Inspiration came in the Spring of 2004 when Bill (aka Papa,) with twin boys in tow, attended the first ever Cigar Box Festival in Northern Kentucky. He was amazed at the look and sound of guitars that were fabricated from simple cigar boxes. As a woodworker he knew he had the familiarity and aptitude with wood, and the passion for music to craft something real. And so it began. The genesis of Papa’s Boxes started with a simple soprano ukulele. Papa’s Boxes attended the NYC Ukulele Festival as a vendor for the first time with one simple “build it yourself” uke kit. By 2006, one of Papa’s Boxes ukuleles had been inducted into the National Cigar Box Guitar Museum. Many of our first instruments didn’t have a clear classification such as banjo, mandolin, guitar, etc. But over the course of several years and through a ton of trial and error, our growing crew at Papa’s Boxes honed and reworked the designs and began to master specific instruments. This year has ushered in an even more interesting and diverse assortment of instruments from sopranos, concerts, tenors, and baritones in the Papa’s Boxes ukulele quiver.