Legacy of the Howe-Orme Instruments

Made under the unique patented system of construction, Howe-Orme instruments gained the approval and praise of its users. This is especially true of the mandolins that reached a great popularity on the market during the early 1900s. An Elias Howe Company sales catalogue from that time states:

Its success and great merit is attested by the host of guitar-shaped Mandolins, in imitation of the Howe-Orme, that have been put on the market since the Howe-Orme Mandolin came before the public.”

The curved or swelled top of the Howe-Orme instruments increased the tonal quality of instruments and the flat back enabled the player to hold mandolins much firmer and easier in comparison to the ordinary bowl-shaped-back mandolins.  It is interesting to note that the Howe-Orme characteristics such as the flat backs, raised fronts, and variety of sizes all actually predate the more widely-known Gibson instrument designs from the turn of the nineteenth century.

The legacy of the Howe-Orme instruments continues to be seen not only in the later design of Gibson instruments but also in the contemporary work of Rick Turner’s Renaissance Guitar Company based in Santa Cruz, California.  Turner’s “Compass Rose” ukelele is inspired by the graceful Howe-Orme form, and, as mentioned earlier, his guitar utilizes the Howe-Orme detachable neck construction.  

The "Howe-Orme: Fogotten Voices Remembered" exhibition featured instruments from the personal collections of Rick Turner, renowned luthier and owner of Renaissance Guitars, former Youngbloods guitarist and vintage instrument collector, Lowell “Banana” Levinger and Henry Kaiser who loaned his guitar—affectionately called “Ms. Antarctica"—to the Museum of Making Music.

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