Music & Musical Instruments

This guitar was made by Robert Benedetto in Homosassa Springs, Florida, in 1978.

It is a 7 course (7x1) archtop model, serial #1678.

Robert Benedetto was born in 1946 in The Bronx, New York into a family of artists, cabinet maker s and musicians. Benedetto made his first archtop guitar in 1968. His reputation grew as he crafted guitars for noted guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Chuck Wayne, Joe Diorio and Cal Collins. From 1999-2006, Benedetto had a licensing agreement with Fender Musical Instruments to produce his models in a small, controlled manufacturing environment. Following the agreement with Fender, Benedetto joined forces with jazz guitarist and corporate executive, Howard Paul, to manufacture a broad line of more affordable professional instruments without compromising the unparalleled Benedetto quality. In 1977 Benedetto met jazz guitarist, John “Bucky” Pizzarelli and made this 7-string archtop guitar, serial #1678, for him a year later. Pizzarelli played this guitar up until the time he donated it to the museum in 2005.

This trumpet was made by Horstmann Brothers & Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around 1879-1882. It is an F natural trumpet made of brass, with a blue cord. This trumpet is stamped:

HORSTMANN BROS. & Co. [/] PHILADELPHIA

This is a standard military trumpet, made according to Specification No. 38, dated February 15th, 1879, “Specifications for Trumpets,” Quartermaster General’s Office, War Department:

“For all foot troops -- To be the same as standard sample brass trumpet ’F,’ two (2) coil, and with two (2) mouthpieces. When complete, with mouth-piece in, to weigh about twelve and a half (12 ½) ounces, and to measure about sixteen (16) inches in length, and about four and a half (4 ½) inches in width at center. Diameter of bell to be about four and a half (4 ½) inches.”

William Hortsmann, born in Germany, emigrated to the United States and established himself as a maker of fringe, laces, and trimmings in Philadelphia, in 1815. William Horstmann & Sons were located at North Third Street between 1830 and 1857, manufacturing and importing everything from textiles and trimmings to military goods including drums, pistols, and swords. As the company expanded, Horstmann & Sons moved the factory to 5th and Cherry Streets and their storefront to 2223 Chestnut Street. Later the company would grow to two stores in New York and an agency in Paris. William Horstmann retired from the company in 1845, and his sons, William and Sigmund continued the family business until 1872.

This roller organ roll was likely made by the Munroe Organ Reed Company in Worcester, Mashachusetts, around 1880-1883. It was sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is a perforated Clariona roll, No. 19, 31 feet. The roll plays the following tunes:

Little Beauty Waltz
Bella Waltz
Home Waltz

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This Clariona roll (19) listed in an 1880s J. Howard Foote catalog, sold for $1.40.

This roller organ was likely made by the Munroe Organ Reed Company in Worcester, Mashachusetts, about 1882. It was sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is a Clariona model, Serial #988252, made of walnut with 14 brass reeds. This instrument plays 8" wide perforated paper rolls and operates by a hand cranked vacuum system. Printed on a paper label:

THE REED-PIPE CLARIONA

This instrument features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #73080 dated January 7, 1868, by Jonas Berger for an improvement in key-coupling for musical instruments.

U. S. Patent #203257 dated May 7, 1878, by Merritt Gally for improvements in musical instruments. Reissue #8856 dated August 19, 1879.

U. S. Patent #222030 dated November 25, 1879, by Merritt Gally for improvements in musical instruments.

U. S. Patent #236275 dated January 4, 1881, by Frank Stone for improvements in valve devices for organ-bellows.

U. S. Patent #252844 dated January 24, 1882, by Henry B. Morris and Lucien A. Brott assignors to The Autophone Company for improvements in mechanical musical instruments.

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This make and style of reed pipe clariona as listed in an 1880s J. Howard Foote catalog, sold for $8.00.

