Samuel Kamuela Kamaka was not only a skilled craftsman, but also an intuitive marketing wizard. The hanai (foster) son of a fisherman working for King Kalakaua, Kamaka had been an apprentice to seminal ukulele maker Manuel Nunes when, in 1916, he decided to strike out on his own making ukes in the basement of his home at Kaimuki overlooking Diamond Head. This era was a boom time for ukulele makers and there was plenty of competition for the young entrepreneur with some 15 manufacturers in Hawaii at the time. But Sam Kamaka came up with an ingenious twist in design that he patented for the popular instrument—in the shape of a long-necked pineapple—that embodied the sights, sounds and romance of Hawaii. By the mid-1930s, as the ukulele boom ended, Kamaka was the last surviving local maker and the company still produces ukuleles to this day at 550 South Street in Honolulu.

The Kamaka Pineapple ukulele’s distinctive shape made it iconic and it has been seen in the hands of musicians and celebrities as diverse as Laurel and Hardy, Shirley Temple, Bing Crosby, Mickey Rooney, Tiny Tim and the Beatles’ George Harrison. But the Pineapple uke is no novelty or movie prop: it has been played by superstars of Hawaiian music as diverse as Auntie Genoa Keawe, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and the young contemporary ukulele virtuoso, Jake Shimabukuro.

Vintage Kamaka Pineapple ukes range from simple, unadorned examples, to highly decorated and laboriously crafted instruments with elaborate inlays and bindings. Some, now the most highly valued, were painted so that their bodies actually look like a pineapple. Others, like those displayed here, carried a pineapple artwork decal. All of the original Kamaka ukes were made of koa, but the company sometimes made instruments for other companies such as Ka Lai (later renamed Ka Lae) and these were usually made of less expensive monkey pod wood, so bargain hunters, be warned!

Jake Shimabukuro playing the Star Spangled Banner on his ukulele for the Jimmy Buffett Live at Wrigley Field concert in 2005