A Rural Fete

Grand Concert at Lihue, Kauai --- An Interesting Report of the Event

The long-looked for event, the concert given by the combined Glee Clubs of Lihue and vicinity, took place on Saturday evening, December 1st. The concert, which was held in the native church, was a brilliant success, socially as well as financially. The building was literally packed with an attentive audience of every nationality, the elite of the white population, as well as Hawaiians, Norwegians, etc. (…) Except these two gentlemen, the performers were all Hawaiians. (…) As an interlude between the verses of a song, the men played „Yankee doodle“ on the violin, guitar, banjo and ukulele … The guitar, banjo and ukulele accompaniment added much to the musical voices. (…) The concert was the idea of Mrs. W. H. Rice, in order to raise funds for a Christmas tree, and gifts for the Sabbath School children.

The Hawaiian Gazette 11.12.1888, S. 1

Ukulele von 1889

'Ukulele, late 19th century
	Das Instrument ist 52,1 cm (20 1/2 Zoll) lang und soll aus dem Jahr 1889 stammen. S.u. Beschreibung aus dem Katalog von 1914.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.727)

GUITAR. Ukulele. European model.

A shallow body of light wood, with soundboard having a single open hole. Strings on the finger-board, twelve metal frets. A flat head with four pegs inserted from behind. Four gut strings fastened to a bridge on the soundboard. Hawaii. Length, 1 foot 8 1/2 inches. Width, 5 1/2 inches.
This is not a Hawaiian instrument, but was introduced by the Portuguese about 1877, by whom it is made and sold. It is very popular with the modern natives, who give a peculiar swaying motion to the hand and wrist as the fingers sweep over the strings. It is sometimes called the „taro-patch fiddle,“ and the smallest size is designated by the natives as „the flea.“

Frances Morris: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Catalogue of Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments Vol. II: Oceania and America. New York 1914, S. 47

Harvard Freshmen Sing in Aid of Their Crew

The concert of the Harvard freshmen glee and banjo clubs for the benefit of the freshman crew was given in Brattle Hall, Cambridge, last night. There was a large attendance. The concert, which was a very large creditable one, was followed by dancing. The following was the programme rendered at the concert:
(…)
Hawaiian love song, with ukulele accompaniment. Solo by J.A. Wilder¹⁾.

Boston Daily Globe 29.4.1890, S. 2

On such a night we sat and watched the dancers' feet beat to the music of the Taropatch and Ukelele. It was wierd [sic] and restful … [9]
… native musicians, on the guitar, violin, taropatch and ukelele, were rendering delightful music. [159-160]
… we drove on to Waikiki. From the lanai of each villa came laughter and song as we passed; knots of native musicians were strolling through the streets, and singing to the accompaniment of taropatch and ukelele; while the Royal Band from afar flooded the air with music. [281]

„The native musicians gave us selections … on their stringed instruments“ (S. 27; Abb. S. 28). Abgebildet sind eine Geige, ein Banjo, zwei viersaitige Ukulelen (oder eine kleine Ukulele und ein größerer Rajão?) und eine sechssaitige Gitarre.

Mather, Helen:²⁾ One Summer in Hawaii. New York: Cassell, ca. 1891

Hawaii

Die Liebe zur Musik ist das besondere Merkmal der Eingeborenen. Von alters her besitzen sie (wenngleich grob gefertigte) Saiteninstrumente, Flöten und Trommeln. Doch kann man diese Instrumente heute nur äußerst selten sehen, wenn man zu einer Antiquitäten-Ausstellung geht. Heute gibt es, ob Männer oder Frauen, niemand, der nicht die viersaitige Gitarre³⁾ spielt. Deshalb gibt es fast kein Haus, in dem sich diese — in besserer oder schlechterer Ausführung – nicht befindet. In der Abendkühle oder in Mondnächten versammeln sich in den Gärten und an den Wegesrändern einzelne oder Dutzende Menschen und schlagen eine oder mehrere Gitarren an. Dazu wird eine Violine gespielt. Alle singen in derselben Tonlage sehr harmonisch. Der Klang ist hell und klar und erfrischend und wirklich liebenswert.

„Künste: Gitarrenspiel und Hula-Tanz“ (S. 40)

Seya, Shōji⁴⁾ 瀬谷正二: Hawai 布哇. Tōkyō: Chūaisha 1892, S. 39

World's Fair Music

The musical portion of the international program given in Festival Hall yesterday afternoon attained a value decidedly lacking upon the occasion of the first concert, the singing of the Hawaiian Quartet and the concerted performance on the marimba by four Guatemalans being both unique and interesting from a musical point of view. The Hawaiians accompanied their numbers upon two guitars, a taro patch, and a ukelele. The latter instruments, on the guitar order, are respectively five and four stringed. The voices of the quartet are sweet, and in the case of the first tenor, Maipinepine,⁵⁾ especially melodious. The charm lies in the naturalness. The „Wind Song,“ given as an encore, as well as their music throughout, is strongly tinged with the gentle pathos and rhythm of the negro melodies.

Chicago Daily Tribune 22.08.1893, S. 4

Popular musical instrument from Hawaii

A queer instrument made on the Sandwich islands⁶⁾ has been on exhibition at Stelle's music store this week and has attracted considerable attention. The instrument is about 18 inches⁷⁾ in length and is shaped like a guitar. It has only four strings, however, and is tuned like a violin, and the performer produces a tone precisely like that made by picking upon the strings of a violin. The little affair is called the „Ukulele Okelili,“ or the flying flea. It is made of the koa and mali⁸⁾ woods. The Ukulele Okelili at Stelle's was brought to this country by Mrs. Cushing, of Wyoming avenue, who recently returned from the Hawaiian islands. She also brought a copy of the Hawaiian National hymn, composed in 1868 by Queen Liliuokalani.⁹⁾ An investigation of the hymn will cause surprise that the deposed queen has been allowed to even remain in Hawaii for so many years.¹⁰⁾

The Scranton Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 22.12.1894, S. 8

Inserat Jose do Espirito Santo

Inserat Jose do Espirito Santo	Ukulele Jose do Espirito Santo, ca. 1895
Evening Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii) , 16.3.1895, S. 7	Im Besitz von Ukulele Friend

At Golden Rule Bazaar

Genuine Hawaiian Ukuleles and Taro Patch guitars. No imitations made abroad.

The Hawaiian Star (Honolulu, Hawaii) , 246.1895, S. 1

Hawaii's Ex-Queen's Concert

Washington, Feb. 2. — Ex-Queen Lilioukalani (sic), who has composed the words and music of the national songs of Hawaii for the last twenty years, will give a Hawaiian concert tomorrow afternoon at her apartments, at the Shoreham¹¹⁾, to which the invited guests will be Treasurer Morgan and family, Representative and Mrs. Hilborn, and Miss Grace Hilborn, and Senator Perkins, ex-Governor of California, who has been entertained by the Queen at the islands in days past, when she was the ruling sovereign.
Her Majesty will play the autoharp and sing the songs of her nation. Miss Hilborn will sing Hawaiian songs, also, and accompany herself on the ukulele, a native instrument that looks and sounds like a diminutive guitar, and upon which she plays with great skill. Mr. Helelulie of the Queen's suite will perform upon the guitar.

New York Times 5.2.1897

Eine Schwedin mit Ukulele

Axel Sjöberg: Nanny Svensson mit Ukulele

Although the wonderful cloaks and helmets of yellow feathers once worn by royalty are now seen only in museums, there is even yet a suggestive national picturesqueness. Men lounging about wharves and corners wear hat-bands and decorations of peacock feathers, and chains (leis in the native language) of brilliant flowers about their necks. At a moment's notice any chance group can take up guitars or the little ukulele, playing and singing together in delightful harmony the half-plaintive and wholly sweet Hawaiian airs, with soft words like running water. A limp language, chiefly liquids and vowels, it is peculiarly suited to music. [44]

A quintette of native musicians sat in shadow, playing the ukulele, a banjo, two guitars, and a taropatch, occasionally singing Hawaiian melodies full of surface gayety and lightsome rhythm, yet soon revealing an unsuspected undercurrent of deepest pathos. To the gliding music two or three friends, for our edification, danced native figures on the grass strange and graceful. All danced for a time in the drawing-room, but the dim lawn, the sweet, haunting music, and the lapping waves cast an unresisted spell, and the company soon drifted out under the algarobas. [47]

Mabel Loomis Todd: Corona and Coronet; being a narrative of the Amherst eclipse expedition to Japan, in Mr. James's schooner-yacht Coronet, to observe the sun's total obscuration, 9th August, 1896. Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin 1898

Nunes-Ukulele

Diese Ukulele aus der Werkstatt von Manuel Nunes soll aus den 1890er Jahren stammen.12)	Nunes-Ukulele, ca. 1916, im Besitz von Ukulele Friend

The Hawaiians are very musical and play and sing delightfully their simple tuneful airs. They use an instrument called an ukulele, a cunning diminutive guitar that I have already found irresistible and added to my possessions. The prettiest of the airs are sung to accompany the hula, a native dance. The ukulele is played with a peculiar strumming stroke, not unlike the banjo, and the same strain is repeated indefinitely until the dance is finished. There is something mournful about the monotonous minor strains that makes them seem appropriate national airs, for there is a pathos in the situation of these handsome, strong-limbed, dark-eyed islanders. The race seems destined to disappear and the government is already in the hands of outsiders and the monarchy hopelessly overthrown. There was no doubt a necessity for it, but a necessity to be regretted. [20]

Our men were waiting to take us to Suez in the small boat. One of them saw the Ukulele in my hand, the little instrument, you remember, that has shared my fortunes ever since we left Honolulu. He leaned toward me with an engaging smile. „Lady,“ he said, „make a dance.“ So I played for him a little, to his evident delight, and to the neglect of his duties as an oarsman. It was finally found necessary to politely recall to his attention that we wanted to get the 3 o'clock train for Cairo. [232]

Delight Sweetser Prentiss: One way round the world. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill 1899 (2. Aufl.), S. 20

The Machette

The machette is an instrument of the guitar family, exactly similar in form (only of course very much reduced in size), and might, in fact, be taken for a model of the Spanish guitar. It is strung with four single strings, and played by the finger tip – as described in our issue last month – so that apart from the fact of the fingerboard frets being about the same distance apart as those of the mandoline it has little in common with the latter. Other names for the machette are „Octavilla,“ „Tibia“ and „Ukulele.“

The Musical Herald Nr. 623 (1.2.1900), S. 59

Solomon In His Glory

Hubert Vos: Hawaiian Musician (1898)
	The Century Magazine Bd. LX, Nr. 2, Juni 1900, S. 164 (Text), 166 (Bild)
Kolomono, as he is termed in the musical tongue of Hawaii, or Solomon, as he was baptized, shows the jovial, pleasure-loving features of his race as he holds the ukulele, a stringed instrument which may or may not be indigenous to the island. He is a civilized native, and the son of one, and his raiment is not like that which Captain Cook found there a century and more ago. He is a minstrel and cab-driver, leader of sports and merriment, one of the “characters” of Honolulu. In his gay, frank smile one divines the reason why it was found easy to oust the poor queen, but one is left still in surprise that it should have been thought necessary to do so with such violence. When selected as the best-looking, yet most typical, Hawaiian by the artist, Solomon was indeed in his glory; he was like a Venetian gondolier who has been chosen as the best oarsman for a regatta, or a Dublin jarvey who has won the prize for the jauntiest jaunting-car. Bubbling over with satisfaction, he could only give vent to his pride by ejaculating, “Why, oh, why was I born so lucky?”

