The Holiday Steel Guitar:
Charles Moore grew up in the small little town of Carlos Indiana. He was a WWII vet having served in the 82 Airborne Glider Division in Germany. After returning from service, he settled to raise his family in Wi******er Indiana. The son of several generations of artisan craftsman, Charles built custom homes along side his father and brother. His craft soon became custom k
itchen cabinetry and he formed "The Moore Cabinet Company". Charles was the sole employee of the company whose shop was in the basement of the family home located approximately 3 miles west of Wi******er. While living in town (before his move to the country), he happened to hear an unusual beautiful sound one day while walking in his back yard. The sound was coming from the nearby trailer court behind his home on Beeson Drive. It turned out to be the sounds of a steel guitar being played. Charles was taken by the sounds and fell in love with the music and instrument. It wasn’t long before Charles and Ralph Pierce joined forces and were making guitars together. The Pierce guitar was a pedal steel guitar, and Charles made the bodies and some other components for the guitars. Pierce then would take the guitars to Detroit where he sold them to Gibson. Gibson then distributed the guitars across the country. Though they said Pierce on the side of them, many believed and sold them as being manufactured by Gibson. On one occasion, Charles's Dad, Lloyd, was vacationing in Florida and happened to see a Pierce guitar in the window of a music store. The owner of the store insisted that the guitar was a Gibson, manufactured in Detroit, and he became quite upset when Lloyd told him that no, it was a Pierce, manufactured at 127 Beeson Drive, Wi******er, Indiana! Unfortunately, Charles was not making any money in doing so and the project came to a close. Years after moving to the country and setting up shop there, the custom cabinet business started to decline as more and more mass produced cabinets started hitting the markets. Charles again turned to his love of the steel guitar and Hawaiian music. He began to craft his own steel guitars from the ground up. His guitars were non-pedal steels crafted out of the very best hardwoods. He designed the castings for the tunings and for the legs. He hand made the electric pickups. Being a perfectionist, the guitars were extremely well constructed, and put together with an eye for detail. He called his guitars “Holiday” and marketed them as the Holiday Steel Guitar (manufactured by the Moore Cabinet Company of Wi******er Indiana). Not only did the guitars look exceptional from the top, but he also did something that wasn’t being done...he finished the underside of the guitar bodies. The Holiday steel guitar has been said to have the most beautiful tone of any guitar ever made. This is in part due to the materials and workmanship Charles put into each and every instrument he produced. In all, during the 70’s, Charles crafted approximately 47 guitars under the name Holiday, and they went to owners from around the world. The last few of the guitars Charles made were lap steels, often crafted from beautiful deep walnut. Despite the guitars having been made some 50 years ago, they are still around, and are regarded as the best there are, bringing top dollar on resale. The International Hawaiian Steel Guitar Club (IHSGC):
In the early 70’s along with making Holiday Steel Guitars, Charles also formed an international club of Hawaiian music lovers and steel guitar enthusiast. This club he called the International Hawaiian Steel Guitar Club or IHSGC. The first meeting of the club was in 1975 and was held in the basement workshop of Charles’s home. All of the wood working equipment was moved aside to allow for seating for those who attended. The meeting or “convention” was such a success that it was then planned as an annual event to happen every year in the small town of Wi******er. As the membership grew so did the attendance at the convention. The following years it was held at the local 4-H fairgrounds, the National Guard Armory, and the local skating rink. Finally it settled in its somewhat permanent home at Willard Elementary School, in the multi purpose room. Every year Charles and his son John would go in to the school and set up the stage, place decorations...hang the welcome sign and set up sound equipment. Charles’s wife, Margaret, would run the registration table, sell pop and keep track of the comings and goings of members. Locals were gladly welcomed in to listen. Charles worked to get the town involved...special evening events were set up for musicians to play in the evenings at local restaurants and other locations around town. When attendance outgrew the number of rooms in the local motel, the people of Wi******er welcomed club members into their homes, and friendships were created. Club funds went to pay for a bi-monthly (6 a year) newsletter that was printed and mailed out to members. It also retained the space at the school for the convention every year, and went to aid in brining in professional Hawaiian groups to perform. Saturday nights were set aside for a luau...the first of which involved digging up a part of the grounds at Willard Elementary and roasting a whole pig wrapped in tea leaves surrounded by hot stones (the authentic Hawaiian way). The IHSGC thrived in Wi******er and was always bringing in more and more people from all over the world...they would all come to the little town for three days of Hawaiian music camaraderie and fun. Festivities continue to this day in Wi******er, though Charles is no longer leading the group, they continue to meet every July in the small friendly town of Wi******er Indiana. Unfortunately, attendance has decreased over the years as many of the original club members have left us. Charles himself passed away September 1, 2016, followed by his wife Margaret on January 15, 2019. I am the son of Charles Moore, John Moore. My goal with this page is to carry on what my father started and to honor his hard work...to keep what he started going. Over the years the club has changed...even its name has changed. I would very much like to see what my father started in Wi******er to continue on in Wi******er. I understand that we have lost a lot of great artist and members over the years, I simply don’t believe that steel guitar is dead. I ask you to join this page and let your interest and support be known. Lets keep the Hawaiian shirts and music in Wi******er! Thank you for your support! If you have any question about the club Charles started or the Holiday Steel Guitar, please feel free to contact me...share your photos and show your support! Sincerely,
John C.
