Music & Musical Instruments
The Museum's music collections contain more than 5,000 instruments of American and European heritage. These include a quartet of 18th-century Stradivari stringed instruments, Tito Puente's autographed timbales, and the Yellow Cloud guitar that belonged to Prince, to name only a few. Music collections also include jukeboxes and synthesizers, square-dancing outfits and sheet music, archival materials, oral histories, and recordings of performances at the museum. The vast Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated Sheet Music is a remarkable window into the American past in words, music, and visual imagery. The Duke Ellington and Ruth Ellington Boatwright collections contain handwritten music compositions, sound recordings, business records, and other materials documenting the career of this renowned musician. In various ways, our collections find expression in performances of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and in other public programs.
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Family Album 1910-1948
- Description (Brief)
- green bound album with gold writing on front cover and spine that reads "Family Album 1910-1948"; black paper pages; photograph album containing photos of kids, kids with toys, kids on bicycles, families on vacation, kids in a classroom, automobiles; Belonged to Patricia Anne Cohen, formerly actor Patricia English
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1910-1948
- ID Number
- 2017.0225.0001
- accession number
- 2017.0225
- catalog number
- 2017.0225.0001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Baby Dear; Harmony Blues
- Description
- Mary Lou Williams and her Kansas City Seven. side 1: Baby Dear; side 2: Harmony Blues (Decca 18122), from the album, Kansas City Jazz (Decca 18122).
78 rpm. Both tracks were recorded in 1940. This album was released in 1941. - Location
- Currently not on view
- recording date
- 1940
- release date
- 1941
- recording artist
- Mary Lou Williams and her Kansas City Seven
- manufacturer
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1978.0670.571
- accession number
- 1978.0670
- maker number
- 18122
- 214
- catalog number
- 1978.0670.571
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Up To Date Surprise Harmonica
- Description
This harmonica was made by M. Hohner in Germany, undetermined date. It is an Up To Date Surprise model in the key of A, with 10 single holes and 20 reeds. This harmonica has a red stained wooden comb with metal cover plates attached to the top and bottom with nails. The harmonica is engraved:
UP TO DATE SURPRISE
REGISTERED PATENT APPLIED FOR
MADE IN
GERMANY
BY M.HOHNER A- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Hohner, M.
- ID Number
- 1988.0783.405
- accession number
- 1988.0783
- catalog number
- 1988.0783.405
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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I'm Beginning To See the Light; I'm Gonna Turn Off the Teardrops
- Description
- Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald. side 1: I'm Beginning To See the Light; side 2: I'm Gonna Turn Off the Teardrops (Decca 25344), from the album, Ink Spots - Ella Fitzgerald Souvenir Album (Decca A-657).
78 rpm. Side 1 was originally recorded in 1945 and released on Decca 23399. Side 2 was originally recorded in 1945 and released on Decca 18755. This album was released in 1948. - Location
- Currently not on view
- recording date
- 1945
- release date
- 1948
- recording artist
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- Ink Spots
- manufacturer
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1981.0656.499
- accession number
- 1981.0656
- maker number
- A-657
- 25344
- catalog number
- 1981.0656.499
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Violin (3/4 size)
- Description
- This three-quarters size violin was made in Mittenwald, Germany around 1900. This is an instrument of commercial Mittenwald manufacture. As the classic tradition of violin-making waned during the first half of the 19th Century, makers like Ludwig Neuner (1840-1897) collaborated with other Mittenwald workmen to meet the demand for new instruments. Neuner, a gifted craftsman who spent six years in Paris working for J. B. Vuillaume, returned to Mittenwald in 1884 and enlarged the commercial firm of Neuner & Hornsteiner. Under his leadership, over 200 employees were used to meet the international demand for commercial as well as finely crafted instruments. This violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce, back of maple in two pieces with mild, irregular horizontal figure, ribs of similar maple, neck, pegbox and scroll of mildly figured maple, and a shaded opaque yellow-brown varnish.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1898 - 1902
- ID Number
- MI.65.0750
- catalog number
- 65.0750
- accession number
- 182022
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Man with Guitar and Lute
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- March 23, 1897
- maker
- Freeman Photographic Studio
- ID Number
- 1986.0109.070
- accession number
- 1986.0109
- catalog number
- 1986.0109.070
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Francis & Day's Album of Famous Waltzes
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Francis, Day & Hunter Ltd.