Miss Mary Sprague has lately returned from Honolulu and is creating a stir in musical circles by her charming interpretation of Hawaiian music. She plays the ukulele, the native instrument, which closely resembles a miniature violin, with exquisite skill, and accompanied it with her voice, both in English and the Hawaiian tongues.

The Fine Arts Journal Bd. 12 Nr. 1, Jan./Feb. 1901, S. 45

Um mir Freude zu bereiten, bestellten meine freundlichen Gastgeber auf einen Abend einheimische Musikanten, und als wir draußen auf der Veranda durch ein feines Drahtgeflecht vor Moskitobissen wohl geborgen saßen, meldete sich die Gesellschaft. Wir bekamen drei Instrumente zu hören, den fünfsaitigen Taropatch, eine kleine, viersaitige Gitarrre Ukulele, beide ursprünglich aus Madeira eingeführt, und eine größere Gitarre. (…)
Wunderbar, musikalisch und rhythmisch spielten und sangen unsere Künstler eine Weise nach der anderen, alles auswendig und teilweise improvisiert, und leicht paßten sich die Worte der Melodie an.

von Rodt, Cäcilie: Reise einer Schweizerin um die Welt. Neuenburg: F. Zahn 1903, S. 97-98

Um die Welt mit einem Lied (Brettspiel)

Feld 29 dieses Brettspiels stellt offensichtlich Hawaii dar, auch wenn im Begleittext nur vom „Pazifischen Ozean“ die Rede ist. Das Musikinstrument scheint vier Saiten zu haben – also ist vielleicht eine Ukulele gemeint.

Ikebe Yoshikata 池邊義象 (1861?–1923, Text), Yasuda Shōdō 安田蕉堂 (Bilder): Sekai isshū shōka sugoroku 世界一週唱歌雙六 Tōkyō: Asano Bunsaburō 朝野文三郎 1903.

Un des derniers soirs que j'ai passé chez eux, mes aimables hôtes me fire le plaisir de commander quelques musiciens indigènes que nous écoutâmes, assis sur le véranda, abrités contre les piqûres des moustiques par un fin treillis de fil de fer. La bande jouait de trois instruments: le taropatch, espèce de violon à cinq cordes, l'ukulele, petite guitare à quatre cordes, — ces deux premiers originaires de l'île de Madère — et une guitare plus grande dont je n'ai pu retenir le nom. (…)
Nos artistes chantent et jouent avec une verve et un rythme remarquables. Ils improvisent et, autant que j'ai pu en juger, les paroles de leur chant s'adaptent merveilleusement à la mélodie.

de Rodt, Cécile [Cäcilie von Rodt]: Voyage d'une Suissesse autour du monde. Neuchâtel: F. Zahn 1904, S. 97

Honolulu Visitors to Sing

The visiting Honolulu vocalists who came here with Aloha temple of the Shrine will give a concert in the Gamut club tonight. Assisting them will be Edward Kaai,¹³⁾ a well known artist, and the full force of the Hawaiian instrumentalists and glee club will be heard. Among the numbers will he guitar and mandolin solos, ukulele solos, including "Aloha Oe," by Queen Lil, and others. The concerted numbers include the „Hawaiian Ponoi,“ the islands' national anthem.

Los Angeles Herald Jg. 34, Nr. 225, 14.5.1907

Have You Seen the Bouncing Flea

Prof. Kia, a native, Hawaiian musician, has introduced to the Pacific coast the most charming of all the Hawaiian musical instruments. It is the Ukulele, shaped like a guitar but much smaller. It is played by strumming and skipping the fingers from one side of the instrument to the other, hence the name Ukulele — meaning a bouncing flea. The instrument is easily mastered — the learner gets more pleasure out of it in a month than he could with a guitar or other string instrument in a year. A shipment of these popular instruments is now on the way to our store. They will be on sale next Wednesday. See them in our window.
GEO. J. BIRKEL COMPANY
STEINWAY, CECILIAN AND VICTOR DEALERS.
345–347 South Spring Street

Los Angeles Herald Jg. 34, Nr. 285, 13.7.1907

The uku-lele and the taro-patch fiddle are stringed instruments resembling in general appearance the fiddle. They seem to have been introduced into these islands by the Portuguese immigrants who have come in within the last twenty-five years. As with the guitar, the four strings of the uku-lele or the five strings of the taro-patch fiddle are plucked with the finger or thumb.

Emerson, Nathaniel Bright: Unwritten Literature of Hawaii. The Sacred Songs of the Hula Washington 1909, S. 252

Ladies of Hawaii

Music in Honolulu. An Interview

One of the most fascinating of the musical instruments brought by the visitors is the ukulele, a direct descendant of the original Hawaiian two-stringed instrument on which the primitive native was able to produce so many effects. The ukulele is not unlike a small guitar, but tho tone is rich and full, at times like the full tone of the organ. The sample exhibited to and played upon for the benefit of the interviewer, was of polished Hawaiian mahogany, with four strings and twelve metal frets. „A much softer tone is produced by ivory frets,“ explained Mr. Kaai, who had come in during the conversation. „The primitive instrument of two strings was improved by an Hawaiian musician, some time back, and the addition of the fourth string was my idea. Also I make them with five and eight strings, and as accompaniments to choral work, they are invaluable. They are very easy to play. Tourists stopping at Honolulu for a fortnight or so very often buy them and come to me for lessons, then go away and play anything, providing, of course, their ear is true. We have full orchestras and bands with the ordinary musical instruments, but the ukulele is essentially Hawaiian.“ The beautiful tones of this instrument will be heard by the people of Brisbane tonight.

The Telegraph (Brisbane) 20.3.1911, S. 7

Music in Hawaii.

Mr. Ernest Kaai, the musical director of the Royal Hawaiians, now giving pleasure with their concerts in Melbourne, speaks with animation of the charm and variety of social life in Honolulu. He states that the population is now about 45,000, of which the Hawaiian race represents exactly one-third. Music is greatly loved there, and he himself conducts a Hawaiian glee club of 75 voices, the characteristic of which is that all the members, whilst singing, play their own accompaniments, generally on the ukulele. Mr. Kaai, who is head of a school of music, the principal class in which includes 38 pupils, did much to invent and improve the instrument in question, which is shaped like a very small guitar. It is light in tone, and has no bass to it, but lends itself agreeably to accompaniments. It is easy to play, and as some facility upon it can be acquired in a week tourists flock to Mr. Kaai's studios to learn it. The national music embraces love-songs, serenades, songs to the flowers, ballads and vivacious dance themes, but no comic songs. Humour is not considered as capable of expression in music — in which respect tho Hawaiians show sound judgment. Mr. Kaai explains that European music was first introduced in the island 35 years ago by Captain Berger, a German military bandmaster, who formed the Royal Hawaiian Band, which he still conducts.

Dominion 29.4.1911

„Hawaiians,“ says Mr Ernest Kaai, of a concert party now touring Australia, „all live for song and music. At every gathering there is music of some kind. There is music at their festivities and music at times of sorrow. The national anthem was written by the lately-deceased King Kalakaua, the author of several songs. The native instrument, the ukulele, is a creation from the old Hawaiian instrument, the ukeke. Originally it was of two strings with no set tuning to it, and it was strummed with a straw. Now there are four strings, and the instrument covers every known chord in music. The Royal Hawaiian Band is subsidised by the Government. The members always play when steamers are departing, for this is an old custom, and wreaths of flowers are given to the passengers, the wish being that they shall have good luck, the wreath or "lei" signifying respect and love for the departing one.

Mataura Ensign 6.5.1911

THE ROYAL HAWAIIANS.

The Royal Hawaiians, who commenced their Christchurch season at the King's Theatre last evening, are a decidedly novel and unconventional set of coloured persona, and they are possessed of the distinct advantage in this vocally barren age of being able to use wonderful voices well. They are also instrumentalists of no mean order, and their collective playtag of mandolins and guitars, combined with a native instrument, called the ukulele, is a really artistic effort. The entertainment presented last evening was a pronounced success, and the audience showed its appreciation by clamourously demanding more. In quartets and other concerted work the members of the company were heard to great advantage, the blend and timbre of their voices being true and pretty. The numbers consisted of native compositions of a meritoriously melodious nature and many old favourites that were sung well. … All the accompaniments were played on the guitar and mandolin and the native instruments, and they fitted in with the voices wonderfully. Tho leader of the company, Mr Ernest Kaai, is evidently a thorough musician, and many of the most attractive of the items were composed by him. He also played a very clever arrangement of My Old Kentucky Home as a mandolin solo, and showed a thorough command of the instrument. A native chorus „Adios Kealoha,“ which concluded the first part, was a very melodious and interesting piece. Another pretty item was a native love song, sung as a duet by Misses Keala and Anehila, the melody being delicately arranged. Mr Kaai who has a powerful and well-trained baritone voice, sang a song of his own composition with much success. His lower and middle registers are practically perfect and his voice is resonant and clear. … The entertainment was received all through with enthusiasm, and will be repeated this evening.

