4 nickel-plated brass tension tuners with black plastic heads [head of treble tuner is missing]
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass
Finish: clear lacquer

DimensionsTotal instrument length: 497 mm (19-9/16")
Vibrating string length: cannot estimate – no bridge present
Fingerboard length: 215 mm (8-15/32”)
Fingerboard width at nut: 30.5 mm (1-3/16”)
Fingerboard width at body: 40.5 mm (1-19/32”)
Calf-skin head diameter: 172.5 mm (6-25/32”)
Back diameter: 174 mm (6-27/32”)
Rim depth: 72 mm (2-27/32”)

Fingerboard width at body joint: 3.9 cm (1-17/32″)
ProvenanceBelonged to James E. Lewis of Rocky Ford, Colorado, ca. 1920. He gave it to his daughter in Los Angeles, who then gave it to James J. Lewis (James E.’s grandson) of Vermillion.
Credit Line: Gift of James J. Lewis, 1982
Not on view
Object number: 03105