Re: I'm new and need help!
Deborah,
If the cracked top is well repaired it shouldn't make it any more fragile than before. Use light gauge strings (like those I suggested above) but have the inside checked out by a competent repair person. An unrepaired cracked top shouldn't have any tension on it. You have inherited a nice looking bowlback mandolin. For most purposes you can learn to play almost everything on it (save maybe a woody bluegrass chop).
According to Mugwumps your mandolin could have been built after c1910. One of this board's best resources for old bowl info, Jim Garber, has this on his website (an old catalog for May Flower Instruments including Flower & Groehsl). Take a look, your mandolin is there!
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
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