Star Nr. 10163, 26.5.1911, S. 4

Seccao social

Por informação que lhe foi dada pel'O Luso o Advertiser d'ha dias passados disse que os instrumentos de corda fabricados pelo artista sr. M. Nunes Sr., e filhos d'esta cidade, estavam tendo boa acceitação em Los Angeles e outras partes dos Estados Unidos. O "ukulele" é hoje um instrumento muito conhecido no mundo inteiro.¹⁴⁾

O Luso (Honolulu) , 16.9.1911, S. 4

Noticias de Hilo

Nunes & Filhos, celebres fabricadores de instrumentos de musica, de corda, tiveram em exhibição ha dias passados n'uma das vitrinas da firma Bergstrom¹⁵⁾ d'esta cidade, uma magnifica viola Franceza que excitou a admiração de quartos a viram. Estes artistas Portuguezes são considerados os melhores n'estas ilhas e, além d'jossos, os seus instrumentos, especialmente os "ukulele" Hawaiianos, são achados em todas as partes dos Estados Unidos.¹⁶⁾

O Luso (Honolulu) , 6.1.1912, S. 4

Ukulele

Taro-patch-fiddle = Ukulele.
Ukulele, Name der europäischen Guitarre auf Hawai.

Curt Sachs: Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente . Berlin: Julius Bard 1913, S. 378, 404

Hawaiian Songs und Ukulele

Kia and His Pupils Delight Large Audience With Native Songs and Old Melodies, Accompanied by Ukuleles and Mandolins ...

Ukuleles, mandolins and leis held their sway over a large audience last evening, at the Gamut club auditorium.
Without any claims to a musical recital of works by great masters, a company of players and students gave selections of Hawaiian music and songs, relieved by popular numbers, to the evident delight of the audience.
The miniature guitar, the ukulele, was the musical instrument which appeared as an obligato with almost every number. This toy-like string instrument, made of the koa wood, the only one, according to native legends, which can accompany with sweet melody and softness the somewhat melancholic chants of Hawaii, has a tone altogether its own.
It would be difficult to imagine a more suitable instrument to accompany the famous "Aloha Oe," which longingly and beseechingly haunts those who have heard it played by natives.
„Adio ke Aloha“ and „Wehi Wehi Oe“ were played by D. Koleo and his quartette; „Aloha,“ a ukulele solo by George Kia, assisted by Misses Lucile Bay, C. Mossman and Master M. Smith … Kia attempted, not unsuccessfully, a solo interpretation of „Il Travatore,“ showing how far a ukulele expert can go in the use of his favorite instrument.
The L.A. High School Glee Club assisted with „From the Land of the Sky Blue.“

Hector Alliot in Los Angeles Times 1.5.1914

A One Man Vaudeville Show

Musician — Ladies and Gentlemen: I am now going to give you me refined society entertainment. The first number will be on the American banjo. I'm going to show you, ladies and gentlemen, that real music can be produced with this instrument. (Plays piece on banjo.) Me next number will be on the Hiwaiin Euculiptue, cheapest instrument of its kind in the world. At first all I could play was (plays cord #1). Then I learned how to play (plays cord #2). And at first all I could play was (plays cord #1) until later on with great practice, I accomplished (now plays cord #2). And mind you that (plays cord #2) thats much harder than (plays cord #1 — plays piece on euculayly and imitates violin).

A Comedy Sketch written by Joe Cook. Produced at Hammerstein's Theatre, New York City, October 13, 1914, S. 3

Attractive Booklet from the Press Gives Original Method

That the ukulele was introduced into the islands in 1879 by Mr. Nunes and immediately attained wide favor is stated in a handsomely-arranged and printed booklet, "Original Method and Self-Instructor on the Ukulele," which has just been issued by A.A. Santos and Angeline F. Nunes. The booklet is from the Star-Bulletin Press and is published by the Santos-Nunes Studios, 1187 Garden lane, Honolulu.
The booklet says that King Kalakaua was greatly pleased with the ukulele and encouraged Mr. Nunes in the manufacture of the instrument.
The instrument has become so widely popular both here and with visitors who take the little stringed instrument away with them that the Santos-Nunes studios have issued the booklet that beginners may rapidly attain proficiency.
„Mr. Nunes experimented with various woods here in Hawaii before he discovered that Koa and kou were the only woods which possessed resonance adapted to the ukulele,“ says the booklet. They are now made of koa entirely as kou has become extinct.
Clear diagrams and brief, pertinent printed text show the handling of the ukulele keyboard. Tuning is explained in all its ramifications. Then the various strokes are given. Some of the Hawaiian music best adapted to the ukulele is reproduced, including a number of well known songs.
The method shown in this booklet is declared to be the true and original method on the ukulele and to carry the student far beyond mere strumming.

Honolulu Star Bulletin 15.9.1915, S. 2

Hawaiians are angry

Islanders Want LegislatIon to Protect Ukuleles Manufactured There

Washington. Sept. 18.— The Hawaiians, according to a report from Commercial Agent A. P. Taylor, are angry because certain manufacturers of musical instruments in the United States are making ukuleles and stamping them with the legend „Made in Hawaii.“ The ukulele has become very popular since the opening of the Hawaiian building at the San Francisco Exposition. The Islandlers there have infected visitors with a desire to possess the instrument and they are being imported from Hawaii and manufactured on a large scale in this country. The ukulele is not distinctively a Hawaiian instrument, having been introduced in the Islands by Portuguese immigrants in the early eighties.
The thing makes a sweet jingle, somewhat as fetching as the melody of mandolin and the word „ukulele“ describes the Hawaiian appreciation of it, the word meaning „dancing flea.'' The Hawaiians are devising a distinctive trademark which they will ask to have protected by legislation. They want the authority to place on the instruments made in the Islands the legend : „Made in Hawaii, U.S.A.“ and making it a misdemeanor to use this legend on instruments made in the United States.
The ukulele is made of koa wood, which is called the Hawaiian mahogany and takes a beautiful polish. The forests are limited and the koa wood comes high. A good ukulele costs as much at $15.

New York Times 19.9.1915

Do You Ukulele?

Daily Illini, 7.11.1915, S. 5

The Ukulele

Daily Illini, 12.11.1915, S. 8

The Cocksure Parents

There are two classes of parents, besides sensible ones, possessed by college students. One variety believes that Harold, who is often leader in Christian Endeavor when he is at home for the summer, would never, smoke a horrible cigarette or forget himself to the extent of retailing information in a quiz. The other kind of parents is sure that when Arthur is away from the family hearthstone the very first thing he will do is to buy a ukelele and start on the broad highway to perdition. It is impossible to convert either kind of parent. They know what college boys are like, for they have read about them in books. Harold's parents also think that they know him pretty well. If Harold ever comes up for discipline, it is probably not the faculty who are at fault, although the parents know full well that their son is the victim of some unreasoning persecutors. Arthur may spend all his time playing the ukelele, senenading some brazen co-ed, but the chances are that he will work a little as well, as most sensible parents would expect. It is very unfortunate to be too sure.

Daily Illini 19.12.1915, S. 4

MAJOR KEALAKAIS ROYAL HAWIIAN SEXTETTE.

A new feature of great interest to lovers of music will be presented at the Sycamore Chautauqua assembly on Wednesday afternoon and evening , August 30: Major Kealakai's Royal Hawiian [sic] Sextette , consisting of vocalists and intrumentalists of Honolulu, Hawiian Islands , singing their native songs, playing their native instruments and appearing in Hawaiian costumes. No music has gained such rapid popularity as the music of Hawii . The formation of their melodies dates from the early invasion of the islands by the missionaries, whose hymns were translated into the native language. Originally the songs had time and rhythm but no melody, and were more like chants, and were accompanied by the beating of gourds and drums. Their crude instruments have developed into the Ukulele, like a small Spanish guitar, and into the steel guitar so called because it is played with steel picks. The Kealakai Orchestra is made up of artists who use both of these instruments with wonderful skill and their playing has been enjoyed by music lovers in all the leading cities of this country.

True Republican 29.7.1916, S. 1

Frank Condon: Hence Those Tears

To begin with, a ukulele is a weird instrument which must always have the human voice with it. Alone, it is no good; and likewise it is no good in my opinion, under any conditions. It makes you think of the dead bodies of fair young women floating amid the seawed at high tide, and it sounds — well, it sounds sad. … As you may know, the ukulele is the Hawaiian national instrument; and in all the history of harmonies nothing to equal it in the way of fathomless sadness has ever been invented. It has four strings and looks like a mandoline son of a banjo mother¹⁷⁾. In Hawaii, whenever one dies they play the ukulele; and, if I lived in Hawaii, whenever they played the ukulele, somebody would die! When a ship sails, the native girls go down to the wharf and play droning lullabies while the steamer get under way, and the passengers lean on the rail and wep.
It's a mighty fine instrument — but not to listen to.¹⁸⁾

Oamaru Mail Jg. XLVI, Nr. 12987, 28.10.1916, S. 2

Ukulele Square, the Hawaiian Quarter of New York (Drawn by L. M. Glackens)

Als PDF betrachten

New York Tribune 5.11.1916, S. 5

Melbourne people are inquiring where they can buy ukuleles, the Hawaiian musical instrument played by the girls in „The Cinema Star,“ where Mr. Reginald Roberts and Miss Ethel Cadman, in an island setting, sing „On the Beach at Waikiki.“ The instrument is a cross between a mandolin and a guitar, and has a pretty, musical note. It is mastered in a few lessons.

Worker 7.12.1916, S. 12

The original ukulele was made of a strip of flexible wood or bamboo, with two or three strings of cocosnut fibre, and was superseded not forty years ago by the taropatch, which in turn gave place to the ukulele measuring 17 inches¹⁹⁾ in length, shaped like a guitar, but which has only four strings instead of the five on the taropatch. The name indicates the method of skipping the fingers from one side of the instrument to the other. Most of the ukuleles are now made in America, where they have become more popular than mandolins.

