Charlie Anglemire

[MikeEdgerton]

This is a good read about a luthier I never heard of. Three of his instruments are now in the CF Martin Museum.


https://www.guitar-repair.com/articl...XBeU1HTuERQabM

[brunello97]

Super interesting, Mike. Thanks for posting.

Some good nuggets from the linked site:

This mandolin is stamped on the brace closest to the soundhole with the date “Sept. 25, 1914.”

The body of the mandolin is constructed so that the top and sides are attached with a series of small screws to a back and second set of sides with a slightly larger profile, allowing the top and sides to slip into the larger back and side assembly, similar to the way the a banjo back mates to the rim.

Perhaps the most interesting design feature of this mandolin is that there is a second spruce top inside the body, attached to the inner set of sides, suspended about 1” inside the visible top. This second top can be seen in the photos showing the lyre-shaped sound hole.

Finally, the body shows a beautiful bird’s eye maple ornamental band around the rim, which is very similar to what was found on bowl back mandolins of the 19th and early 20th century (see photo #2). It may be fair to speculate that Anglemire was involved in the building of bowl back mandolins at Martin given the carry-over of this feature to his own non-bowl back instruments.

Some photos of Charlie's mandolin:

Mick

[brunello97]

One further (and very sad) addendum to Charlie's story...also from the website Mike linked to:

According to Alice Yeakel, Charlie Anglemire was an avid musician and often had friends over to the house to play. But sometime in early 1917 Charlie lost several fingers from one hand in an accident. Martin records reflect that he worked his final four months in an office position rather than on the production floor, most likely as a result of his injury. Anglemire resigned from his position at Martin on August 4th, 1917. Mrs. Yeakel can recall that her grandfather was indeed missing several fingers but does not know if the accident that claimed the digits happened on the factory floor. No accident records relating to Anglemire could be found among Martin employee documents.

Yikes.

Mick

[allenhopkins]

"Lost three fingers to a steel band saw/Oh, Buddy, sing a sad old song
Now my fiddle hangs untuned on the wall/Lord, and my time ain't long."

Craig Johnson, Damned Old Piney Mountains