- ID Number
- 2018.3010.277
- nonaccession number
- 2018.3010
- catalog number
- 2018.3010.277
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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(I Wonder Why) You're Just in Love
- Description
This sheet music is for the song “(I Wonder Why?) You’re Just in Love,” by Irving Berlin. It was published by Irving Berlin Music Corp. in New York, New York in 1950.
”(I Wonder Why?) You’re Just in Love” was featured in the musical, Call Me Madam, with book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Call Me Madam had its pre-Broadway run in New Haven, Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts. The musical opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on October 12, 1950, where it ran for 644 performances. Call Me Madam received Tony Awards for Outstanding Musical Score to Irving Berlin. Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical to Ethel Merman, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical to Russell Nype.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- publishing date
- 1950
- publisher
- Irving Berlin Music Corporation
- ID Number
- 1985.0506.19
- accession number
- 1985.0506
- catalog number
- 1985.0506.19
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Esquire Magazine Award, presented to Duke Ellington
- Description
This award was presented to Duke Ellington from Esquire magazine in 1946. It features a stylized gold-tone statue of a man playing a trumpet, Esquire magazine’s pop-eyed mascot “Esky,” on a brown-stained wooden base with an embossed and engraved metal plate. The metal plate is marked:
EsquirE’s
ALL AMERICAN BAND
ARRANGER-GOLD AWARD
AWARDED TO
DUKE ELLINGTON
1946Esquire is an American men’s magazine founded in 1933. The magazine featured its first jazz awards, All-American Jazz All Stars and All-American Jazz Band, chosen by Esquire’s board of leading jazz artists, critics, and writers, in 1944. The inaugural winners included Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge, Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Al Casey, Oscar Pettiford, and Sidney Catlett.
The “Esky” mascot was created by African American cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971).
An ad for the Esquire awards appeared in a January 5, 1946 issue of Billboard magazine indicating the list of winners would be in the Esquire February 1946 issue, which sold for 50 cents. Esquire also published a 1946 Jazz book that featured articles, photographs, and biographies of the 1946 winners, which sold for $1.00. Additionally, a concert presented by the winners, and emceed by Orson Welles in New York, would be aired over the entire ABC network.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- presentation date
- 1946
- recipient
- Ellington, Duke
- ID Number
- 1989.0369.112
- accession number
- 1989.0369
- catalog number
- 1989.0369.112
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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“In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town”
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town” that was written and composed by Joe Young, John Siras, and Little Jack Little. The sheet music was published by M. Witmark & Sons of New York City in 1932. The pale yellow cover features a pencil illustration of shanty on a hill. There is an inset photograph of Abe Lyman on the right side of the cover. Lyman was a singer who featured the song during performances and on records.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1932
- publisher
- M. Witmark & Sons
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.091
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.091
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Belle Belle My Liberty Belle
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1951
- depicted (sitter)
- Stargazers
- maker
- Stargazers
- ID Number
- 2017.3021.253
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3021
- catalog number
- 2017.3021.253
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Ezekial Saw de Wheel; Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho
- Description
- The Southernaires. side 1: Ezekial Saw De Wheel; side 2: Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho (Decca 2858), from the album, The Southernaires in a Recital of Spirituals (Decca 83).
78 rpm. - Location
- Currently not on view
- recording date
- 1939
- recording artist
- Southernaires
- manufacturer
- Decca
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05288
- maker number
- 2858
- 83
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05288
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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"Seven Boarders"
- Description
- Thi sheet music is for the song "Seven Boarders," by Solomon Small [Smulewitz] and arranged by Joseph M. Rumshinsky. It was publishing by Hebrew Publishing Company in New York, New York, in 1917. The cover features an image of composer and conductor Joseph M. Rumshinsky (1881-1956).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- publishing date
- 1917
- arranger
- Rumshinsky, Joseph M.
