New Baby.. Can you help with info?

[Sallybee]

Hello,

My first banjolele showed up today.. she followed me home from Upstate NY to FL..Hoping to figure out an approx age or manufacturer….appears to be a plastic cover/sides

 

[Quad57]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the body looks like it might be Bakelite. Can you post some more photos?

 

[Sallybee]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the body looks like it might be Bakelite. Can you post some more photos?

I believe it is bakelite. Would that make her a 1950’s baby?

 

[Quad57]

believe it is bakelite. Would that make her a 1950’s baby?

No, this is likely a 1920's instrument. I'd have to do a little more digging, but I'm fairly sure it's a Rolando model, made for the Frank J. Hart Southern California Music Company. Google that info. and you'll find a number of variations with either Bakelite or wood body. I'm not sure who might have made it. SCMC was a big distributor that contracted instruments from Martin and Nunes, among others.

 

[Quad57]

Vintage Southern California Ukuleles

Good morning, I just signed up on the New Members thread after years of lurking from time to time. My interest in ukuleles really came from my interest in vintage surfboards, which led to interest in early California, which led me to what I now do - teaching and getting to do research which is...

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

Look online for George S. Sandstrom banjoleles and you'll find some similar to yours. Such as . . . https://reverb.com/item/64747843-s-sandstrom-banjolele-1900s