Table Talk 7.12.1916, S. 20

We also manufacture the populuar Hawaiian Ukulele of the genuine Hawaiian koa wood
The Violinist's Guide written for the use of the violin buying public containing information pertaining to the violin making industry: The blue book of the violin making profession Chicago: Violinist Pub. Co. ca. 1916, S. 46

INDUSTRY ENRICHES HAWAII

PRODUCING 1600 UKULELES A MONTH. As a result of the vogue for Hawaiian songs and music that has developed in this country in the last year and a half, the monthly output of ukuleles of Hawaii increased about 300 per cent, in the year ended August 31. At the end of August, 1915, the manufacturers of these instruments in the islands were turning out 500 to 600 a month, but at the end of last August, according to A. P. Taylor, of Honolulu, who is a correspondent of the Department of Commerce, this number had been increased to 1600. Even with this increase, he reports, the demand from musical instrument dealers in this country cannot be met. „There are eight principal manufacturers of ukuleles in Honolulu,“ Mr Taylor reports, „with a scattering of instruments coming from small makers in other islands. Each manufacturer has turned his small workshop into a factory, adding new workers and increasing the plant as rapidly as possible. In the first week in September a company was organised in Honolulu with plans to manufacture from 1000 to 2000 ukuleles a month with improved machinery, the workers to be Hawaiians and Portuguese. This company plans not only the manufacture of ukuleles, but the purchase of completed instruments from other makers.
„The originator of the ukuleles, a Portuguese, who is now head of a manufacturing company, is still an active worker in his own factory, which turns out about 700 instruments a month. Another Honolulu Arm produces about 400 a month. The plans of new companies forming, and of old factories being enlarged, will give, an output close to 3000 a month.
The Hawaiians and the Portuguese of Hawaii assert that the instruments made by them, principally of koa wood, are seasoned and properly prepared. The prevailing local (Honolulu) prices for ukuleles range from 3.75 dol. to 20 dol. The highest-priced products are heavily beaded. The tone is one of the most important items in the construction of a ukulele and the Hawaiians and Portuguese declare that this is obtained only with the use of properly seasoned koa wood and with the proper attention being paid to shaving the wood and fitting it.“

Waikato Times Jg. 87, Nr. 13362, 13.12.1916, S. 8

Ein Gouverneur kauft eine Ukulele

The Thirty-fourth Legislature of Texas appropriated $2000 per annum for the purchase of fuel, light, ice and incidentals. The word „groceries“ was originally in the bill, but was stricken out by the Legislature itself. Notwithstanding this, the Governor²⁰⁾ bought groceries amounting to several thousand dollars …, and even purchased a ukelele, but it has not yet been determined whether a ukulele is fuel, light, ice or incidentals.

Mr. Terrell, Rede vor dem Parlament von Texas, in: Proceedings relative to the impeachment of Governor Ferguson, Austin (Texas) 1917, S. 773

Ukulele Fever Sweeps Country

Patriotic people have given up having German measles. They inquire instead a mild rash called „measlettes.“ The disease is contagious, but not so contagious as the ukelele fever which has swept over the whole continent. The infecting germs can be traced to Richard Walton Tully, who brought them from Hawaii clinging to the manuscript of a play called „The Bird of Paradise.“
All kinds of people have been exposed to the disease which seems particularly virulent during the summer season. Critics of the ukulele have said it is easier to play than to listen to, but that is unkind. Undoubtedly there is a soft and haunting beauty in the mellow string-tone, which owes but little to the resonance-box. As a support for sweet voices in songs of sentiment and gallantry it is wholly admirable.
Americans are usually favorable to loud noises raucous quality. The popularity of the little Hawaiian instrument is one of the contrarities which constantly surprise those wonderful people who expect consistency in politicians and desire the human race to run true to form. None of the cocksure prophets, forecasting human or national action, would have picked out this tender instrument as a possible favorite.
It is just possible that the vogue of the ukulele has been partially due to the home life of our city dwellers. More and more the people set up their household gods in an apartment. It is well-known that an apartment has everything in it but spaciousness. Since the ladies have been forced to the adoption of collapsible tables and disappearing sofas, since the men have been reduced to the necessity of using folding pipes and compressed tobacco, it seems only reasonable that the song-lovers, despairing of finding accommodation for a guitar of full size, turned with a cry of joy to the South Sea instrument which can be carried in a canoe without disaster.

The Telegraph 1.6.1917, S. 5

A Homemade Hawaiian Ukulele

Bauanleitung für eine Ukulele aus einer Zigarrenkiste.

The one-string banjo, the cigarbox guitar, and similar vaudeville favorites are giving way to the tantalizing²¹⁾ ukulele, and the home mechanic, to be up to date in his musical craftsmanship, must fall in line. The size of this instrument makes it especially suited to the cigar-box type of body construction …

S.H. Samuels in Popular Mechanics Juni 1917, S. 946-947

London Society: Lowbrow Ukulele is Taken Up by a Peeress

Lady Chetwynd²²⁾ is very much the fashion in London just now … When I went to see her one morning this week I found her learning to sing Hawaiian songs and to play their accompaniment on a „ukulele.“ Her teacher is a man called Luvaun, who has a great vogue in the fashionable crowd in London just now. She is making a specialty of learning some of the haunting, throbbing melodies to sing at various charity concerts, the only things that serve us as reminders of the fact that in normal years „the season“ would be at its height.

Chicago Daily Tribune 5.8.1917, S. D2

Washburn Mandolins. Guitars. Banjos. Ukuleles

Athletic Association: Souvenir History. An account of the Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois Chicago: Rand McNally 1917, S. 46

Quick Returns

We want something which will yield quick returns; hence the popularity of the ukulele.

E. W. Morphy: „Violin Teaching in Its Relation to the Organization of Civic Orchestras“. In: The Musical Quarterly, Bd. 4 Nr. 1 (Jan. 1918), S. 50–60, hier S. 53

Ignorance is Bliss

The average American high school girl, who must have her ukulele, would not feel at home in France, for the ukulele is unknown here. A ukulele hunt through the biggest stores of Paris failed to bring to light one of these instruments, even with the use of English, bad French and an illustrated catalogue from a music dealer.
For the French people who are learning English, here is a definition:
UKULELE. A petite guitar imported from Honolulu, Hawaii, and firmly established in the land of its adoption, America; played like a mandolin, principally on front porches and in automobiles; regarded by some as an instrument of torture instead of an instrument of music.

The Stars and Stripes (Paris, France), Jg. 1, Nr. 3, 22.2.1918, S. 2

Origin of the Ukulele.

There are 20,000 Portuguese In the Hawaiian Islands, and it is charged that these people, and not the natives, are responsible for the ukulele. It has long been a matter of common knowledge that the instrument was introduced into the islands by a Portuguese, but that is not really the question of greatest moment. So long as the ukulele was confined to Hawaii it was almost as harmless as a banjo, the guitar, or the mandolin. Nobody then had a word to say against it. The point that needs to be cleared up is: Where lies the responsibility for introducing it, not into Hawaii, but into the United States? — Christian Science Monitor.

Sausalito News Jg. 34, Nr. 12, 23.3.1918

Ukulele can now play anything

Simple Changes Introduced by Chicago Musician Enables Her to Play Solo Selections Without Accompaniment

Chicago, Ill., July 2. Miss Jenny M. Durkee, a well-known Chicago musician, has discovered a means whereby the ukulele can be used as a high-class solo instrument. A few months ago she held the same opinion of the ukulele that thousands of musicians do – that it was impossible to get more out of it than the weird strumming accompaniment. But through her discovery a new and broader field is opened for this quaint little instrument of the South Sea Islanders. She is now demonstrating her discovery to the amazement of large concert audiences, rendering, without the aid of an accompaniment, such selections as the „Miserere“ from „Il Trovatore,“ Schubert's „Serenade,“ the „Lucia“ Sextet and Mowskowski's Serenata, in such a way that the melody is sustained and supported by an accompaniment astonishing in its completeness and volume. In Miss Durkee's hands the ukulele sounds like a small orchestra.
„The American way,“ as she describes her discovery, „consists of drawing a thin felt plectrum or pick rapidly across the strings, thus modifying the tone and increasing the volume to such an extent that it can be heard in the largest concert halls.“ According to Miss Durkee's own version:
„This felt plectrum holds the same relation to the ukulele as a violin bow does to the violin, and absolutely does away with that harshness which is produced by strumming the strings with the finger-nails. It adds color, expression and possibilities technically which heretofore had been considered impossible on the ukulele.“
Miss Durkee claims that the „American method“ is more simple than the ordinary method of playing the popular ukulele. There has just been published „The Artist's Collection of Ukulele Solos“ by Miss Durkee. A list of selections has been prepared with the fingering graphically explained so that the inexperienced player may quickly learn the „American way“ of solo playing on the ukulele.

The Music Trades 6.7.1918, S. 42

1918 The Biggest Bruno Year

C. Bruno & Son are having a tremendous demand for ukuleles and it is demonstrating the fact that this instrument is not a fad but has come to stay.
It is now considered a standard musical instrument and a number of new styles have been produced and the quality improved.
The cut shown in this article illustrates a No. 12 genuine Jonah Kumalae Hawaiian ukulele, which is considered the very finest native instrument. It is made of real Koa wood, fancy figures, highly polished, inlaid sound hole, front edge in No. 12 Jonah Kumalae laid, and is a very popular Ukulele mode.

No. 12 Jonah Kumalae ukulele

The Music Trades 21.12.1918, S. 125

La Vie à Paris

Il paraît que, dans les salons où l'on cause …, on agite … sur le mode nègre … tout en écoutant d'une oreille ravie, aujourd'hui le jasz-band, et demain, s'il plaît à Dieu, l'Ukulélé?

