Cigar Box Guitar #30...

Despite being back to work I managed to squeeze in a cigar box guitar build. I actually made the neck last Monday on my day off so not too much trouble to put things all together today. It's an antique box that I got thanks to a donation from Theresa, a high school classmate and faithful blog reader. 

Here the guitar sits on another antique. I will give a free slide lesson to anyone who guesses what that piece of furniture is and does. Can't be anyone like a family member who was thrift shopping with us when Cathy found it. Of course this is just really a thinly veiled effort to come over to your house and keep you up three or four days straight because slide playing is serious business. 

As you see it's an old box. I could not exactly date but they seem to sell 10-15 bucks.  Interesting history of these cigars. The Fendrich family emigrated to the USA in 1833 from the remains of the old Holy Roman Empire in what is now Germany. After a time spent learning the trade in 1855 they opened a factory in Evansville, Indiana which is coincidentally the home of my sister in law and brother in law Margaret and Kevin.  They made cigars in Evansville until a few years after WW2 when the got swallowed by bigger companies but during the war they supplied 30% of the cigars the government bought for troops. These were packed in water proof wooden cases for floating ashore in remote locations. Apparently a good employer at one time they had 110 employees with 25 years service and 400 with ten years. 

The internet is great. I was able to find that they dropped prices to a nickle through the 1930s to maintain brand loyalty in hard times. 

Inspected by real people who wrote on the box. 

Clean! 

A Little wear on the box. This guitar is electric and plays and sounds great either acoustic or with an amp. Might not take the abuse of a toddler as you see some of the guitars on this page are capable of absorbing but in my experience some like the older boxes. This guitar is for sale. Call me up and let's decide what it's worth. I will entertain offers. 

The inside of the lid. This guitar is sealed with the box corners so you will need a screw driver to check this out but it seems to have been used as a school pencil box. There is some sketching, doodling and a name Helen Morris Starrett. Once again the internet is great. Helen Morris Starrett Berry is buried in the New Boston, Texas Cemetery dates 1919-1968.  I suspect she would have been in school 1925 till the mid 1930s. Thanks Helen for taking good care of your school supplies.