- composer
- Small, Solomon
- publisher
- Hebrew Publishing Company
- ID Number
- 1992.0359.19
- accession number
- 1992.0359
- catalog number
- 1992.0359.19
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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What's Expected of Me Now; Bluebird
- Description (Brief)
- Flo Lacey. side 1: What's Expected of Me Now; side 2: Bluebird (Krugerrand AUM 101)
- 45 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1977
- recording artist
- Howard, Trustin
- Lacey, Flo
- maker
- Krugerrand Records
- ID Number
- 2000.3053.3225
- nonaccession number
- 2000.3053
- catalog number
- 2000.3053.3225
- label number
- AUM 101
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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"Was It A Dream?"
- Description
This sheet music is for the song “Was It A Dream?” by Sam Coslow, Larry Spier, and Addy Britt. It was published by Harms, Inc. in New York, New York in 1928.
The cover art for this sheet music was made by American artist Irving Politzer (1898-1971). Politzer created sheet music covers mostly from 1920-1930. He continued his career as an illustrator through the early 1960s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- publishing date
- 1928
- publisher
- Harms, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1986.0021.48
- accession number
- 1986.0021
- catalog number
- 1986.0021.48
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
make-up brush
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2016.0032.040
- accession number
- 2016.0032
- catalog number
- 2016.0032.040
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
“My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon”
- Description
- This sheet music is for the song “My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon” that was written and composed by James Thornton and published by Frank Harding in 1892. The plain white cover features a blue image of a woman on a stepladder looking up at the moon, which has a face in it. The cover notes that the song was “written for and sung by Bonnie Thorton at Tony Pastor’s Theatre, New York.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- publishing date
- 1892
- composer, lyricist
- Thornton, James
- ID Number
- 1983.0320.02
- accession number
- 1983.0320
- catalog number
- 1983.0320.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
“Carolina Rolling Stone”
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “Carolina Rolling Stone” that had lyrics written by Mitchell Parish, and music composed by Eleanor Young and Harry D. Squires. The sheet music was published by the Joe Morris Music Company of New York City in 1921. The cover features an illustration of a house with smoke coming out of its chimney, set into the background of a field of cotton. The illustration is signed “Hoffman.” There are three photos set into the center of the cover of Helen Dean, Charles Morey, and Charles Senna.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1921
- publisher
- Joe Morris Music Company
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.086
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.086
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Blue Tail Fly, The; Henry Martyn (Pirate Ballad)
- Description
- Burl Ives. side 1: The Blue Tail Fly; side 2: Henry Martyn (Pirate Ballad) (Stinson 345-3), from the album, The Wayfaring Stranger (Stinson A 345).
78 rpm. - Location
- Currently not on view
- release date
- 1944
- recording artist
- Ives, Burl
- manufacturer
- Stinson
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05153
- maker number
- 345-3
- A 345
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05153
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Drawing
- Description
This pencil on paper drawing was made by Arnold R. Bone. It is a design for an unidentified tool. The drawing looks like the lower bout of a violin with the placement of the button. (Related drawings include: Cat. #2002.0167.32.08; 2002.0167.32.26). Bone would design and make custom tools for bow making and repair.
Arnold R. Bone (July 26, 1913 - August 9, 2001) was an engineer, inventor, gunsmith, string instrument bowmaker. He grew up in South Ryegate, Vermont, and graduated from Wentworth Institute in 1935. After graduation, Bone worked at Irwin Auger Bit Company in Wilmington, Ohio before returning to Wentworth to teach Navy machinist mates during World War II until 1944. The final part of his career, Bone worked at Dennison Mfg. Company in Framingham (now Avery Dennison) when he retired in 2000.
Arnold R. Bone held numerous patents at Dennison, including several for the Swiftacher, the device for attaching tags to clothing with a nylon filament. His ubiquitous fasteners are still used today. Bone applied his engineering and master craftsman skills to making string instrument bows, and also became one of the world's most respected experts on repair and restoration of fine bows. His customers ranged from young students to members of professional ensembles such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and bows were shipped to him from all over the world.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- designed
- Bone, A. R.
- ID Number
- 2002.0167.32.07
- catalog number
- 2002.0167.32.07
- accession number
- 2002.0167
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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