Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury (1875) makes a somewhat satirical comment about the rise of the guitar in society circles, when it was the instrument of choice for the dilettanti Chelsea set, the gormless twerps we see now in Made in Chelsea. Previously to that, it was a normal instrument in the baroque repertoire.
WWII may well have been instrumental (sorry!) in bringing it back from the US, as it was used extensively in the blues roots of the 1920s by performers like Lead Belly. We can then see in the 1950s the movement into the rhythm and blues origins of pop, but it was soon replaced by the early Gibson electric guitars which led to rock. However, the acoustic guitar survived in Country music, and that then flavoured the 1960s folk revival. By the 1980s other instruments were quite rare, although people like Andrew Cronshaw were beginning to stress the importance of sound mixes using other far more exotic instruments, and we have moved a long way forwards,