Pictured above is our genuine Stradivarius violin purchased from Sears by my father-in-law in 1913. The year is hand-written on a label printed with the words "Antonius Stradivarius", which is pasted on the inside of the fiddle beneath the F-hole (Quiet in the back!). The instrument is 99 years old.
Another view which shows the carvings on the tailpiece. I believe the chin rest, fingerboard, and tailpiece to be of ebony.
Now for a bit of human interest - my grandson posed with the violin. Yes, I know the positioning of the instrument is not quite right. He's the busybody who snooped around and found the violin in the closet, but I'm glad he did, because I had not seen it for quite a while.
UPDATE with further information on the Sears violins:
This Sears ad reads "A two piece maple back, beautifully flamed, as shown in the illustration. top of resonant spruce, especially selected; reddish brown varnish, beautifully shaded in imitation of an old violin. The neck and scroll are made of curly maple to correspond with the back and sides The fingerboard and tailpiece of solid ebony. Readily retail at $15.00. No finer model in existence than the celebrated Stradivarius. In addition to the violin as above described, we furnish a regular Artists' Tourte model wood bow, german silver trimmed; ebony frog and button; & a solid wood case, American made, handle and lock: a piece of artists' rosin and a full set of four strings and one of out most valuable and complete instruction books."The violins were mass-produced in Germany and Czechoslovakia, but ours appears to be well put together.
