Several years ago we observed a trend having to do with musical
instruments made from cigar boxes.
Most of the the activity has to do
with cigar box guitars, but fiddles and other instruments as well. The
part of the trend that we are keenly interested in is cigar box
fiddles.
Cigar box fiddles have a history going back at least
150 years. The Spanish "Cedar" (not really cedar, but a hardwood that
smells like cedar) cigar box was introduced in the 1840s, and there
were plenty of discarded ones around by the 1850s. There is pretty good
evidence that home made cigar box fiddles were common among soldiers
during the American Civil War. The prevailing theory is that it was members of segregated or predominantly Irish regiments (one hears the Illinois regiments mentioned frequently), who were familiar with making fiddles from found objects such as ham tins, who invented the cigar box fiddle. Bottom line: It was probably a "Yank" (Union or Federal soldier, depending on which side you were on) who invented the cigar box fiddle, but they were quickly adopted by both sides.
To find out more about cigar box fiddles and their origin, see the Introduction to Cigar Box Fiddles information page at the Rickert & Ringholz Musical Instruments blog. To find out about antique-style cigar box fiddles in particular, see the Cigar Box Fiddles Old School page.
The cigar box fiddles designed by Don Rickert are "authentic" except that they sound really good, uncommon for cigar box fiddles. Various Rickert & Ringholz Musical Instruments variations are shown below. Click on any thumbnail image for a full-size view.
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