-40%
ANTIQUE RARE THOS E WILSON & CO ASHLAND QUALITY LINE UKULELE CHICAGO UKE VTG
$ 264
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EXTREMELY RARE 1913-1917 THOS. E. WILSON & CO. ASHLAND QUALITY LINE UKULELE.
I bought this at an estate auction (found with another rare, from the same era, Manuel Nunes & Sons uke up for sale currently-check my other items). This uke is in as-found condition. It had only the one string.
Markings:
Ashland Quality Line decal on headstock. Inside paper label reads: "GENUINE UKULELE ASHLAND QUALITY LINE THOS. E. WILSON & CO. MUSICAL MERCHANDISE MANUFACTURERS CHICAGO USA
". There is also "Mary C" handwritten in pencil on the inside label and a fancy "M" (presumably for Mary) decaled on top under sound hole. After a lot of online research, I am pretty confident this uke dates between 1913 and 1917. The only mention I could find of Ashland or Wilson making or selling ukulele's was from a report to stockholders for the year 1917(very last picture) that read "We make and sell phonographs and ukuleles..." and then went on to list sporting goods and apparel and a bunch of other items including gut strings for tennis racquets and musical instruments. Wilson got out of much of those other product lines and stuck with sporting goods mostly after 1917. They also phased out Ashland and stuck with the Thos E Wilson trademark and logo for a while as a subsidiary to Wilson & Co. I would guess that they did not actually make the ukulele and bought from another maker and rebranded as Ashland/Wilson, but I could not find any affiliated companies that would point to the actual maker. If you do the research on Wilson and the companies before and after him, it's very fascinating stuff.
There are 12 frets ending at the body. The wood on the back comes up and over over the heel of the neck as one piece.
Total length (from point at center of headstock to bottom) 21"; body 8 15/16"; upper bout 5"; lower bout 6 1/4"; depth 1 14/16" (at top of body) & 2 1/16" (at bottom-lower bout); sound hole 1 11/16"; fingerboard including nut to body is 6 11/16"; nut 1 3/8".
The uke has several cracks all pictured but are as follows: on side of upper bout 1" (looks like it got bumped there and not a stress crack); on same side starting near center bottom and running along lower bout continuing up into upper bout; on back from bottom towards center around 3.5"; tiny 1/8" crack on back at center bottom. Also the piece directly in the middle at bottom is lifted slightly on one end. I believe the bridge may have been reglued at some point (can't tell for sure). The nut appears original and in excellent shape but may also have been glued down at some point. I believe the tuners/pegs are original.
There are 63 pictures to look through.
Selling as is.
Thanks!
GREAT ITEM, GREAT COLLECTIBLE!