Le Temps Nr. 21041,14.2.1919, S. 3

Entertainments by Miss Alice Gardiner's Band

Two entertainments were given in the Pillar Room of the Town Hall on Thursday by Miss Alice Gardiner and her Banjo, Mandoline, and Guitar Orchestra. There was a gratifyingly large audience on each occasion, and, judging from the cordiality with which the performers were greeted and the numerous encores insisted upon, the entertainments yielded the greatest amount of pleasure to the patrons. A special feature was the engagement of Mr. Luvaun, the clever Hawaiian musician, who made his first appearance in Cheltenham. Luvaun is a versatile artist, with a range of instruments which includes the violin, saxophone, cronet, flute, harp, 'cello, and oboe. For his Cheltenham visit he restricted himself chiefly to the Ukulele, an instrument which combines the qualities of the banjo and the mandoline, and which in his hands was made to laugh and cry, to dance and to sigh, and to yield all manner of quaintly humorous as well as pathetic effects at will. Luvaun put his whole soul into his work, and the varying moods of his Ukulele were in a marked manner reflected both in his facial expressions and his bodily contortions. Second only to his instrumental skill is his ability to vocally interpret the native music, and the soft and sweet Hawaiian love songs were among the most appreciated of his sections. The applause which followed his last appearance was of unusually long duration, notwithstanding the generous number of encores he had given. The programme, besides the novelty already mentioned, included items of much interest. (…)

Cheltenham Looker-On 22.3.1919, S. 10

War-Weariness and Jazz

The Jazz Band, which arrived in London with the American troops, is now being followed by Hawaiian ukulele players; the advent of the hula dancer is predicted. „London is war-weary,“ the dispatch comments, „and having more money than before is looking for amusement.“ The diagnosis is accurate, though incomplete. … For this kind of war-weariness, there is no surcease in the strident jazz, the softly sensuous guitar of the Kanaka, nor yet in the charms of those that dance without the feet.

New York Times 24.7.1919

Fascinating Ukulele.

Many people, even now, may think of the ukulele as a Russian province, or an eastern title, yet it happens to be neither, but a small musical instrument which, according to a writer in the London Daily Chronicle, recently baffled the experience even of the customs man, who refused to recogize it as such and permitted its entry into England free of duty. The little South sea ukulele Is not unlike a „fiddle that you play with your fingers,“ to the eye of the uninitiated, but all who hear it admit Its sweetness and the charm of its plaintive voice. No doubt one of these days England will become aware of the fascination of the ukulele, even as America has already done. The customs man will then exact his legitimate toll, and a strange, wild music will haunt the London streets.

Mariposa Gazette Jg. LXV, Nr. 29, 13.12.1919

A Friend in Need

He Wants a Ukulele

„I am a cripple and feel that a musical instrument would help me pass some of the lonesome hours. I would gladly call for a ukelele if some one had one to give me. — J.C.“
This is J.C.'s second request for a ukelele. Hasn't somebody one that he can have?

Chicago Daily Tribune 28.3.1920, T. 6, S. 4

New-York's "Quartier Latin"

Mijn gids bewijst me nu goede diensten. Hij wijst me Bobby Edwards,²³⁾ chansonnier à la Aristide Bruant. Hij begeleidt zichzelf op een ukulele van eigen maaksel, uit een sigarenkistje. Neen, Booby is lang geen Bruant, hij mist het breede insolente gebaar van den Parijschen zanger. In de plaats daarvan, wijt hij met een zekere voortreffelijkheid zich onbeschaamd an te stellen. Men zegt, dat hij op zijn duim den New-Yorker kent – dat is weliswaar geen compliment voor den New-Yorker.²⁴⁾

De Sumatra post 25.08.1920, S. 2

Au Jour le Jour: Ukulele

Je crois pouvoir annoncer que le jazz-band disparaîtra des lieux habités par les hommes. Je crois pouvoir annoncer, à sons de trompe, de lyre et de buccin, la venue de l'ukulele. …
C'est la guitare hawaïenne, ou plutôt, une étrange mandoline aux minces cordes de fer, qui vient d'Hawaï …
Ce qu'on peut exprimer avec l'ukulele dépasse tout ce que peut exprimer un violon ou une jolie voix. … Observez, dans un des endroits où l'on en jou, la foule qui écoute. Les hommes, selon leur habitude, s'affalent comme s'ils attendaient, au poste, leur transfert au Dépôt.
Les femmes ne les regardent plus. Elles rêvent. Coudes sur la table, yeux mi-clos, paupières longues, visages tendus …

Hervé Lauwick, in: Le Figaro Nr. 322, 18.11.1920, S. 1

Hawaiian Ukulele

Een dame fragt les op de Ukulele. Adres: J. v. d. Berg, Oeverstraat 16, 2-m. b.

Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad 29.11.1920, S.

New Records

Just received, $2.50 each: Fox Trots, Waltzes, One and Two Steps, Jazzs, also Hawaiian Ukulele, Russian Balalaika.

The Straits Times 31.1920, S. 8

Ukulele in Swaziland

Prayers over, we went to the „parlor“ … and staged an amateur musicale. There was a good piano and we had our ukelele. What more could be desired? All the kaffirs²⁵⁾ in the neighborhood gathered outside and fairly wept for joy. It was a splendid concert, considering the talent, and made a great hit with the farmer and his wife.

O’Neil, Owen Rowe: Adventures in Swaziland: the Story of a South African Boer. Century Company, New York 1921, S. 252

"Happy Hawaii." South Sea Islanders at Grantham

The large audience present at the Y.M.C.A. Hall, on Thursday evening, were charmed and fascinated by the playing, singing, and dancing of the Hawaiians who accompany Miss Leo Mildred Clemens on her travelogue dealing with „Happy Hawaii,“ under the title of „Rambling through Paradise.“ The Hawaiian party numbers six, three men and three women, all of whom are accomplished instrumentalists and vocalist. Amongst them are Kamaki Pahu, who was bodyguard to H.R.H., the Prince of Wales when he visited the Islands, and Ane Hila, who danced the Hula and other native dances before His Royal Highness. Practically all the artists gave up good situations to travel with Miss Clemens, and the fact that Ane Hila is of Royal Hawaiian blood, shows that Miss Clemens spared no pains to secure really representative Hawaiians. The first portion of the programme consisted entirely of songs and musical selections, the party being attired in native costumes. They played steel guitars and the beautiful ukulele, a miniature guitar. Strange to European ears, both in time and rhythm, the music was very pleasing in character, and at times strongly emotional. Probably the most pleasant selection was the Hawaiian National Anthem, and Kamaki Pahu and Ane Hila delighted the audience with a rendering in English of „Silver Threads Among the Gold.“

The Grantham Journal 12.2.1921, S. 8

W. Naessens & Co.

Populaire muziek voor zang en piano

(…) Hawaiian ukulelen (echt Hawaiian, KOA hout)
Ukulele scholen. Ukulele snaren.

Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië 2.6.1921

Catches Ukulele Fever

South Africa Has Habit Now, San Francisco

San Francisco, Aug. 23. – Johannesburg, South Africa, has just discovered the Hawaiian ukulele, according to a woman who has just reached San Francisco from that country. The woman in question,manager of a musical conservatory in Pretoria, has just purchased a large supply of all grades of ukuleles from Sherman, Clay & Co. It would seem that the South Africans have taken strongly to this instrument and it is almost impossible to supply the demand for ukuleles and lessons in playing them.

The Music Trades 27.8.1921, S. 37

Hawaiische Legende

Wie die hawaiischen Legenden zumeist ein tragisches Ende nehmen, so sind auch die Lieder oft von schwermütiger Melodie. Sie werden auf dem viersaitigen Ukulele begleitet, das einer verkleinerten Geige ähnlich sieht und wie eine Gitarre gespielt wird, die Töne sind jedoch bedeutend sanfter.

Eduard Büchler: Rund um die Erde: Erlebtes aus Amerika, Japan, Korea, China Indien und Arabien. Bern: A. Francke 1921, S. 103–104

Current Events

Indianapolis. – The Latin Club of Arsenal Technical Schools was organized at a meeting held on February 14th. Eight officers with two consuls as heads were elected. Latin valentines were exchanged and „Gaudeamus igitur“ was sung. A definite course of study has been pursued at the monthly meeting, each centering about some famous Roman character. On the Ides of March, Julius Caesar was studied; interesting papers regarding his life were read, as well as an original ode, and a translation describing our English forefathers, by student members of the club.
April 21, the Parilia, was given over to Cicero. Readings from „De Senectute“ and „Archias“ were delivered, and special music was furnished by the Girls' Ukulele Club, the songs being in Latin.

The Classical Journal Bd. 17 Nr. 9 (Juni 1922), S. 534

Morte do inventor do "ukulele"

Honolulu, Julho 25. — Acaba de falecer duma doença cardiaca o portuguez Manuel Nunes, inventor do “ukulele“, instrumento musical hawaiano. O „ukulele“ só foi conhecido no Hawaii com a aparição do homem branco. Nunes nasceu no Funchal, Madeira, em 1843, e veio para estas ilhas em 1879, inventou o seu instrumento na forma rudimentar duma caixa de charutos com um eixo e quatro cordas. Foi-o aperfeiçoando até chegar ao „ukulele“ d'hoje.²⁶⁾

Alvorada Diaria (New Bedford, Mass.) 26.7.1922, S. 1

Vacante Betrekkingen

Herbert P. Byrnes
(vorheen van Kaai's Hawaiian Band)
geeft op een vlugge en eenvoudige methode lessen in Hawaiian Steel Guitaar en ukulele.
Desgewenscht bij de leerlingen aan huis. Billijke condities.
Adres: Komedieplein 16 Soerabaia.

De Indische courant 6.1.1923

Hawaiian Troubadours

Kaai's Royal Hawaiian Troubadours have during the past-week been giving entertainments at the Victoria Theatre redolent of the charm and picturesqueness of the Paradise of the Pacific, full of the plaintive cadences of the steel guitar and the native lyrics, or jigging with the irrepressible swing of the hulas. The company does excellent work in ensemble and solos, introduces the favourite ukelele, guitar, mandoline, Banjo, taro patch and Gibson guitar and is no less at home in the traps of jazz. The hula dances are rather lady-like, as hulas go, but preserve enough saucy piquancy to make them well worth seeing. Even grass skirts are being worn longer this season, however. The voices of the company are delightful and their selections are immensely popular.

The North-China Herald (Shanghai) 20.1.1923, S. 172

Notes et Impressions de Voyage

Hawaï est encore beau, très beau, mais quelque chose est détruit à jamais. Des oiseaux chantent encore et les Hawaïens chantent aussi, mais ce ne sont pas les oiseaux ni les chants dé l'île. Le violon hawaïen, le «ukalele» est d'importation portugaise et les chants plaintifs qu'on entend sont plus au moins modernes. Ne pleurent-ils pas le paradis d'autrefois?

