July 13th, 2007

You may know of Lanikai as an area in Kailua on the Oahu Island in Hawaii. It is famous for plenty of beautiful and secluded beaches. What you may not know is that Lanikai is also the name of a brand of ukulele. The ukuleles have an interesting history in Hawaii. Did you know that it wasn’t a native Hawaiian at all who invented the ‘Uke’? It was three master craftsmen who came to Hawaii from Portugal to work in the cane fields. Together, they designed the Ukulele. Hawaiians loved the sound of the instrument as well as the speed of moving fingers across the fingerboard, in fact, the name ‘Ukulele’ means ‘jumping fleas’ in Hawaiian.

In 1915 the popularity of the instrument took hold on the US mainland, leading to increased demand for ukes. Only one of the original master craftsmen remained and he could not keep up with demand so more competition arose but there seemed to be plenty of work for everyone. Today, the uke remains a symbol of Hawaii and the Hawaiian people even though there are festivals celebrating it all over the mainland USA, from California to Massachusetts. How wonderful is it that the Ukulele is here to stay.