I really can not tell you anything specific about your guitar but I might be able to help a bit. I think you are right about the date, these stencil guitars became popular in the 1930's and were produced up until the early 1960's. The most popular stencil patterns were Cowboy and Hawaiian themes. Your instrument has a pretty basic stencil pattern so it was probably a $10 guitar back in the 30's.
I don't know for sure but I suspect Imperial Hawaiian Music Studios was a less successful version of the Oahu business model. They made their money by providing introductory student level instruments and then selling the new students all the sheet music and accessories they would buy.
The most knowledgeable stencil guitar authority I know about is Steve Evans. He collects Cowboy guitars but likely knows something about your Hawaiian. You can contact him through his Cowboy guitar museum.
At the end of the day your guitar is probably worth around $75 to a Hawaiian stencil collector but you did bring to light an interesting historical artifact. If you find out anything about the Imperial Hawaiian Music Studios please let us know.
Keep diggin' at the Flea Markets Statistics: Posted by VintAxe — Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:49 pm
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