I. de Manziarly. In: Bulletin de l'Ordre de l'Étoile Nr. 3, Juli 1923, S. 50

Gramophone Notes

Among the odd crazes of the moment is the ukulele. … Somebody has said that a ukulele suggests a dog being sick – an unpleasant but graphic simile. The players in this duet hike and slither their way through a couple of Waltzes in the approved ukulele style. One thinks of two dogs …

Discus, in: The Musical Times Jg. 64, Nr. 968 (1.10.1923), S. 712

Uke Craze

The ukelele craze, probably not as evident as some other fads are, but none the less important, has caused the music publishers to specially append special uke arrangements on all the latest pop song editions . That may be the reason why a song, Say It With a Ukelele, from a small publishers catalog, attracted Louis Bernstein's attention whose firm, Shapiro-Bernstein & Co., is now publishing it.

New York Clipper 7.12.1923

Hawaii Tourist Bureau (1923)

Learn to Play

The Hawaiian Guitar or Ukulele
UKULELES from — $25
GUITARS from — $50
Free with each instruments 3 private lessons, instruction book and playing outfit. Apply to the Manager, KAAI'S HAWAIIAN TROUBADOURS.

The Straits Times 21.1.1924, S. 6

Hawaiian Music

Prior to the advent of the missionaries in 1820 Hawaii could not be said to have any music as we know It. You will note that all Hawaiian music is based on old hymns. The guitar is not a Hawaiian instrument ; but the method of drawing a steel bar over the strings was first used by a Hawaiian-Chinese named Kehuku some years ago to give it that plaintive tone. The ukulele was invented by a Portuguese named Nunes about 35 years ago soon after he arrived in the islands from Portugal as a sugar-plantation laborer. — P. J. Halton, in Adventure Magazine.

Sausalito News Jg. XXXIX, Nr. 12, 22.3.1924

Speelde Ukulele op Hoofd van Vrouw

Chicago, 4 April. De ukulele wordt in Chicago erkend als een muziek instrument, maar het maakt verschil op hoedanige wijze men die gebruiken wil. Dat vond Richard Pearce uit toen hij voor Rechter Schwaba gebracht werd. Mrs. Pearce had em aangeklaagd omdat hij het instrument gebruikt had om haar op het hoofd te slaan en zij was niet tevreden met deze manier om het instrument te bespelen. De rechter veroordeelde hem voor zes manden gevangenisstraf maar veranderde het vonnis op verzoek van Mrs. Pearce tot $30 boete. „Ik kan daar zes ukuleles voor koopen,“ mompelde Pearce terwijl hij betaalde.

De grondwet 8.4.1924

Ukuleles Vibrate Throughout Berlin

The ukulele craze has hit Berlin with a bang. Music dealers appear determined to put a little ukulele in every home, and as the government collects a fat tax on all musical instruments, the idea has not been opposed in official circles. The tax collected goes into a general fund, a part of which is allotted to pay of reparations.
Special ukulele music and songs, such als „Ukulele Heinie,“ “Say it with a Ukulele,„ and „Try Me on Your Cat,“ are out and given away as a premium to all purchasers of an instrument. Instructions how to learn to play the contrivance and bring out all that is best in string vibration have been issued in simple language „so that even a child may play after a few days of study and practice.“

The Evening Independent 30.7.1924, S. 8

Fool Songs for Pantomime.

It will be the vogue in this year's pantomime to say to the maiden of your choice what you've got to say, not with a guitar, but with a ukulele, a Hawaiian instrument which belongs to the same family as the former. “Say it with a Ukulele,„ by the way, will be one of the „catch“ songs of the season. The ukulele will be used in every panto this year, and there has been a big order to America for 500 of these instruments. … Fool songs for panto are as the four seasons of the year, always here to time, and, anyhow, they cheer us up. A little nonsense now and then is medicine for the wisest men.

The Derby Daily Telegraph 24.11.1924, S. 6

Harmonizing
Pfadfinder beim Stimmen einer Ukulele, ca. 1925
Portrait of Olga Deane27) wearing a grass skirt and flower leis and holding a ukulele, Sydney, ca. 1925

De Hawaiï-vrouwen

De meeste vrouwen van dit volk bespelen een instrument, de ukulele genaamd. Het is een soort van driesnarige guitaar. Haar melodieën neigen nog al eens naar het melancholieke. De instrumenten dienen ook ter begleiding van den tegenwoordig berucht geworden hula-hula dans, die door de vrouwen wordt uitgevoerd.

De Sumatra post 15.4.1925

De Elfde Muze

Leerboeken op jazzgebied. Noviteiten

Bij dezelfde muziekfirma²⁸⁾ zag een boekje het licht „How to play the ukulele“, het bekende Hawaiian begeleidingsinstrument. Voor liefhebbers van dit toestel is het een aardig boekje, overigens is het bespelen zoo eenvoudig dat er feitelijk geen handleiding bij noodig is.

Het Vaderland: staat- en letterkundig nieuwsblad 18.04.1925

Enseignement

Leçons guitare Ukelele, danses espagnoles, castagnettes, chant, piano. S'ad.: 8 bis, r. Faustin-Hélie, Passy, mercredis, vendredis, 2 à 7 heures.

Figaro : journal non politique 6.9.1925, S. 6

Aristocray of Britain Gets Ukelele Fever

New York. Among the cabin passengers on the Cunarder Caronia, which arrived recently from Liverpool and Queenstown, was Miss Aileen Stanley, an American singer and musician, who went to London to remain one week and was engaged for six months. A part of her time was taken up with teaching the ukelele on the aristocracy of Mayfair, and she said that the fascinating instrument from Hawaii had been taken up at society tea parties.
Miss Stanley produced her ukelele which was inscribe with a score of well known signatures, including those of Prince George, the third son of the King, Lady Loughborough and Lord Beaverbrook. Miss Stanley said that the craze for playing the ukelele at tea parties was started by Lady Loughborough at her London house, 19 Talbot Street.
Among others Miss Stanley said she taught to play the ukelele were Beatrice Lillie, Gertrude Lawrence, actresses; Joy Coyne, who is starring in "No, No, Nanette", in London; Pappy Harding, Ella Shields and Michael Arlen, the novelist. It was a little difficult to get the serious minded Englishmen to carry ukuleles about with them to tea parties for their wives and daughters, but they are becoming and accustomed to it, Miss Stanley said.

The China Press (Shanghai) 27.9.1925, S. C8

Im Lande Honolulu

(…) Ich kann nicht verhehlen, daß es die ältesten und miesesten amerikanischen Misses waren, die die schönsten Girlanden irgendeiner ankommenden Ebenfallsmiß entgegenschwangen und schrien: Aloha! Aber schon diese erste Menge war dennoch bunt, ein tolles Menschengemisch. Ein wunderschönes, tiefbraunes Kind, um den Wuschelkopf, um den Hals, um die Brust diese dicken Blumengewinde. Ein Neger, aus Afrika, via New=York. Und dann, zwischendurch, auf allen Seiten, die Masken des fernen Ostens, Japaner mit häßlichen Sportmützen, kleine Japanerinnen, im Kimono. Chinesen wie Sand am Meer, und jegliche Mischung, kanako-euramerikanisch, japanisch-kanakisch, kanakisch-chinesisch, kanako-japano-euramerikanisch; sie riefen: Aloha und schwangen Girlanden, und hatten, ich schwöre, Gitarren bei sich, kanakische Ukuleles, und trommelten darauf im Takte: Aloha!
Was soll man tun? Ich stieg direkt in einen Wagen der elektrischen Straßenbahn. Direktion: Waikiki.
(…) Unter dem großen Banyanbaum sitzen, ihre Ahnen saßen seit vielen Jahrhunderten da, drei große braune Kanaken, mit Köpfen wie Löwen … Sie sind schön und nackt, nur mit einem Schurz und mit Blumen bekleidet, mit dicken Girlanden ans stempellosen Blumen. Ich eile begierig herbei. … Ich sehe näher hin und finde, daß diese drei schönen Kanaken Musikanten sein müssen.
Der eine hat eine Ukulele, der zweite ein anderes Saiteninstrument von phantastischer Form. Der dritte hat, ich schaudere immer noch etwas, ein Saxophon.
Dann fangen sie an zu spielen, der mondbeglänzten Brandung entgegen, im Rhythmus der ewigen Südsee: tamtamtam. Es ist wie ein Trommeln: Rhythmus ist alles; ein großer Pulsschlag geht durch die nächtliche Welt, die nach tausend verborgenen Blumen duftet. Ich baue meinen gebeugten Rücken als Wall auf zwischen dem amerikanischen Riesenhotel und der heiligen Brandung der Südsee und empfinde, tamtamtam, tamtamtam, trotz allem und allem die heiße Freude, diesen ersten und letzten raschen Geschmack des erfüllten Traums, das Glück des Daseins, des Hierseins: Aloha, Oahu'.

Arnold Höllriegel in: Berliner Tageblatt 25.10.1925, S. 5

Der blinde Heldensänger von Hawai

(…) Nach einiger Zeit kam ein Mann des Weges, mit einem sonderbaren Ding in der Hand. Er achtete nicht auf mich, sondern setzte sich, langsam und unbeholfen, mir gerade gegenüber, jenseits des Straßenbandes, auf der Seite der Schlucht von Nuva, deren Wände hier steil abfielen, ganz bedeckt von einem unsagbaren Gewirr schwarzgrüner Laubbäume, ganz heller Farne und schreiend bunter Blüten ohne Zahl. Jetzt saß der Mann.
Er trug schmutzige Leinenschuhe, eine Hose aus Segelleinwand,²⁹⁾ ein Hemd und den groben Strohhut des Landes. Jetzt wandte er mir sein Gesicht zu. Er war ein nußbrauner Kanake, zwischen vierzig und fünfzig, pockennarbig und offenbar blind. Er packte das Ding aus, das er mitgebracht hatte, es war eine von diesen dreisaitigen Gitarren, die, glaube ich, Ukulele heißen. Als der Mann das Geräusch eines nahenden Autos hörte, begann er mit einer schönen vollen Stimme zu singen, während er auf seinem Instrument mehr trommelte als Musik machte. Er sang in jener wunderbaren Sprache Polynesiens, deren vokalreiche Dialekte einander auf all den vielen, weit zerstreuten Inseln so sehr gleichen; die Melodie schien mir nur ein rhapsodischer Rhythmus; ich bildete mir von Anfang an ein, daß der Mann nicht lyrisch. sondern episch sang, daß er eine lange Geschichte zur Ukulele rezitierte.
Ich saß ganz still, und ich wußte nicht, ob der Blinde von meiner Anwesenheit wußte. Aber er wandte sein ernstes und häßliches Gesicht fortwährend mir zu, und er sang auch dann weiter, wenn kein Auto vorbeifuhr. Ich nahm mir vor, ihm nachher ein Almosen in den Schoß zu legen, und nahm unterdessen das nicht unangenehme, wenn auch einförmige Rezitativ als Bestandteil der Landschaft, wie die wenigen hellen Vogelstimmen, die manchmal aus den Bäumen kamen. (…)

Arnold Höllriegel in: Berliner Tageblatt 22.11.1925, S. 5

What America Needs Is Better Putters

Seeing a man walking around a Golf Course hitting a ball is just like seeing somebody handling a Eukalalie. You can't tell whether they are playing it or just monkeying with it.

