This banjo was made by the Bacon Banjo Company, Inc. of Groton, Connecticut, about 1932. It is a Four-String Tenor Banjo, “B&D Senorita” model, serial #31245 with 24 brackets and a pearloid covered resonator, fretboard, and peghead. “Senorita” models were the lower priced, medium grade, banjos made by the company. There is an inscribed metal plate on the back of the resonator and stamped on the dowel stick:
MADE BY BACON BANJO CO. INC. GROTON, CONN
Fred J. Bacon started the company in 1920. Two years later, David L. Day left the Vega Company to join the Bacon Banjo Company. By 1940, the Bacon Banjo Company had been purchased by the Gretsch Company who continued to make Bacon and B&D banjos until the late 1960s.
This banjo was made by the Vega Company in Boston, Massachusetts, around 1929. It is a Four-String Banjo, Soloist Model, Serial #87500, with a seven-lap laminated maple rim, gold-finish top hoop and hooks, new design flanges and 28 brackets, patented Tu-ba phone tone tube and bracket band in a nickel finish. The neck is made of maple, peghead with mother of pearl inlay, ebony fingerboard with pearl inlay position marks, and 22 frets. Gold-finish gear pegs with white pearloid buttons, gold-finish tailpiece. The resonator is made of a maple five ply laminated shell and rim. The dowel stick is stamped:
[Vega star] MADE BY THE VEGA COMPANY BOSTON, MASS. U.S.A.[Vega star] PAT. DEC 30.1890 JAN 10. 1893 JULY 27.1909
This banjo features the following patents:
U. S. Patent #443510 dated December 30, 1890, by Albert C. Fairbanks, for new and useful improvements in banjos.
U. S. Patent #489470 dated January 10, 1893, by Albert C. Fairbanks, for new and useful improvements in banjos.
U. S. Patent #928948 dated July 27, 1909, by David L. Day, assignor to the Vega Company, for an improved means for stretching and retaining the head of a banjo.
The ”Soloist” banjo is described in a 1928 Vega catalog:
“The new Soloist model is designed to offer the finest tonal qualities, characteristic of all Vegaphones, with an attractive flashing appearance. This model is the ideal instrument for the player who desires a combination of superior tone and a flashing golden appearance.”
This make and style of the Soloist Vegaphone banjo was listed for $200.00.
This banjo was made by John Huron in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1996. It is a Five-String Fretless “Mountain Banjo,” serial #MB-042, with a cherry wood body, rosewood tuners and tailpiece, and a groundhog hide head.
John Huron is a builder and player of a variety of historical instruments. He has combined music, history, and folklore in classes and demonstrations throughout the United States to preserve the heritage of Appalachian instruments and music.
This banjo was made by Gibson Inc., of Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1923. It is a Four-String Tenor Banjo, Style TB-3, serial #11196A-42A, with a maple hoop, 22 brackets, maple neck with mahogany finish, ebony fingerboard with pearl inlay and 20 frets, tuning machine pegs. Stenciled on the peghead:
The Gibson
As described in the 1923 Gibson Catalog N:
“A very popular model, incorporating the full-floating, non-friction tone-tube and other Mastertone features which give it the characteristic brilliant, powerful, snappy and far-carrying tone that is the joy of the dance orchestra Tenor-banjoist’s heart. Select ebony finger-board; other wood parts best quality maple, finished in beautiful, rich, dark mahogany with the neck blending from mahogany to clear natural maple finish. Japan pearl ornamentation, and position dots. Braced extension finger-board with twenty frets: 19-inch scale. Gibson special specification strings. All standard Gibson mastertone features, including ball-bearing tone-tube, tension-tube, etc. Completely equipped with Gibson arm-rest, finger-rest and tone-projector. Length, 29 inches; weight packed for shipping, 18 pounds.”
”One of the instruments which helps to maintain the Gibson reputation for offering the most in quality, durability and tone for the least cost."
This banjo ukulele was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1925-1930. It is a Four-String Banjo Ukulele, made of different colored woods, 17 frets, friction tuning pegs. A similar instrument appears in a 1918 Wurlitzer catalog (No. 110).
During the 1920s and 1930s banjo ukuleles were manufactured by the thousands. The majority of these instruments were inexpensive. They were easy to play, and produced a louder sound than the traditional Hawaiian ukulele, which created an irresistible appeal.
As per Dee Cook Leggett, this banjo ukulele was given to her mother, the donor, Elma Grace Hanika Cook, by Elma's mother, Nellie Ann Harmon Hanika as a high school graduation present.
This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1835-1865. It has undergone considerable scrutiny and analysis at the Smithsonian because of its attribution to American slave origins. So far, studies have been inconclusive. While the sun design carved on the body may have African origins, the polygonal shape, wood top (instead of a skin), and carved head pegbox lie outside the traditions of banjos brought to America by Africans. Nevertheless, the instrument was likely made by someone familiar with Black culture.
This banjo mandolin was made by the Bacon Banjo Co., Inc. in Groton, Connecticut around 1920-1922. It is a Banjo Mandolin Professional FF 3 model, serial #6896, with 20 brackets, 8 machine gear tuners. This instrument features the Bacon internal resonator design and Bacon's proprietary tone ring. This instrument features the following patent:
U. S. Patent #823985 dated June 19, 1906, by Frederick J. Bacon, for improvements in the construction of banjos.
Banjo mandolins are strung, tuned and played like regular mandolins, making it easy for players of the popular mandolin to add a banjo-like sound to their repertoire. The same idea also led to the creation of banjo ukuleles, banjo guitars and similar hybrid instruments. Advertising for these instruments was largely aimed at countless amateur banjo, mandolin and guitar clubs, ensembles, and vaudeville troupes which flourished from the late 19th century until the 1930s.