Cigar Box Fiddle... we found the real thing

On our way to Cedar Key, FL, last year, Susie and I visited a little country store called, appropriately, The Country Store, to get some lunch. While we were waiting for our sandwiches to be built, we wandered around the place admiring the old timey stuff they had hung on the walls. Our chins hit the ground when we saw an authentic cigar box fiddle hanging on a thick nail next to a rusty old sickle.

The fiddle looked to be pretty darned old. It was clearly made from a cigar box. The head had had some sort of ivory or porcelain cap at one time which had mostly worn off. It appears to have a metal support either inside or on the back.

The lady who ran the place, Ms. Mary Cramer, was in  the process of purchasing the property from the owner, so she would not let us take the instrument down from the wall for examination. She could provide no history on the instrument, but she invited us back and said once she was the owner, she'd be happy to let us carefully look it over. You can be sure we'll drop by again just to get a better look.

If you're down that way -- about 100 miles south of Tallahassee -- The Country Store is located at 9691 NW County Road 345, Chiefland, Florida. Their phone is 352-490-7333.