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Your search found 596 records from all Smithsonian Institution collections.
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- Description
- 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 CoMAKERS- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1899
- maker
- A. C. Fairbanks Co.
- ID Number
- 1999.0296.01
- serial number
- 18151
- accession number
- 1999.0296
- catalog number
- 1999.0296.01
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- Description
- This banjo was made by Gibson, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan around 1940-1942. It is a Five-String Banjo, style RB-100, marked #7075-4, with a maple shell, neck, and resonator, sunburst finish on the back (the neck may have been refinished as it doesn’t appear to have the same sunburst finish), rosewood fingerboard with pearl position dots, 24 brackets, 2:1 Grover tuners, and a friction fifth-string peg. The peghead shape is unique to style 00 banjos. There is no tone ring or brass hoop but only a bead turned in the top of the rim to serve as a bearing for the head. Silkscreened on peghead:
- Gibson
- The RB-100 banjo is described in a 1937 Gibson catalog X:
- ”So that anyone can own a genuine Gibson regular banjo, we have created this fine model for only $27.50. Similar to style TB-00 on page 48 except has 27” scale with 22 frets and five strings.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1940=1942
- 1940-1942
- maker
- Gibson, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1981.0157.01
- accession number
- 1981.0157
- catalog number
- 1981.0157.01
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1848-1855. It is a Five-String Banjo with a walnut or mahogany shell, metal hoop, twelve brackets, rosewood neck with a unique silhouette below the 5th string tuner, an unusual rectangle-shaped peghead, friction pegs, and an early style machine peg for the 5th string.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1848-1855
- ID Number
- MI.380526
- catalog number
- 380526
- accession number
- 153640
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1930-1940. It is a Five-String Banjo, with 5 brackets. It was sold through Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogs, and is typical of the inexpensive instruments which became easily available at that time to musical enthusiasts through mass-marketing and mail order convenience.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1930-1940
- ID Number
- 1987.0055.03
- catalog number
- 1987.0055.03
- accession number
- 1987.0055
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in Tennessee around 1925-1960. It is a Five-String Bnajo, made from two wood round discs separated by a smaller wood disc. Ten carriage bolts connect the two large discs together. The neck and peghead are carved from a single piece of wood and attached to the body with a carriage bolt. Animal skin is stretched over a wood ring and inserted into the hole in the top disc to serve as a banjo head. The tailpiece is made from a piece of metal and is secured by a bolt.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1925-1960
- unspecified
- Maxwell Fund, Mary E.
- ID Number
- MI.78.08
- accession number
- 301219
- catalog number
- 78.08
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1880-1920. It is a Four-String banjo made from a tin pan. The neck appears to be commercially made. There are four Grover tuning pegs. Stamped on tuning peg rings:
- GROVERPAT. PEND.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1880-1920
- ID Number
- 1981.0530.09
- accession number
- 1981.0530
- catalog number
- 1981.0530.09
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. It is a Five-String Banjo, with a wood shell, and friction pegs. The head of the banjo is painted with a scene depicting an African-American man and woman and a yellow squash plant. The head is fastened with decorative nails.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850 - 1900
- late 19th century
- ID Number
- MI.381927
- catalog number
- 381927
- accession number
- 160028
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- Description
- This banjo was made by James Ashborn of Wolcottville, Connecticut around 1852-1875. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with 12 brackets, stained maple neck, rosewood veneer fingerboard, and a stained maple hoop. The peghead is stamped:
- J. ASHBORN PATENT 1852
- This banjo features U. S. Patent #9268 dated September 21, 1852, by James Ashborn, for an improved tuning peg.
