ATDTDA (7): 201-203 "Cornell" Guitars From Sears

[Keith]

"In ’05, Sears introduced a new line of upscale flat-tops with  
collegiate names such as the Cornell, Princeton, Yale and Harvard,  
these latter two with pearl trim. These could be Oscar Schmidt  
guitars, but the illustrations show more standard pyramid pin  
bridges, so it may be someone else. The choice of college names is  
easy to understand, by the way. Both the mandolin and banjo  
orchestras, with accompanying guitars, that sprang up in the late  
1880s and ’90s were often related to college campus life. The image  
was of the young man (or woman) who went off to college, sang “Bula  
Bula,” got stewed, sowed his or her wild oats, then threw the mando,  
banjo, or guitar in the attic and got down to serious business after  
graduation. While the orchestra/club phenomenon became more of a  
community activity as time progressed, the association of stringed  
instruments with carefree undergraduate days persisted well into the  
20th century. Thus it was logical for Sears to make the connection  
between guitars and the best colleges when it wanted to create an  
appealing image."

http://tinyurl.com/2v22hm