1920’s made by the Rutan Co. of Kansas City for the Wurlitzer Company of Cincinnati. The “Howard” stamp was a Wurlitzer trademark. Rutan made good quality ukuleles that were clearly patterned after Martins. When Martin was having difficulty keeping up with orders in 1926, Wurlitzer turned to Rutan to supply some of their ukuleles. The bridge is a replacement. ukulele was Refinished.
It is a Wurlitzer, in that they were the seller, but they didn’t manufacture it.
It was built in the Rutan factory. I know that Rutan had a distinct headstock shape on the instruments they sold under their own name, but it looks like they made your ukulele to Wurlitzer’s specifications. Wurlitzer probably had Rutan model it after a Martin Style 3, but toned down just a little to make it a bit more affordable – white dots as fret markers instead of mother of pearl diamonds, thinner sound hole ring, no ornament at the bottom of the body. So yes, it is a higher-end model for Rutan – most of their ukuleles that I have seen are patterned after Martins ukuleles. Comes with gig bag.
