Music & Musical Instruments

This banjo was made by The A.C. Fairbanks Company of Boston, Massachusetts in 1899. It is a Five-String Banjo, Regent model, serial #18151, with a metal clad wood rim and maple neck, 28 brackets, ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl inlay, 22 frets, pearwood headstock with mother-of-pearl inlay, four ivory (one replacement) and one wood tuning peg. There is an engraved metal plate on the dowel stick:

The A.C.FAIRBANKS Co
MAKERS
- BOSTON, MASS. –

Albert Conant Fairbanks began making banjos in 1868 with William A. Cole, a well-known Boston banjo player and teacher. Around 1888, the A.C. Fairbanks Co., Fairbanks was joined by David L. Day. Six years later, Fairbanks sold his interest in the company to businessmen Cummings & Dodge. In 1904, the Vega Co. acquired the business and continued to produce popular banjos made by Fairbanks.

This clarinet was made by John Ashton in Boston, Massachusetts around 1825 to 1834. It is a 5-keyed clarinet in C, made of boxwood with ivory ferrules and brass keys. This clarinet is stamped:

[eagle]
J. ASHTON
BOSTON
C

John Ashton was a music publisher and dealer of musical instruments at 197 Washington Street in Boston Massachusetts from around 1819 to 1844. This clarinet was likely made by a nearby wind instrument maker for sale in Ashton’s store.

This banjo was made by the Vega Instrument Company Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1965. It is a Four-String Tenor Banjo, "Vega-Vox IV" model, serial #A-125768, maple neck with mahogany inlay, carved heel, 19-fret ebony fretboard with 8 square pearl inlays, headstock with “Vega” and star motif, gold-tone tuners with white plastic buttons, gold-tone metal hardware, Tu-ba-phone tone ring with “barbell” cutouts, and resonator with “De-Luxe Vegavox” star, with flowers and intricate designs.

As listed in a 1964 Vega banjo flyer, the Vega-Vox IV banjos are custom-built on special order only. This model banjo sold for $930.00 plus $75.00 extra for the carved neck.

This music box disc was made by Lloyd G. Kelley, successor to the Regina Music Box Company, in Hanover, Massachusetts, 1950s. It is Regina Disc #1225 – “Push Dem Clouds Away” by Percy Gaunt. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 15-1/2” 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 sheet music is for the song, “If I’m Not At the Roll Call (Kiss Mother “Goodbye For Me)”,” by George L. Boyden. It was published by Garton Brothers in Boston, Massachusetts in 1918.

The cover art for this sheet music was made by American artist Edward H. Pfeiffer (1868-1932). Pfeiffer was active from 1892 to the early 1930s, creating cover art for over 100 music publishers.

This flute was made by Verne Q. Powell Flutes Inc. in Maynard, Massachusetts, in 2006. It is a Boehm System Signature model flute, serial #SIG-1560, made of sterling silver. The flute is engraved:

[Powell logo]
Verne Q. Powell [signature]
SIG-1560
MADE IN USA

This flute was previously owned and used by American jazz saxophone and flute player James Moody (1925-2010). He played in the U.S. Army Air Corp segregated band, and after his discharge in 1946, Moody performed with Dizzy Gillespie. Throughout his career, Moody performed and recorded with other jazz musicians, including Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, and Charles Mingus. Moody as leader of his own ensembles, performed and recorded from 1949 until his death in 2010.

This flugelhorn was made by Isaac Fiske in Worcester, Massachusetts, around 1870-1880. It is a flugelhorn in E-Flat, made of nickel-plated brass, with 3 string-action rotary valves. While this instrument was probably sold as a cornet, its bore indicates a combination flugelhorn/cornet, but more like a flugelhorn. This flugelhorn is engraved:

ISAAC FISKE
MAKER
WORCESTER MASS

Isaac Fiske (1820-1894) established his firm in 1842 in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1887, on his retirement, Fiske sold his company to G.C. Conn.

This cornet was made by C. G. Conn in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1898. It is a B-flat/A cornet, serial #51787, made of silver plated brass with gold highlights, and has 3 Périnet piston valves with mother-of-pearl buttons and sculpted guides on the quick change slide. The bell of the cornet is ornately engraved with a floral design. The cornet is accessioned with a period wooden case covered with black leather and lined with purple plush, and accessories. This cornet is engraved:

MADE
BY
CONN
WORCESTER
MASS.

The second valve on the cornet is stamped “PAT. JUNE [/] 15, 1886,” which refers to United States Patent #343888 granted to Charles G. Conn for “Improvements in Cornets, and other Piston-Valve Musical Instruments.”