1930s

1931-1932 The electric steel guitar is developed and sold by George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker. The first model is informally called the “frying pan” for its shape. 

                                     

                                    Mekia Kealakai retires from RHB, continues teaching at Boys Reform School and leads Oahu Sugar Company Brass band of 60 members.

1932 Joseph Kekuku dies in New Jersey. 

1933 First recording using the electric steel guitar.

Different manufacturers produce and sell electric steel guitars.

Hawaiian musicians and dancers perform at the Chicago World’s Fair (Century of Progress International Exposition).

Early 1930s Black performers increasingly record with the steel guitar-inspired slide guitar, held upright instead of on the lap.

Middle 1930s Tropical or Hawaiian-themed nightclubs start to become popular in Hollywood and elsewhere, where numerous Hawaiian musicians and dancers find work.

1933                            Country singer Gene Autry orders the “biggest, fanciest Martin he could”, a Kealakai model Dreadnought trimmed in abalone shell. Used in many Hollywood western films, the guitar becomes an icon. 

1934                            Royal Hawaiian Band Quartet of 42 style Martin guitars ordered by City & County of Honolulu through Thayer’s Music. Used in a private performance at Washington Place for Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a luau organized by Abigail Kawananakoa.

1935 First country song recorded using the electric steel guitar, played by Bob Dunn with Milton Brown’s Musical Brownies.

The “Hawaii Calls” radio show begins broadcasting from Hawaiʻi; at its peak in 1952 it is heard over 750 stations.

Jerry Byrd begins playing the electric steel guitar professionally, inspired by Hawaiian musicians. He will be a significant country music performer before moving to Hawaiʻi in the 1970s to teach steel. 

1936 The Advertiser Publishing Company starts the first local record company, Hawaiian Transcription Productions.

“Steel Guitar Rag” recorded by Leo McAuliffe with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys makes the steel guitar a permanent part of country music.

The “Electro-Spanish” full-sized electric guitar is first produced, made to be played upright and not flat on a lap. This instrument will lead to the creation of rock music. Early electric guitar stars are Alvino Rey and Les Paul.

1937 The film “Waikiki Wedding” popularizes the song “Sweet Leilani”. Bing Crosby’s recording of it, with Lani McIntire’s Hawaiians, is a huge hit that includes the electric steel guitar.

The influential and long-lived Hawaiian Room nightclub opens in the Hotel Lexington in New York City. 

1939-1940 Hawaiian musicians including Lena Machado and dancers perform at the San Francisco World’s Fair (Golden Gate International Exposition) and New York World’s Fair.