In 1950, the manufacturer, inventor and luthier Mario Maccaferri launched the polystyrene moulded Islander® ukulele with a decent success : 9 millions of his plastic ukuleles were sold in twenty years. The basic version was sold for $5.95, then reduced to $3.95.

The Islander® ukulele had some brothers : Islander Semi-deluxe®, Islander Deluxe®, Islander Baritone®, a little sister called Islander Ukette®, lots of cousins, the TV Pal® series, the Playtune® Sr. and Jr., ... and a good bunch of serious rivals, branded notably by Emenee®with the Flamingo®, Carnival®, Fin-Der®, Mauna Loa®, Lisa®,...