Ukulele Series Book #2: The Ukulele Accordion. 1996Text is Little Grass Shack, handwritten and illustrated ukulele shaped paper cut in paper doll style. Leather bound cover with leather onlay picture in sound hole.
“I love to make books and I love to play the ukulele. Can I put these two loves together? Can I make a book out of a uke?” After Donna and I made the first one, I thought, “How many more can we make? Each one will have to represent a different book structure, format or concept and each will still have to play….” Well, to date Peter and Donna Thomas have made over 20 ukulele books.
Ukulele Series Book #23. A Brief History of the Ukulele. 2003. This book was made by sawing a ukulele in half, building up the insides and then re-connecting the two halves with hinges and a lock… The text was originally made by Donna for a miniature book in 1999. It has been enlarged and reprinted for this edition, with a new title page and colophon, printed on Peter’s handmade paper, sewn to the text. Edition of fifteen copies
Ukulele Series Book #20 The Ukulele Flip Book. 2003 This Regal uke has been converted into a flip book showing a mainlander’s dream of paradise. The animated hula dancer was created by Evert Padden. The pages are attached to a dowel with a brass crank handle. This is inserted through a hole in the side of the ukulele and the pictures are viewed through the sound hole.
Ukulele Series Book #11 The Concertina Ukulele. 2002 This was an inexpensive 1960-70s Japanese “Aloha” ukulele. The neck was warped, so it didn’t hurt the instrument much to be cut in half. Boards were mounted inside each half to create a cavity. The halves are hinged at the bottom of the ukulele, and there is a simple clasp through the heel. Cards with vintage images (from matchbooks and other Hawaiiana ephemera) are attached to a paper concertina inside the ukulele, and this is how we justify calling it the Concertina Ukulele. Two vintage matchbooks are mounted above and below the concertina and the thing that took the longest making this uke book was finding the proper vintage match books. It is called a concertina ukulele because of the folded paper concertina “spine” that the cards are attached to.
Essay by Peter Thomas, “Why I Made These Ukulele Books“
Related:
Looking for an instrument to hold some of your books, CD’s and DVD’s? Over at the UK’s RedSave.com you’ll find this:
the Double Bass Storage Cabinet.
Thanks to the Bookshelf blog for the lead on the Double Bass Storage Cabinet