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By Scott Schwartz and Hannah Jellen
Collection Overview
Title: Letritia Kandle Papers and Hawaiian Guitars, 1931-2010
ID: 12/9/150
Primary Creator: Kandle, Letritia (November 7, 1915 - June 9, 2010)
Extent: 17.05 cubic feet
Arrangement: Materials are arranged by file type.
Date Acquired: 04/18/2016. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Electronic Music, Hawaiian guitar, Instrumental music, Music - United States, Music teachers
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Consists of photographs, newsclippings, correspondence, sheet music, concert programs, a scrapbook, newsletters, music trade journals, and Letritia Kandle's National Grand Letar, National Small Letar, Harlin Brothers Kalina Multi Kord steel guitar, and Almcrantz double-neck guitar, documenting her career as leading Chicago, Illinois Hawaiian guitar performer and music teacher between 1931 and 1955.
For more Hawaiian guitar materials, see RS 12/9/50 and RS 12/9/101.
Biographical Note
Letritia Kandle (1915-2010), the only daughter of Charles and Alma Kandle, was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Her earliest music lessons were on the piano, but in 1928 she switched to the guitar after watching Warner Baxter play Spanish Guitar as the Cisco Kid in the film, In Old Arizona. Her early steel guitars included a Koa Weissenborn and a National Style 2 resophonic guitar. In 1933 Letritia attended the Chicago World's Fair and met Geroge Kealoha Gilman who mentored her in Hawaiian music and lore, and the following year she formed an all-girl music ensemble that played matching National Resophonic guitars that called themselves The Kohala Girls. Several years later the ensemble switched to electric lap steel and double-neck steel guitars.
While waiting for an appointment during the 1930s Kandle came up with the idea of creating an electronic twenty-six string guitar that would use colored lights to change colors as the instrument was being played. She envisioned a guitar that would enable her to stand while playing it, one that would have a full sound like an organ and produce tones like a vibraharp. In 1937 Letritia's father helped construct her large console Hawaiian guitar that consisted of a top cast in aluminum with one eight-string and three six-string necks, sides made of wood that was covered with chrome-plated steel, and top and side panels made of glass. National installed electronic pickups and a 20-watt amplifier that utilized two twelve-inch JB Lansing field-coil speakers. Inside the glass panels a network of 120 colored lights that flashed and changed colors as it was played.
The instrument was premiered by Letritia, who was performing Hawaiian guitar with the Paul Whiteman Band, at Chicago's Drake Hotel in 1937. The instrument was eventually named the Grand Letar by Whiteman based on the first two letters of Letritia's name and the last three letters of the guitar. That same year Kandle demonstrated the Grand Letar at the 1937 National Music Trade Convention held in New York City.
In 1939 Letritia's father constructed a smaller and more portable electronic Hawaiian guitar that did not have internal amplificiation or lights, and she used it as a replacement for the Grand Letar. When Kandle wasn't performing with the Kohala Girls or directing the forty-nine piece Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra, she ran a music school in Chicago's Kimball Building and wrote numerous articles several different music trade journals. In 1955 she married Walter Lay, a one-time bassist for the Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra, and went to work for her father's company which manufactured earth-boring equipment.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Accruals:
Almcrantz guitar acquired June 10, 2016 from TC Furlong. Six Discs (Box 6 Items 2-6) and a CD of duplicate recordings acquired May 12, 2017 from William Lay. [Note: Disc 6, an untitled record produced by Milton J. Wolfe deaccessioned due to delamination]. Small Letar and table purchased from Paul Warnik on October 14, 2019.
16mm Video of Letritia Kandle and the Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra donated by Charles Lay December 23, 2024.
Acquisition Source:
Paul Warnik
Acquisition Method:
Gift
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Papers, Photographs, and Sound Recordings],
[
Series 2: Music Instruments and Components],
[All]
- Series 1: Papers, Photographs, and Sound Recordings
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Grand Letar materials, 1943-2010
- Folder 2: Hawaiian guitar sheet music and method books, 1939-1951
- Folder 3: Memorium and concert ephemera, 1938-2010
- Folder 4: Photographs of Letritia Kandle and the Kohala Girls, ca. 1930-1940
- Folder 5: Scrapbook, ca. 1937-1944
- Folder 6: Vintage Guitar magazine, 2010
- Folder 7: Photograph of Almcrantz triple neck guitar, ca. 1931
- Folder 8: Photographs of Letritia Kandle with Small Letar, ca. 1940s
- Photos of Letritia Kandle with other instruments as well. Also contains an autographed photograph of Anthony Rocca inscribed to Letritia Kandle.
