Vintage Inspired Crafting: Cardboard Ukelele

Nothing says 1920's like a dainty little ukelele (or ukulele - apparently both spellings are correct). In summer of last year I visited a flea market and spotted a vintage banjolele for sale. Unfortunately I didn't find it until right before we left and I didn't have enough cash left to purchase it, but it certainly stuck in my mind. I have a habit of picking up new instruments as hobbies, so since then I've toyed around with the idea of picking up a ukelele or banjolele several times. If only I could go back to that flea market!

Anyway, I got this wild idea while stuck at home sick this weekend that i could put together a ukelele with (mostly) things around the house. I'd seen DIY pages with cardboard instruments before so it wasn't a totally unique idea. First I did a bit of sketching and then some internet searching and finally found a great instructables page by eplunkett. It filled in the gaps in my sketched design and gave a great way to attach the strings (hinges!) so it was just what I needed.

 I won't go too much into detail on my process since you can definitely use the instructables, but I will discuss a few of the changes I made for a vintage aesthetic.

 For my design I used some doubled corrugated cardboard that we had on hand since it was stronger with less bulk. I was also careful to cut my layers on several different angles so that they would support each other and not flex. 

 I noticed in photos of the finished cardboard ukeleles online that you could see inside the sound hole to the back piece of cardboard, so I decided to add a bit of color. Yay, Periwinkle!

The Instructable calls for composite cardboard (also called chip-board, for those art-supply-store-junkies out there) in addition to the corrugated stuff, so I purchased matboard with the intention of using the colored side for the front of my ukelele.

It took me forever to decide on the aesthetic designs for this little lady. I toyed around with leaving it a simple color using the matboard, as well as paint, decoupage, wood burning, acetone transfer... and ultimately settled on a simple vintage print with a sort of "circusy" bohemian look to it. I have a couple of antique squeeze boxes and accordions that have cardboard bellows and they are often decorated similarly, so I'd imagine if cardboard ukeleles were a thing in the 1920s they'd look something like this. I kind of wonder if there were instruments like this because so many cheap "travel" instruments were mass produced at the time. 

I'll have another post for you soon to show you all the finished instrument. I'm very excited! Maybe I'll  even include a video of it in action! :)

 xoxo Emily

Public Domain? Yes, Please!: Meet The Andrews Sisters

The Andrews Sisters are definitely more well-known than the Boswell Sisters that I posted about earlier this week, and they're a staple in any 40s and 50s music lover's collection. Even if you aren't familiar with them persay, most people have at least heard their music in movies or alongside Glenn Miller Orchestra in old recordings.

The Andrews Sisters were heavily influenced by the Boswell Sisters, and even emulated their style and sang their songs when they were first starting out. Their complicated harmonies and jazzy style, while borrowing from the slightly old group of sisters, became their own in a short time following their popularity during World War II and they often visited bases to sing for the troops (in several overseas countries, even!)

If you're completely enamored by the peppy, upbeat sound of the Andrews Sisters I strongly encourage you to NOT read up on their history. I can't help but feel a little sad when I hear them sing now that I now have read of the hardships and family tensions they went through. I guess life gets hard when you're in such close quarters with your siblings in fame.

Here is a youtube sampling of their amazing songs:

This first one is my absolute favorite song of theirs, and I am so pleased that I was able to find this footage from 1942 of them doing a performance (presumably in a movie)!



One of their biggest hits was "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" which is a seriously infectious swinging good time. This footage is from Abbott and Costello's "Buck Pirates". Check out those moves! You also catch a serious glimpse of LaVerne's knee toward the end there - Scandalous!

This final one is a much less known song, but has some great lyrics and a thick jazzy beats. I can't help but feel peppy when I listen to these songs.

I hope you enjoy the Andrews Sisters as much as I do! Please let me know if any of my YouTube links go stale. You can also visit Archive.org's site for them and stream and download additional public domain recordings of their music! 

Public Domain? Yes, Please!: Meet The Boswell Sisters

The Boswell Sisters formed in 1925 as a three-sister singing group from New Orleans, and their jazzy complex harmonies were a local sensation for half a decade before they moved to New York City in 1930. After they moved to the Big Apple things really took off for them and they began recording for Brunswick Records.

 "These Brunswick records are widely regarded as milestone recordings of vocal jazz." – Boswell Sisters, Wikipedia

The three sisters were very actively traveling the USA for shows during the second World War but unfortunately not allowed to visit bases over seas for foreign troop rallying and whatnot due to an unfortunate childhood accident that left the middle sister, Connie, paralyzed and wheelchair bound.

This is a streaming version of "When I Feel Lonely" which is very snappy and was the first song the sisters recorded back in 1925! You can find loads more like this at Archive.org which offers public domain music streaming and downloads. It's a great website!

This is another of their popular songs, from later in their career. I love the way they bop as they sing!

If you have time, this is a nine minute short called "Close Farmony" which is a seriously amazing (albeit mildly bizarre) film about how jazz music saves the farm! The sisters and the farm hand spend the film serenading farm animals, trying to encourage them to produce more milk and eggs.  It's hilarious! The best part is the piano covered in hay.

A few years after the sisters began recording for Brunswick, they split to go their separate ways. Connie (who changed her name officially to Connee at that point) went off to enjoy a prosperous solo career.


So I leave you this Christmas Eve with a beautiful song from Connee Boswell. While I am certainly sad that there are no other voices to harmonize with her, this is still a beautiful version of a holiday classic.

Merry Christmas Eve!