National Model 27 Wood Body???

[mckinleybe1]

I saw this old advertisement posted today. I can't recall seeing anything about a National Model 27 mentioned in the ad. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know anything about this particular model? 

Thanks,
Brian

[Mark Makin]

Hi McKinleybe1, this is an advert posted in a magazine by a dealer and does not use the terminology used in the company’s own literature. It was common in the Dobro company to sell instruments with model numbers that related to their dollar price. So a Dobro Model 55, for example cost $55.

The National company used model names and not numbers. If you look at company catalogues of this period, the Trojan was selling at $33 and the ROSITA cost $27. So I imagine this ad is referring to the cheapest wood body otherwise known as the Rosita.

However, the picture that they are showing alongside the “Model 27” is actually a picture of a National Estralita which was a much more expensive instrument selling for $45.

It was not uncommon for advertisers to use a wrong but similar instrument picture because it was a time consuming and expensive exercise to change the engraving blocks for the correct one and the customers of the day were not really very educated in their guitar knowledge.

[mckinleybe1]

Mark,

Thanks so much for the answer. Makes complete sense. I have a late 1933 Rosita and thought it may have been an ad for that because of the "budget" price range. The picture threw me off. I didn't think about the engraving blocks and the expense related to making an advertisement in those days. As for my Rosita, I am perfectly happy with it. The action is great for fingerstyle and slide. Having had it since October or November of 2018, I can't seem to put it down. Thank you again for not only this answer, but for all that you add to this forum as well.

Thanks,
Brian

[Mark Makin]

You’re very welcome Brian. It is a good opportunity to show that you can’t always believe a lot of the ‘printed ephemera ‘ from these early days.