- Box 2
- Folder 1: The Kohala Girls photograph, ca. 1935
- Folder 2: The Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra concert photographs, ca. 1941-1946
- Folder 3: Original Handwritten Drawing of Design for Grand Letar, ca. 1940s
- Pencil "blueprint" to scale of design for Grand Letar in Letritia Kandle's handwriting. Contains her notations and measurements. This is the blueprint from which the instrument was made.
- Box 3
- Item 1: Who is Who in Music, 1941
- Oversize Portfolio Box 3
- Oversize Portfolio Case 1: The Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra photograph, 1942
- Box 6
- Item 1: Letritia Kandle Duplicate Recordings, ca. 1937-1944
- CD of tracks duplicated from LPs donated by William Lay. [Note CD contains only copy of recordings from deaccessioned delaminated disc, see control file] Tracks include: 1. Navy Pier Dance Band "Stormy Wheater", 2. Navy Pier Dance Band "Farewell Blues", 3. Navy Pier Dance Band "Theme Song", 4. Kohala Girls "Mother's Lullaby", 5. Kohala Girls "Chile Blues", 6. Untitled track, 7. Untitled track, 8-16. Paul Whiteman Interlude's 1-9.
- Item 2: "Hilo March" and "Hawaiian Medley" by the Kohala Girls, undated
- 10" Direct cut Acetate Disc.
- Item 3: "Chile Blues" and "Hawaiian Mother's Lullaby" by the Kohala Girls, undated
- 10" Direct cut Aluminum Disc.
- Item 4: Paul Whiteman Radio Broadcasts with Letritia Kandle Interludes, December 1, 1937
- 12" Glass Disc. (Copy 1)
- Item 5: Paul Whiteman Radio Broadcasts with Letritia Kandle Interludes, December 1, 1937
- 12" Glass Disc. (Copy 2)
- Item 6: Untitled Recording of Navy Pier Dance Band produced by Milton J. Wolfe, November 4, 1944
- 12" Direct cut Glass Disc. [Note: companion Disc produced by Milton J. Wolfe deaccessioned due to delamination]
- Item 7: Student lesson diary, 1943
- Digital Object 1
- Digital File 1: Video of Letritia Kandle with the Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra, ca. 1945
- 16mm silent film, black and white, candid shots. Donated by Charles Lay December 23, 2024.
- Series 2: Music Instruments and Components
- Item 1: National Grand Letar, 1937
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.001a, b, and c
- Item 2: Harlin Brothers Kalina Multi Kord steel guitar, ca. 1940s
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.002
- Item 3: August Gerhard Almcrantz double-neck guitar, ca. 1900/1931
- Guitar is believed to have been made by August Gerhard Almcrantz (1864-1942), a string instrument maker working in Chicago, Illinois. Instrument is in fair-to-poor condition with a fracture at the top of the tone hole of the guitar's body. It has been suggested the instrument was modified by Letritia Kandle's father, and was given to her for her sixteenth birthday. Accession number 2016.1209150.012.
- Box 4
- Item 1: Silvertone 5Z3 vacuum tube, ca. 1950s
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.003
- Item 2: Sylvania 6A6 vacuum tube, ca. 1950s
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.004
- Item 3: Philco 6A6 vacuum tube, ca. 1950s
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.005
- Item 4: RCA 6A6 vacuum tube, ca. 1950s
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.006
- Item 5: Philco 6A6 vacuum tube, ca. 1950s
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.007
- Item 6: Box of Tilco Hawaiian guitar strings, ca. 1950s
- Includes two C-sharp, two A (fifth), two A (third), four E, and one blank. Accession number: 2016.1209150.008
- Item 7: Original electrical cords for the Grand Letar, ca. 1950
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.009a-d
- Item 8: Box of Milton G. Wolf Hawaiian guitar strings, ca. 1940
- Includes one first string, one second string, one third string, one fourth string, one fifth string, and one sixth string. Accession number: 2016.1209150.010
- Item 9: Box of Milton G. Wolf Hawaiian guitar strings, 1944
- Includes six first strings, two second strings, six third string, one fourthstring , two fifth strings, one sixth string, one seventh string, and one eighth string. Accession number: 2016.1209150.011
- Box 5
- Item 1: Grand Letar tuning hammer, 1937
- Accession number: 2016.1209150.013.
- Item 4: Letritia Kandle's Small Letar: National Electric Steel Guitar, ca. 1940s
Small Letar: Accession number 2019.1209150.001a
1 - to - 4 cable for Small Letar: Accession number 2019.1209150.001b
- Item 5: Table for Small Letar and Component Parts, ca.1940s
Table for Small Letar: Accession number 2019.1209150.002a
4 wing nuts and bolts for Table: Accession number 2019.1209150.002b
Junction Box: Accession number 2019.1209150.002c
4 Single Cables: Accession number 2019.1209150.002d, e, f, and g
Browse by Series:
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Series 1: Papers, Photographs, and Sound Recordings],
[
Series 2: Music Instruments and Components],
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