Will Rogers, in James M. Smallwood Steven, K. Gragert (Hgg.): Will Rogers' Weekly Articles Bd. 2, Nr. 163, Claremore 2010, S. 133 (zuerst veröffentlicht 24.1.1926)

O vous qui jouiez du piano ...

Du bout de vos doigts polis, ou à l'aide d'un feutre, voulez-vous gratter le "ukalelee" (banjo sur une caisse de guitare) ou pincer la guitare hawaïenne? Ces deux instruments, accompagnés d'un pïano, peuvent servir d'orchestre pendant des heures; on ne se lasse pas de leur mélancolie un peu exacerbée.

Wirklich eine Ukulele??	Nicht eher das hier?	Tatsächlich: eine Banjulele
Illustrationen: Zyg Brunner

Lysianne Bernhardt. In: Femina 12.2.1926, S. 35–36

Five Feet of Melody
The above photo shows Miss Una Fleming,30) of Los Angeles, Calif., whith her five-foot ukulele, the largest instrument of its type on record. Miss Fleming, who is called the „Original Ukulele Lady,“ recently traveled to Hawaii with this huge musical instrument, where she no doubt found "Say It With a Ukulele" as good a way as any of conversing with the natives
Popular Science Monthly 1926:03, S. 55

A 156 Ukulele Window

QUESTION — „DO We Sell Ukuleles?“
ANSWER — „Foolish Question No. 9,999.“
This question was propounded and answered last week in the window of Copp's Music Store, South Bend, Ind., and it made the basis of one of the biggest ukulele stunts that has been reported in a long time in retail musical merchandise selling. Both question and answer were painted in big letters on a square piece of cardboard hung in the center of the window, and on all sides there was a profusion of ukuleles. Ukuleles to the left of the sign, ukuleles to the right of it, ukuleles before it, behind it and above it. 156 of them by actual count. And even more inside the store.
There were red ukuleles and there were green ones, black ones and blue ones, and some that contained many colors. In all there were more than a dozen different colors. There were Gibson ukes and Richter ukes and Illinois ukes and B & J ukes and other kinds. Not all were ukuleles, of course; many were banjo-ukes and some were tiples. The window measures eighteen feet by five feet and the instruments were arranged in orderly fashion so that despite the unusual quantity of them they made a neat array. Some were on the floor, singly or in neat little piles, some red piles and some piles of other colors. Others were on the wall and still others suspended on wires from the ceiling. In the rows between the ukuleles on the floor were copies of ukulele instruction books and ukulele song books. There was not a single price mark in the window. Now there was nothing sensational or even especially novel about this window, but It was so well done that it stopped traffic for about a week in South Bend. And, what is more important, it sold many and many a ukulele.

Musical Trade Review Nr. 82 (1926), S. 13

All London Plays The Ukelele

"Best-Seller" Musical Instrument

The ukelele is the most popular musical instrument on the market, and twice as many as six months ago are being sold in London to-day.
Nearly all the great music publishers now include ukelele fingering in their song albums and pieces of music.
„The ukelele is enjoying a wonderful wave of popularity,“ said a member of the firm of Messrs. Ebblewhite the musical instrument makers, of Adlgate, to a Daily Express representative. „I am selling more ukeleles than any other kind of instrument. All classes of people are asking for the ukelele. It is such an easy instrument to play that it's immense popularity is likely to grow, rather than diminish.“
A new leas of life to the banjo is likely to be afforded by the ukelele's spell of popularity. „There are unmistakable signs that the banjo is coming into its own again,“ said a leading London music instrument maker. „Twenty years ago the banjo was the popular instrument of the day, but it gradually dropped out of favour. The banjo, if it 'comes back,' will return purely as a jazz instrument!“

The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser 2.7.1926, S. 5

Midsummer Booms Sale Of The Ukulele

There are more people playing ukuleles to-day than you can shake a stick at, however much you would like to, and it is too late to do anything about it. Hawaii was thoughtlessly annexed and the damage was done.
A great many ukes from this little annexation have grown …
The ukulele is a summer best seller. … Its small size makes it easy to transport. You would be surprised at the number of inncent traveling bags rolling through the stations these days with ukuleles concealed in them. …
But the big factors in the rise of the ukulele … are its low cost and the ease with which it may be learned..
About ten chords absorbed and many a „uke“ player will spring full panoplied from the practice bench and have at you. Shades of the hours of piano practice of your youth! Such are not for the rapid-moving Younger Generation, who want results and want them quick.. As a matter of fact, one can be a maestro on the ukulele if one so desires and execute difficult classical selections, but that possibility is not what sells the instruments by the thousands. It's easy music that soothes.
If you want other evidence than that of your ears as to the prevalence of the ukulele, note the sheet music of the average popular song. It probably carries a score for the „uke“. This addition, which began about two years ago, now is generally carried for those who cannot be bothered with notes but want to know when and where to shift their clutch when operating the ukulele. (…)
Of all the various methods of getting rid of ukuleles far fewer ar unpremeditated than might be, and a great many of their perpetrators are infuriated to the point of lacking finesse and sublety in their machinations. There is a case on record of sufferers suddenly snatching up ukuleles and using them as tennis racquets …
The ukulele may be played with many other instruments, even with a pipe organ, but it is fated mostly to accompany songs. It is only fair to state this since it explains the antipathy in which some hold it. Modern troubadours chords in motor cars, on ship-board and walking through the streets. Unlike the troubadours of old, most of those of the present are girls. What the significance of this is it would be hard to say. Maybe it is a sirenlike lure.

The China Press 10.10.1926, S. 9

You are the only one for me

Josephine Baker tritt in den Folies Bergère in Paris auf und nimmt aus dem Programm im November 1926 drei Stücke auf Schallplatte auf, auf denen sie sich selbst mit der Ukulele begleitet:³¹⁾

Berlin: Ball der Funkstunde

On Februar 6, 1927, Douglas³²⁾ and his wife, Marion Cook, starred in the „Ball der Funkstunde“ held in Berlin's Marmorsaal. To advertise the event, a full-length photo of Douglas in blackface playing a ukulele was published in the radio weekly magazine „Funk-Stunde“ in January.

Leroy Hopkins: „Louis Douglas and the Weimar Reception of Harlemania.“ In: Larry A. Greene, Anke Ortlepp (Hg.): Germans and African Americans: Two Centuries of Exchange. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2011, S. 61

De vloo als instrument

Het zou werkelik de moeite lonen een studie te maken van het verband tussen de populariteit van een bepaald instrument en de mode. Niet de mode in kostuums, maar de mode in de beoefening der huismuziek, in dans enz. Een jaar of veertig geleden was in Engeland, waar dergelijke modes zeer sterk zijn, en „men“ graag na doet waartoe een hooggeplaatst persoon in de lande het voorbeeld geeft, de cither een der meest gevraagde huisinstrumenten, omdat een der prinsessen zich daarop oefende. Een tijdje daarna was het de banjo die allerwegen bespeeld werd, op het ogenblik is de ukulele (spreek uit: joekoeleele} aan de beurt, een kleine gitaar met vier snaren. Het is eigenlik helemaal geen spiksplinternieuw instrument, maar het is nu pas, vooral in Engeland en de Ver. Staten in de mode gekomen. Hoe dat geschiedde, is aardig genoeg om hier na te vertellen.
Het instrument stamt uit Portugal, en is aldaar en op het Portugese eiland Madeira bekend onder den naam Machete. Dit zelfde woord wordt in het Portugees gebruikt voor 'n mes dat de mannen in hun gordel dragen om in de bosschen takken en doorns af te snijden.
Vele Portugezen emigreerden aan het eind van de 19de eeuw naar Brazilië en de Hawaï-eilanden waar zij op de suikerplantages een bestaan vonden. Onder de voorwerpen die zij uit hun vaderland meebrachten, behoorde de Machete die zij naar vaderlands gebruik 's avonds voor hun woning bespeelden. De inboorlingen koesterden een buitengewone bewondering voor dat vreemde instrumentje. Zij kenden al allerhand Europese muziekinstrumenten, de koning hield er zelfs een eigen militaire stafmuziek op na, maar de Machete won het in aantrekkingskracht van alle andere instrumenten. Het vlugge bewegen, het op- en afspringen van de vingers van de linkerhand maakte op hen de indruk van het springen van een vloo en zo gaven ze het instrument de naam: Ukulele, hetgeen zeggen wil: springende vloo. Na enige tijd begonnen inboorlingen zelf het instrument te bespelen en enkele ondernemende Portugese emigranten besloten de instrumenten ter plaatse te vervaardigen, daarbij gebruikmakend van het voor dit doel bij uitstek geschikte accacia-hout, dat op het eiland voorhanden is. Amerikanen die Hawaï bezochten, leerden het instrumentkennen en bespelen en namen het mee naar de Vereenigde Staten, waar het spoedig ingang vond en z'n plaats zelfs kreeg in de Jazzband. Van de Vereenigde Staten kwam het naar Engeland, waar het – naar Alban Voigt in het Duits-Tsjechiese tijdschrift „Der Auftakt“ vertelt – door 'n dame uit de hogere kringen aan de Prins van Wales getoond werd, die het op zijn beurt leerde bespelen, met het gevolg dat de ukulele – want de naam wera uit Hawaï via de Vereenigde Staten naar Europa overgebracht – het mode-instrument in Engeland geworden is. Er is zelfs een hele ukulele-industrie ontstaan, in Spanje vooral; maar vele instrumenten komen ook uit Nazareth en zelfs Honolulu.
In Engeland heeft men een tussenvorm tussen banjo en ukulele op de markt gebracht, banjukele genaamd, veel sterker van toon, en geschikter voor gebruik in de Jazzband.
De zingende zaag heeft dus alweer afgedaan, heeft het trouwens ook nooit tot prinselik instrument kunnen brengen.

