History of the Cigar Box Guitar

The Blues is trapped inside this guitar. It's up to me to let it out!

So you may wonder to yourself, what in the heck is this thing and why would anyone want to play one??  Well, there are a lot of answers to that question but it really lies inside of YOU.  My answer to you is, “WHY NOT?”

However, perhaps a little background of this fine piece of Americana will help open any closed minds that may read this, or will satisfy the curious mind that just wonders, “What is this thing anyway?” 

In the mid 1800’s cigar makers stopped shipping cigars in large crates and began using smaller, decorative boxes.  Like today’s cigar boxes they were well-made from quality woods such as Spanish Cedar, and often adorned with unique and decorative artwork.  During the Civil War it was not uncommon to see soldiers sitting around a campfire playing a simple homemade instrument made from a stick and old crates or, you guessed it, cigar boxes.  These instruments were basic one or two stringed violins, banjos or diddley-bows. 

After the Civil War the Industrial Revolution was about to be born and prosperous times would soon follow.  This boom paved the way for companies like C.F. Martin to revolutionize the guitar into what we know it to be today.  By the 1920’s times began to get very tough however.  During the Great Depression some things were indeed booming, although no one realized it at the time.  To deal with the hard times, families of all types used music as a way to spend time together and express their feelings about their day-to-day hardships.  This music is now known as The Blues, and it took on many forms depending on what part of the country you lived in.  It grew quickly from the Piedmont to the Appalachians and down through the Mississippi Delta.  In the Delta people like Lead Belly, Blind Willie Johnson and Robert Johnson were creating music that inspired the likes of Muddy Waters, John Coltrane, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, The Rolling Stones and the list is limitless.  In the Piedmont and the Appalachian region artists like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family were creating their own style of blues music, known now as Old Time.  Old Time was derived from Celtic music due to the strong Scottish influence in those areas.  Old Time and various forms of The Blues eventually blended together to form what we now call Bluegrass. 

One thing that the Delta musicians and the Appalachian musicians had in common was that they didn’t have the means to buy custom crafted instruments.  Therefore they made their own.  Most of these were simple one, two or three stringed instruments such as guitars, violins, banjos, dulcimers and diddley bows.  They also used practical household items such as spoons, washboards and jugs to create sounds that simply can’t be replicated without using the same instruments that were used during that period.  These instruments are a piece of our ancestry.  They are a piece of folk art and without a doubt, a piece of Americana.  It is up to us to keep that history alive.

So, what are you waiting for???  Order one from me today and see and feel what it is all about!!!

The Old blended with the new