Music for an exploration
Byrd was a naval officer who commanded air forces in World War I and went on to become an aviation pioneer, leading an early crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. But it was the polar expedition that made him a national hero.
In 1926, Byrd organized an expedition that was to become the first to reach the North Pole by air.
On his crew was Konter, a Navy veteran of 30 years who served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. He also was an accomplished ukulele player, arranger and bandleader who worked with Tin Pan Alley composers and publishers, arranging and creating the ukulele tablature for many popular songs.
“The Stowaway Ukulele” says that when Byrd asked Konter to be a part of the Arctic expedition, “it was Konter’s naval record and abilities that secured him a place on the crew,” but his musicianship “sure didn’t hurt his chances.”
In fact, Boak said in an interview, Konter “was one of the greatest ukulele players to ever live. He was a magnificent player. … Not only did he play, he was the sole source of entertainment aboard the expedition.”
The expedition, ferried to the arctic by ship for staging, lasted many months, Boak said.
Boak said Konter promised he would take photographs and names of all of the members of his Ukulele Chorus with him on the flight. He stuffed those names in the Martin ukulele, which he bought shortly before the expedition, and conspired with Byrd’s pilot, Floyd Bennett, to smuggle aboard the plane.
“The problem was all the crew members had tried to smuggle things on board the plane, and they discovered that there was some 200 pounds of souvenirs on board, and it would probably have caused the plane to crash or not be able to make it to the North Pole,” Boak said. “So they unloaded all this crap from the plane, except that Floyd Bennett didn’t tell anybody that he had the ukulele packed in furs under his seat. It’s the only artifact that actually went to the North Pole.”
After the mission was complete, all 45 crew members signed the ukulele.
“As unlikely as it seems,” the book says, “Konter’s ukulele had become the ultimate souvenir of an important era.”
The expedition made its participants heroes. Byrd received the Medal of Honor. “People who went on the expedition were not typically very important, but after the expedition, many of the crew members actually went on to become very, very important people,” Boak said.
Konter also was part of Byrd’s 1929 first expedition to the South Pole, and got most members of that expedition to sign the instrument as well.
“I think he clearly he knew that the Byrd expedition was going to be historically important, and I think it was kind of like an autograph book,” Boak said.