Tater Bug

I received a package the other day from my Aunt Shirley in Houston. She's my late father's sister who will be 90 this year! Mind is still sharp, but they won't let her drive any more - she quit that at 85. Heck, they'll probably ground me a lot earlier than that!
Anyway, this package - it really was a large box - contained an old bowl-back mandolin. It had belonged to my grandfather, who, according to Aunt Shirley, did not know how to play it, and probably won it in a poker game! But it is in great shape, relatively, and she wanted me to have it, as she had planned on taking up the harp in her after-life. (Her words, in essence.)
I took it to a couple of local guitar shops and a guy at the first place said, "Oh yeah! That's one o' them tater bugs!" I said, "Huh?". He said again, "That's one of them tater bugs!" So I did hear him right, though he didn't know where the name came from. At the next shop, they were a lot more knowledgeable and the fellow behind the counter went on line and identified the mandolin as a Washburn, circa 1890's. Dang! I almost dropped it! Not worth much, though, of course, but it was my grandfather's, sentimentality, and all that. I plan on restringing it with a set of light gauge strings, and learn to strum it a little. I play guitar left-handed, but since the chords are different on a mandolin, I'll keep it strung right-handed and learn to play it "upside down" (I won't have to change the nut that way). Word to Ricky Skaggs - nothing to worry about, competition-wise...
I went on line to see if I could find out a little more about the instrument, so I googled "tater bug", and up popped a picture of a potato bug - not a mandolin, but the actual insect! Aha! I now understand the origin of the nickname. A potato bug is beetle with a striped shell which looks a whole lot like the striping on the bowl of the mandolin, which is comprised of about 20 strips of wood (Brazilian rosewood, I am told), that form the bowl.
Also in the aforementioned box was a large manila envelope full of old pictures. They were a treasure to go through, some of which I recognized from my own childhood, along with my younger siblings, and others that were extremely old, as in the 1800's! The oldest was a picture of my father's grandfather, who, according to Aunt Shirley went AWOL - from the CIVIL WAR! I guess nobody's still looking for him by now. More on all that later...