Paul F. Sanders, in: Het volk: dagblad voor de arbeiderspartij 11.03.1927, S. 10

Aus der englischen Gegenwart

Aber eine andere sehr feudale Lady tritt jetzt im Gaiety Theatre in Manchester auf und singt Lieder zur Ukulele. Es ist die Baronin Furnivall,³³⁾ Peereß aus eigenem Recht und Inhaberin eines Adelstitels, der seit dem Jahre 1295 ununterbrochen in ihrer Familie vererbt wurde.

Arnold Höllriegel in: Berliner Tageblatt 14.08.1927, S. 25

Oktoberwiese

Gleich neben der Kapelle tagt, laut Plakat, eine königlich privilegierte Feuerschützenvereinigung. Die Musikanten sind bayrisch maskiert, sie spielen „Püppchen, du bist mein Augenstern!“ und ähnliches altmodisches Zeug und dazwischen plötzlich einen strammen Marsch, der seltsam bekannt klingt … ach, das ist unser liebes, schwermütiges Ukulele Lullaby, für militärische Zwecke bearbeitet!

Rudolf Arnheim in: Berliner Tageblatt 7.10.1927, S. 2

Lenzburg: Schulprojekt "Ukulele"

Der Schweizer Architekt Hans Schmidt³⁴⁾ gewann 1927 einen Wettbewerb für den Neubau der Bezirksschule in Lenzburg mit seinem Entwurf "Ukulele". Der Entwurf, der im Seitenaufriß tatsächlich an das Griffbrett einer Ukulele erinnert (mit den vier Fensterreihen als Nachahmung der Saiten und zwei Eckgebäuden, die Sattel und Steg darstellen), wurde in der Öffentlichkeit stark kritisiert und schließlich in einer „entschärften“ Version, die ein Konkurrent entwarf, umgesetzt (mit einem Walmdach, das die gesamte Ukulelen-Optik zerstört hat!). Die Schweizerische Bauzeitung bemerkte zu dem Streit:

Das vorliegende Projekt will nichts anderes sein als ein Schulhaus, aber dieses ganz; es ist von Mätzchen-Modernität erfrischend frei — mit einziger Ausnahme des Namens „Ukulele“, unter dem es segelt (weshalb denn das Publikum mit sowas reizen, wo man doch zeigt, dass man es mit guten Gründen überzeugen kann??); aber dieser Punkt ist ja gewiss unwichtig.

P.M.: "II. Wettbewerb für die Bezirksschule Lenzburg." In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung Bd. 89/90 (1927), H. 15, S. 199–200, hier S. 200.

Seitenansicht des Schmidtschen Entwurfs "Ukulele"

ON DIT ÇA ...

Il paraît que l'étude du piano n'intéresse plus les hommes, parce qu'il n'y a qu'un pianiste par orchestre, et encore quand il y en a un ! Et les hommes, devant piétiner trop longtemps avant de percèr, renoncent à suivre les classes de piano.
Sans doute, les classes de saxophone sont-elles plus suivies, ainsi que celles de banjo et dé ukalele. Nous verrons probablement bientôt l'ouverture, au Conservatoire, des classes de guitare hawaïenne et de tam-tam. Et pour se faire engager dans un orchestre il faudra se passer la figure au cirage et savoir souffler dans des verres en poussant des mugissements épilèptiques.

Serge Veber, in: La Presse 27.11.1927, S. 2

Music for Vacation Time

Ukulele playing is a well recognized form of recreation on practically every playground. It is not at all unusual to see boys and girls strumming „Ukes“ beneath a shady palm tree at a playground. … One of our Ukulele Orchestras meets at Exposition Park Playground and among its members are children eight or ten years old and men and women nearing the half-century mark. In addition to our organized groups we have hundreds of Ukulele players who come to the playgrounds for the proper „atmosphere“ and environment which sunny California offers them in the open air.

Tindall, Glenn M.; Wright Ralph W.: “Music for Vacation Time„. In: Music Supervisors' Journal Bd. 14 Nr. 4 1928:03), S. 17+19+21+23+51; hier S. 19

Explorer Will Take Ukulele on Flight

New York City. – Richard W. Konter,³⁵⁾ member of the crew of Lieutenant Richard Byrd's proposed South Pole expedition, intends to take his ukulele and collection of mammy songs³⁶⁾ to while away the frozen nights. „I was with Byrd at the North Pole, and the natives all wanted to know about mammy songs,“ explains Konter, „so this time I am learning 'That's My Mammy.'³⁷⁾ It seems to me the most typical of the present 'mammy' output. The natives love to hear of our warm South with its lazy, easy ways, and good things to eat.“ Mr. Konter holds a record for taking modern American music into the few places where it had never penetrated. „I don't know what it is about this queer music of ours, but even the natives will take to it,“ he declares. „They won't pay any attention to classical pieces that I play for them, but jazz gets them. It is the universal rhythm, and I am expecting that its effect on the natives of the South Polar regions will be just what it was on those who live around the North Pole.“

True Republican 01.08.1928, S. 6

Noten zu That's My Mammy (Pease/Baer/Nelson 1928), Ukulele-Arrangement: Breen, May Singhi)

Machete (Cavaco, Cavaquinho)

kleine portugiesische Gitarre mit vier Darmsaiten, die von G in Quinten nach aufwärts gestimmt werden,³⁸⁾ also Geigenstimmung haben. Auf Madeira und Azoren verbreitet, gegenwärtig als "Ukulele" Modeinstrument in England.

Zuth, Josef: Handbuch der Laute und Gitarre. Hildesheim: Georg Olms. 1978. Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1928, S. 184.

Ukulele

Polynesische Bezeichnung der kleinen viersaitigen, portugiesischen Gitarre (Machete), die von Madeira und den Azoren auf die Sandwichinseln verpflanzt wurde. Als Modeinstrument kam es unter dem drolligen Namen U[kulele] („Der hüpfende Floh“) nach England. Es wird als Melodie- und Akkordinstrument mit einem Plektrum gespielt; Stimmung: a–d<html>¹</html>–fis<html>¹</html>–h<html>¹</html>.

Zuth, Josef: Handbuch der Laute und Gitarre. Hildesheim: Georg Olms. 1978. Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1928, S. 277.

Namenbildung

Von hoher Poesie zeugt der Name des persischen Streichinstruments Rebab (traurig tönend), von burschikoser Musikantenart der Name Ukulele (angeblich: hüpfender Floh) für die heulende hawaiische Gitarre. [21]
Jenseits von Gut und Böse beginnt neuerdings die von der portugiesischen Machete abstammende hawaiische Gitarre, das Ukulele, durch eine reichlich kitschige Glissandomanier musikalische Freunde um sich zu sammeln. [110–111]

Wilhelm Heinitz: Instrumentenkunde . Potsdam: Athenaion 1928

ukelele.

A fretted four-stringed Hawaiian musical instrument usually tuned to A, D, F#, and B. It is similar in shape to a guitar but much smaller in size. Used principally for vocal accompaniment. Not an orchestral instrument but sometimes used in groups made up exclusively of fretted instruments. It is also made in the form of a banjo, called a banjo ukulele, having a banjo body with a ukelele keyboard.

Clark, Welford D.: An illustrated dictionary of modern musical instruments. Chicago: Hall & McCreary, ca. 1928, S. 37

Be the life of the party with this Hawaiian Banjo-Ukelele
Farmer's Wife 1.6.1928, S. 32

Constance Talmadge dans "Vénus"

Au studios de Nice où Constance Talmadge tourne „Vénus“, sa première production pour les Artistes Associés, on ne rencontre pas moins d'une demi-douzaine de phonographes qui, du matin au soir, déroulent leurs harmonies plus ou moins syncopées et entretiennent en bonne humeur chacun des collaborateurs du film.
Pourtant, parmi tant de musiques, il en est une qui semble particulièrement chère aux familiers da studio; c'est celle qui s'exhale d'un instrument assez particuliers: l'ukalelé de Constance Talmadge.
Il n'est guère de moment de répti que Constance n'emploie à pincer les cordes de cet étonnant petit instrument. Et, comme la prononciation du mot „ukalele“ semble présenter pour nos compatriotes d'insurmontables difficultés, il est généralement désigné au studio sous l'appellation du „petit banjo de Miss Talmadge“…

L'Écho annamite : organe de défense des intérêts franco-annamites 5.3.1929, S. 4

A Gay Caballero

Victor Japan veröffentlicht im Dezember eine Schallplatte mit den japanischen Versionen von Frank Crumits A Gay Caballero (Share-otoko 洒落男, Übers: Sakai Tōru 坂井透) und Ukulele Baby (ウクレレ・ベビー, Übers.: Horiuchi Keizō 堀内敬三), gesungen von Futamura Teiichi (1900–1948), gespielt von der Ernest Kaai Jazz Band, Ukulele: Sakai Tōru (Victor Japan Nr. 51013).³⁹⁾

Schweizerische Wandervögel

Wandervogel-Landsgemeinde in Kimenhof bei Embrach – Wandervögel spielen Gitarre und Ukulele; andere Wandervögel zuschauend (Pfingsten 1929)

When Is a Teacher Not a Teacher?

Possibly the term „student“ may gradually lose its present definition of raucous rooter at athletic contests, reckless driver of a battered Ford, and expert performer on the ukelele, and may resume its nearly obsolete meaning of lover of learning.

Max McConn: „When Is a Teacher Not a Teacher?“ In: The North American Review 228:4 (1929:10) S. 410–416 (hier S. 416)