'Ukulele stars at East Coast museum
Associated Press
STAMFORD, Conn. — The 'ukulele will be the topic of a museum exhibition on the East Coast.
Associated Press
The Stamford Museum and Nature Center is billing "Ukulele Fever: The Craze That Swept America" as the first exhibit on the history and social significance of the four-string instrument.
Patrick Adams, on the staff of the Stamford (Conn.) Museum and Nature Center, strums on a demonstration 'ukulele in an exhibit that includes instruments used by Elvis Presley and Tiny Tim.
"It's the people's instrument," said Jim Beloff, who wrote a book on the 'ukulele and helped organize the show. "It's a wonderful instrument to be reconsidered now."
The exhibit, which runs through May 26, includes more than 100 'ukuleles dating back nearly a century.
The collection includes rare instruments, highly ornamented models, a 'ukulele owned by singer Tiny Tim, instruments made out of coconut shells and even beach 'ukuleles from the groovy 1960s.
It also includes a film from the 1920s showing how the instrument was made and an accompanying hands-on exhibit teaching children about Hawai'i.
The 'ukulele, which originated in Portugal, became a sensation in Hawai'i with Portuguese immigrants who came to work in the sugar cane fields. Hawaiian officials promoted the instrument at an international exposition in San Francisco in 1915.
"Then the thing all of a sudden becomes a craze," said Sharon Blume, executive director of the Stamford museum. Production skyrocketed.
Vaudeville and Hollywood embraced the instrument, which became a major prop in many movies, from the films of Laurel and Hardy to Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and Bob Hope.
A second wave of popularity erupted after servicemen were sent to Hawai'i during World War II. The instrument's sweet, soft strumming evoked images of carefree living and happiness.
"Hawai'i is, for many people, paradise on earth," Beloff noted.
Organizers of the exhibit expect 30,000 to 40,000 visitors from around the country.
