Dobro Guitar: Museum Object and Cultural History
Dobro Guitar: Date made: 1933-1937. maker: Dobro. Object Name: guitar.
The object in the museum catalogue
This resonator guitar was made by Dobro in Los Angeles, California around 1933-1937. The name originated in 1928 when the Dopyera brothers formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company. "Dobro" is both a contraction of "Dopyera brothers" and a word meaning "goodness" in their native Slovak. This six course (6x1) guitar has a squared-off neck with raised strings for Hawaiian-style playing.
This guitar features U. S. Patent #1,896,484 dated February 7, 1933 by John Dopyera for a musical instrument with a conical metal resonator.
Frederick John Wright (1926-1985) was a classic amateur country music performer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and a year later, his family moved to Toronto, Canada. In 1938, a door to door salesman offered a Dobro guitar with lessons for $5.00 per week, for thirteen weeks. Fred played this guitar and with his father entertained veterans in hospitals in the Toronto area. In 1947, Fred returned to the United States with his treasured guitar.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date made: 1933-1937
- maker: Dobro
- Object Name: guitar
- Physical Description: wood (overall material)
- Physical Description: metal (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 39 in x 14 1/2 in x 5 in; 99.06 cm x 36.83 cm x 12.7 cm
- place made: United States: California, Los Angeles
- ID Number: 1989.0660.01
- catalog number: 1989.0660.01
- accession number: 1989.0660
- Credit Line: Gift of Betty R. Wright in memory of Frederick John Wright
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
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Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
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