Editing Ukulele (section)

====Pre–World War II====
The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the [[Panama–Pacific International Exposition]], held from spring to autumn of 1915 in [[San Francisco]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Lipsky
| first = William
| title = San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition
| publisher = Arcadia Publishing
| year = 2005
| page = 36
| isbn = 978-0-7385-3009-3}}</ref> The Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartet,<ref>{{cite book
| last = Doyle
| first = Peter
| title = Echo and Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900–1960
| publisher = Wesleyan
| year = 2005
| page = 120
| isbn = 978-0-8195-6794-9}}</ref> along with ukulele maker and player [[Jonah Kumalae]].<ref>{{cite web
| title = Jonah Kumalae (1875–1940), 2002 Hall of Fame Inductee
| publisher = Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum
| year = 2007
| url = http://www.ukulele.org/?Inductees:2002-2003:Jonah_Kumalae
| access-date = 2008-06-02}}</ref> The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among [[Tin Pan Alley]] [[songwriter]]s.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Koskoff
| first = Ellen
| title = Music Cultures in the United States: An Introduction
| url = https://archive.org/details/musicculturesuni00kosk
| url-access = limited
| publisher = Routledge
| year = 2005
| page = [https://archive.org/details/musicculturesuni00kosk/page/n143 129]
| isbn = 978-0-415-96588-0 }}</ref> The ensemble also introduced both the [[lap steel guitar]] and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music,<ref>{{cite book
| last = Volk| first = Andy
| title = Lap Steel Guitar
| publisher = Centerstream Publications
| year = 2003
| page = 6
| isbn = 978-1-57424-134-1}}</ref> where it was taken up by [[vaudeville]] performers such as [[Roy Smeck]] and [[Cliff Edwards|Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards]]. On April 15, 1923, at the Rivoli Theater in New York City, Smeck appeared, playing the ukulele, in ''Stringed Harmony'', a [[short film]] made in the [[Lee de Forest|DeForest]] [[Phonofilm]] [[sound-on-film]] process. On August 6, 1926, Smeck appeared playing the ukulele in a short film ''His Pastimes'', made in the [[Vitaphone]] [[sound-on-disc]] process, shown with the [[feature film]] ''[[Don Juan (1926 film)|Don Juan]]'' starring [[John Barrymore]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Whitcomb
| first = Ian
| title = Ukulele Heaven: Songs from the Golden Age of the Ukulele
| publisher = Mel Bay Publications
| year = 2000
| page = [https://archive.org/details/ukuleleheavenson00whit/page/11 11]
| isbn = 978-0-7866-4951-8
| url = https://archive.org/details/ukuleleheavenson00whit/page/11
}}</ref>

The ukulele soon became an icon of the [[Jazz Age]].<ref name="Whitcomb2001">{{cite book
| last = Whitcomb
| first = Ian
| title = Uke Ballads: A Treasury of Twenty-five Love Songs Old and New
| publisher = Mel Bay Publications
| year = 2001
| page = 4
| isbn = 978-0-7866-1360-1}}</ref> Like guitar, basic ukulele skills can be learned fairly easily, and this highly portable, relatively inexpensive instrument was popular with amateur players throughout the 1920s, as evidenced by the introduction of uke chord [[tablature]] into the published [[sheet music]] for popular songs of the time<ref name="Whitcomb2001" /> (a role that was supplanted by the guitar in the early years of [[rock and roll]]).<ref>{{cite book
| last = Sanjek
| first = Russell
| title = American Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years
| url = https://archive.org/details/americanpopularm00san_hz5
| url-access = registration
| publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1988
| page = [https://archive.org/details/americanpopularm00san_hz5/page/95 95]
| isbn = 0-19-504311-1}}</ref> A number of mainland-based stringed-instrument manufacturers, among them [[Regal Musical Instrument Company|Regal]], [[Harmony Company|Harmony]], and especially [[C.F. Martin & Company|Martin]], added ukulele, banjolele, and [[tiple]] lines to their production to take advantage of the demand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famous Ukulele songs |url=https://www.ukulele-tabs.com/famous-ukulele-songs.html |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Ukulele-Tabs.com |language=en}}</ref>

The ukulele also made inroads into early country music or [[old-time music]]<ref name="Herald">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-9/9-5/uke.html|title="Just a few penny dreadfuls": the Ukulele and Old-Time Country Music|last=Rev|first=Lil'|website=www.oldtimeherald.org|access-date=2018-06-27|archive-date=2012-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615233057/http://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-9/9-5/uke.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> parallel to the then-popular mandolin. It was played by [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]] and [[Ernest V. Stoneman]], as well as by early string bands, including [[Cowan Powers and his Family Band]], Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, Walter Smith and Friends, The Blankenship Family, The Hillbillies, and The Hilltop Singers.<ref name=Herald/>