This is a Scicilian Parlour guitar from 1952 by Catania Carmelo. They are ideal little guitars suited to blues and many people started of their guitar playing days with such an istrument. I have sold many of these over the years, many to people for blues & old times sake and nostalgic reasons. This plays well and is in extremely good condition for it's age. ( one year older than me!!) It is of laminate construction with an arched back, all original including the machines and tuning knobs, tailpiece and bone nut & bone saddle on the original bridge. It is strung with nylon strings although a more penetrating sound may be achieved with steel, I would use light gauge. The label is a classic, stating in handwritten ink the exact model No. 0 & the exact date of the label reads 25 /9/1952
Throughout the 900 Sicily was one of the most relevant production centres of musical instrument together with The Marches and Lombardy. Set so far away from the high standards of the arch instruments made in Cremona and from the quality of the Neapolitan mandolins, Sicily was quickly renown as the land of luthiers. Curiously, all Sicilian luthiers were born in Catania, at the feet of Etna, the volcano.
The poor economy of the region highly contributed to the huge migrant wave in the 20s towards France that gave birth to an extraordinary school of French luthiery. The luthiers from Catania are to be mentioned: Pappalardo, Di Mauro, Amico, Anastasio, Busato, Bucolo, Castelluccia, Favino, Olivieri, Burgassi, Martella, Grizzo, Rossito, Petillo...among many others.
Luthiers in Sicily were always open to both the Baroque influence from Spain and to the innovations coming from Europe and The States. The first great star among Sicilian luthiers was surely Carmelo Catania who was the only one to understand that the image of the luthier had to become more of a businessman to survive on the internal and international market. Carmelo Catania’s golden age was from the end of the war to the 60s. The cultural and economic situation brought Carmelo Catania to produce an incredible wide range of crafted instruments on industrial scale. The few pages of his catalogue here reported show his skills in bringing together all the different external influences in a typically Sicilian sensitivity. Carmelo Catania was probably the first luthier to organize himself industrially, promoting himself, exporting guitars, settling commercial alleys and trades. He created a real production headquarter in Sicily making instruments or parts on behalf of third parties.
Carmelo Catania is known to most for having made the first guitars belonging to Claudio Baglioni e Domenico Modugno and like Eko contributed to the circulation of guitars in Italy producing many acoustic entry-level models throughout the 60s.
Paris. from left: Antonio Di Mauro, Carmelo Catania, Vincenzo Jacobacci
Caramel was born in Catania, Catania in 1908, and following his penchant for violin making, young man enters the shop at the mandolinaio Finocchiaro. Learn early on so that at 17 he built his first guitar, harp, considered at the time point of arrival of artistic maturity.
Realizing that no one in Catania can help him improve his education, at 18 she left for Naples and goes to work Calace at the lab, along with Marc epigone of the Neapolitan school of violin making.
At 20 he returned to Catania and begins to work on their own, even if at the beginning for others, and builds a second and more elaborate harp guitar whose image as a trademark use of his company.
In 1936 his company keeps track of the Chamber of Commerce of Catania and begin to see with their own name.
Maker knows the Galileo Vachier, author of a study, awarded by the Academy of Italy in 1937 on a report of the jury presided by Maestro Pietro Mascagni, which incorporates the acoustic resonance studies made in Mirecourt (France) by physicist Felix Savart and luthier François Chanot, and with it begins a relationship that will lead him to further perfect the construction of violins.
In Rome he met with Louis Embergher maker, which already reached its reputation and aware of the high quality of his instruments, he is surprised, he octogenarian, in his thirties already be faced up to his building skill.
After the war, reorganizes its activities in a broader way and start to do business in Italy and abroad.
Its innovative technical solutions and construction, mainly adapted to guitars, the tools allow you to produce large-scale, even if all strictly hand-made, It produces a wide range of models, and in order to spread the love as much as possible music, in each series is concerned with presenting alongside professional models and high-quality, cheaper models suitable for youngsters and beginners.
In 1957 his laboratory moved to larger premises in Mascalucia and comfortable, and in the sixties reaches its peak production, coming to occupy up to 50 employees with an annual production of about 12,000 instruments, of which over half is in esportata.Vende North, Central and South America, Europe, including Sweden, Norway, Iceland, around the Mediterranean, including Israel and Arab countries, Equatorial Africa, the Middle East (Kuwait, Iraq, Iran) and the Far East (Thailand, Singapore, Sumatra , Ceylon, Japan, Tahiti and Fiji) in Australia and New Zealand.
The Italian Institute of Foreign Trade (ICE) repeatedly invited him to participate in exhibitions and fairs where you promote the Made in Italy. His instruments are also the 1960 World Expo in Brussels and one in New York in 1964.
Beside the series production, continues to manufacture high lutherie tools personally, participating in many events promoted by these Anla of which is a member. In a Craft Show organized by the Province of Catania in 196? at the premises of the Chamber of Commerce, has a mandolin and won first prize with gold medal.
At the height of fame and commercial success, suffering from incurable disease that will consume within a few months, turn off the ' October 11, 1970 just 62 years.
John Catania