- James Ashborn was the first to apply mass production principles to banjo and guitar making. His efficient factory in Connecticut was the source for high quality musical instruments distributed through New York wholesalers in the rapidly expanding 19th century market, signifying the instrument’s transition from homemade artifact to a profitable commercial product.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1852-1875
- maker
- Ashborn, James
- ID Number
- MI.67.002
- catalog number
- 67.002
- accession number
- 272575
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- Description
- This banjo was made by Ernst Hammig in New York, New York around 1871-1885. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo with a rosewood hoop, thirty brackets, rosewood neck, and friction pegs. Many of Hammig’s banjos have a unique carved line on the back of the neck near the 5th string. Hammig was listed at various addresses on Forsyth Street in 19th century New York City Directories as a banjo and musical instrument maker. Stamped on the dowel stick:
- E.HAMMIGNEW YORK
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1871-1885
- maker
- Hammig, E.
- ID Number
- MI.60.1381
- catalog number
- 60.1381
- accession number
- 227687
-
- Description
- This banjo was made by Henry C. Dobson of New York, New York around 1877. It is a Five-String Banjo, with 19 frets, 22 brackets, walnut neck, rosewood veneer hoop and resonator. The banjo is stamped on the bottom of the neck:
- HENRY C. DOBSON'S PATENT JULY 13, 1867
- This instrument features U.S. Patent #66810 dated July 13, 1867, by Henry C. Dobson, for an improvement in securing the banjo head to the rim. This method of tightening the head with vertical screws from above is similar to that seen in a banjo by George Teed, and later, in some “Top Tensioning” banjos made by The Gibson Company.
- Attached to the inside of the resonator is a printed label and instruction sheet signed: “#1424 Henry C. Dobson…1877.”
- Henry C. Dobson and his family were among the most active players and popularizers of the banjo in the early stages of its commercialization. They were influential in the transition from fretless to fretted fingerboards and the use of resonators and more complicated “tone ring” supports for the head. Some of Dobson’s instruments were actually made by the Buckbee Company in New York City.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1877
- maker
- Dobson, Henry C.
- ID Number
- MI.67.009
- catalog number
- 67.009
- accession number
- 272556
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- Description
- This banjo was made by George Teed of New York, New York around 1862. It is a Six-String Banjo, with 17 frets, 8 brackets with a brass hoop, and resonator made from rosewood veneer with inlaid design. The brass hoop is etched:
- George Teed[ ] 8th 1862
- This banjo features U. S. Patent #34913 dated April 8, 1862, by George Teed for an improvement in banjos.
- Teed is listed in the New York City directory from 1860-1861 as a turner with a home address of 497 E. Houston. Like many craftsmen in the woodworking trades, Teed may have made banjos as a secondary business.
- This early commercial banjo has top-tensioning screws to adjust the tightness of the head and a closed back resonator body designed to project the sound outwards towards the audience. Like similar mid-century banjos patented by Henry Dobson, it may have been actually made by the Buckbee company of New York.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1862
- maker
- Teed, George
- ID Number
- MI.68.06
- catalog number
- 68.06
- accession number
- 275703
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- Description
- This banjo was made by Samuel Swain Stewart Co. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1889. It is a Five-String Banjo, serial #6682, with a metal-covered wooden hoop, 26 metal brackets, dark wood veneered fretboard and peghead, with shell inlay, rosewood neck, carved heel, and friction pegs. The banjo’s dowel stick is stamped:
- TRADES.S.S. [in a peghead outline]MARK
- (There is a metal plate on the dowel stick) stamped:
- S.S.STEWART1889PHILAD'A
- Samuel Swain Stewart was a noted banjoist, one of the most prolific makers and popularizers of the banjo during the late 19th century. He was a determined advocate of "finger-style" (today's classic) technique, as opposed to the traditional "stroke style" (today's clawhammer or frailing) technique.
- Through such writings as his pamphlet The Banjo Philosophically. Its Construction, Its Capabilities, Its place as a Musical Instrument. Its possibilities, and Its Future, he pursued a determined campaign to "elevate" the image of the banjo by disparaging and even denying its African American and minstrel show origins. He produced banjos in a wide range of styles and costs and was influential in creating the popular enthusiasm for fretted instrument clubs and orchestras which persisted into the 1930's.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1889
- maker
- Samuel Swain Stewart Co.
