Maccaferri G40 Guitar: Museum Object and Cultural History
Maccaferri G40 Guitar: date made: 1954. maker: Maccaferri, Mario. Object Name: guitar.

The object in the museum catalogue
This guitar was designed by Mario Maccaferri and made by the French American Reeds Manufacturing Company of Mount Vernon, New York in 1954. Maccaferri (1900-1993) was born in Cento, Italy and at the age of eleven became an apprentice to guitarist and luthier Luigi Mozzani. After an early career as a guitarist and instrument maker in Europe, Maccaferri immigrated to the United States in 1939. Mario Maccaferri developed a variety of plastic instruments including plastic woodwind reeds and a plastic ukulele. This six course (6x1) guitar, model G-40, was made of Dow Styron plastic. As indicated in the original brochure accompanying this guitar, it sold for $39.95.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1954
- maker: Maccaferri, Mario
- Object Name: guitar
- Measurements: overall: 38 in x 13 1/4 in x 4 1/2 in; 96.52 cm x 33.655 cm x 11.43 cm
- place made: United States: New York, Mount Vernon
- ID Number: 1994.0136.01
- accession number: 1994.0136
- catalog number: 1994.0136.01
- Credit Line: Gift of Maria Maccaferri
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
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.