Electric Guitars began to get bigger and bigger during the big band era.  This was between the 1920's and 1930's.  Most bands back then were mostly brass so the softer sounds of instruments like the acoustic guitar had to be somehow amplified.  That is why they started manufacturing electric guitars. The Electro String Instrument Corporation manufactured the first line of Electric Guitars back in 1931.

The very first electric guitars were still virtually acoustic.  They were hallow and the only differnce between them and acoustic guitars is that they were equipped with Tungsten pickups. The only problem with this style of electric guitars is that the same vibrations that cause acoustic guitars to sound so good also took place in the electric ones.  This made the electric guitar very difficult to play and it didn't sound too good either.  For this reason, artists would stuff newspaper in the hollow area, or rags, in attempt to get rid of those vibrations.

In the 1950's, Fender produced it's first solid body electric guitar.  This is when the guitar started to get more popular and used commercially.

During the 1960's and 70's, the electric guitar became very popular and was used in numberless bands on and off the stage.  Its harsher and louder sound proved it to be a worthy instrument for the rock and roll genre of music.