- ID Number
- MI.73.27
- accession number
- 303139
- catalog number
- 73.27
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in Marengo County, Alabama around 1850-1884. It is a Four-String Fretless Banjo. It was collected in in 1884 in Marengo County, Alabama by Dr. Edward Palmer for the Smithsonian's "frontier collection.” Although roughly made, with whittled tuning pegs and a tacked-on untanned animal skin head, the grooves worn into the fretless neck show that it was well used. The banjo is a typical example of many homemade instruments that used locally available materials to make instruments which could produce powerful results in the hands of a skilled musician.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1884
- ID Number
- MI.075008
- catalog number
- 075008
- accession number
- 14145
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in Bristol, Tennessee during the 19th century. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo. The banjo has a commercial neck cut down and joined to a 4 bracket hoop of welded wrought iron, perhaps salvaged from an iron wagon wheel rim. Although now unplayable, the combination of a small diameter head and heavy rim would have produced a loud and clear tone.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1800-1899
- ID Number
- MI.66.155
- catalog number
- 66.155
- accession number
- 263346
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1878-1882. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with 9 brackets with eagles and 1 bracket with a shield (replacement), and a metal covered wood hoop. The brackets are similar to those on commercially-made banjos available through musical instruments distributors such as J. Howard Foote. This instrument was rebuilt by Kyle Creed of Galax, Virginia around 1965.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1878-1882
- ID Number
- MI.70.21
- catalog number
- 70.21
- accession number
- 290542
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- Description
- 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.JRBALTIMORE
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1847
- maker
- Boucher, Jr., William
- ID Number
- MI.094766
- catalog number
- 094766
- accession number
- 22989
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- Description
- This banjo was made by an unknown maker in North Carolina around 1875-1925. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with a wooden neck and rim. Fragments of an untanned skin (possibly groundhog) head are still nailed to the rim. Although in derelict condition when acquired by the Smithsonian, the deep grooves worn into the fretless neck attest to the many hours of music this instrument gave to its owner.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875-1899
- ID Number
- MI.65.0717
- catalog number
- 65.0717
- accession number
- 258254
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- Description
- This banjo was made by John Mayse in Surry County, North Carolina around 1900-1910. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with a commercial 8 bracket hoop, and the wooden neck and rim are painted red.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1900-1910
- maker
- Mayse, John
- ID Number
- MI.66.154
- catalog number
- 66.154
- accession number
- 263342
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- Description
- This banjo was made by Elmer Thompson of Staten Island, New York around 1917-1919 while waiting to be discharged from the U.S. Army during World War I. It is a Four-String Banjo, with a body made from the base of a German Howitzer shell, the neck from the stock of a rifle, with 12 frets, and the tuning pegs from French machine-gun bullets.
- After the War Thompson continued to play this banjo in Staten Island working as an electronics engineer with the Philco Corporation of America. Retiring in 1959, he played this banjo in a seven-piece dance orchestra in Debary, Florida known as the Dee Dee Beehive. He was an active inventor, with 30 patents to his credit recorded in the U.S. Patent Office.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1917-1919
- maker
- Thompson, Elmer
- ID Number
- 1984.0975.01
- accession number
- 1984.0975
- catalog number
- 1984.0975.01
-
- Description
- This banjo is marked "F. P. Mather 1860." It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with a bird’s-eye maple shell, metal hoop, twenty brackets, brass-plated fingerboard, and machine tuners. Hand-written inscription on dowel stick:
- F. MATHER MAKER 1860
- Fred Mather was a well-known minstrel banjoist of the mid-19th century.
- Like banjos marketed under the name of other well-known performers such as the Dobsons, this instrument was likely actually made in the New York factory of the Buckbee company. It is typical of mid-century commercial instruments in having a fretless neck, gut strings and a bentwood rim. The machine tuners and inlaid brass plate are probably later 19th century additions, along with the present arrangement of head-tightening brackets.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1860
- maker
- Mather, Fred P.
- ID Number
- MI.207888
- catalog number
- 207888
- accession number
- 37279
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