This roller organ roll was likely made by the Munroe Organ Reed Company in Worcester, Mashachusetts, around 1880-1883. It was sold by the J. Howard Foote Company in New York and Chicago. It is a perforated paper Clariona roll, No. 15, 19-3/4 feet. The roll plays the following tunes:

Watch on the Rhine
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
Home Sweet Home
Yankee Doodle

John Howard Foote (1833-1896) was a musical instrument dealer with shops in New York City and Chicago. This Clariona roll (#15) listed in an 1880s J. Howard Foote catalog, sold for 90 cents.

This button is from the San Diego Jazz Party, in 1992. The button is a made of white paper with black and red ink covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button serves as an attendee identifier to the SDJP. The button is printed:

SAN DIEGO JAZZ PARTY
No 0370
1992

The San Diego Jazz Party (SDJP) is an annual weekend-long event featuring public live performances of traditional jazz music. It is a non-profit organization that also provides scholarships for young jazz musicians at the high school or college level. The SDJP was originally presented in Downtown San Diego by Bill and Beverly Muchnic, in 1988.

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

This banjo was made by William Boucher, Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland in 1846. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with a wood shell, red painted metal hoop, 6 brackets, and friction pegs. Stamped on back of the neck:

W.BOUCHER.JR
BALTIMORE

William Boucher was a drum maker and musical instrument dealer in Baltimore, Maryland. He became the first commercial maker of banjos, perhaps through his association with the celebrated minstrel banjoist Joel Walker Sweeney.

His instruments were important in standardizing the form of the banjo in its transition from a homemade rural instrument to urban commercial manufacture. The basic shape and string arrangement has changed little up to the present day. Boucher’s design copied important features of earlier home-made African American instruments: the skin head, short thumb string and fretless neck. He added a scrolled peghead similar to those used by guitar makers W. Stauffer and C. F. Martin, and replaced the traditional gourd body with a thin, bentwood rim construction with screw-tightening brackets similar to that used for drumheads. Boucher’s innovations were well-adapted to commercial mass-production and urban musical tastes and played a large part in the subsequent worldwide enthusiasm for the banjo.

These commercial “improvements” were never adopted by many traditional rural musicians, who continued to make good sounding instruments that were entirely adequate for their musical needs from locally available materials, at little or no expense.

This button is from the Queen Mary Jazz Festival in Long Beach, California, in 1980. It is made of white paper with red ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

UNITED JAZZ CLUBS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
1980
5TH ANNUAL
QUEEN [crown] MARY
JAZZ FESTIVAL
SUN. NOV.30, 1980
TO
HELP
OURKIDS!
$7.50
DONATION
VARIETY CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TENT 25

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

This fife was made by Horstman Brothers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, around 1862-1875. It is made of rosewood with brass ferrules. The fife is stamped:

HORSTMAN BRO'S

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, around 1897-1899. It is Regina Disc #4365 - Faust "All Hail" (cavatina), by Charles Gounod. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This banjo was made by William Boucher, Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with a wood shell, gold painted metal hoop, 14 brackets, and friction pegs. Stamped on back of the neck:

W.BOUCHER.JR
BALTIMORE

William Boucher was a drum maker and musical instrument dealer in Baltimore, Maryland. He became the first commercial maker of banjos, perhaps through his association with the celebrated minstrel banjoist Joel Walker Sweeney.

His instruments were important in standardizing the form of the banjo in its transition from a homemade rural instrument to urban commercial manufacture. The basic shape and string arrangement has changed little up to the present day. Boucher’s design copied important features of earlier home-made African American instruments: the skin head, short thumb string and fretless neck. He added a scrolled peghead similar to those used by guitar makers W. Stauffer and C. F. Martin, and replaced the traditional gourd body with a thin, bentwood rim construction with screw-tightening brackets similar to that used for drumheads. Boucher’s innovations were well-adapted to commercial mass-production and urban musical tastes and played a large part in the subsequent worldwide enthusiasm for the banjo.

These commercial “improvements” were never adopted by many traditional rural musicians, who continued to make good sounding instruments that were entirely adequate for their musical needs from locally available materials, at little or no expense.