Item List Thomas William Bacon 1841 to 1918 Read More

Tonk Brothers Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker At the beginning of the 20th c Chicago was a hub of music companies and Tonk Bros slotted into the maize of manufacturers, buyers and resellers and retailers of instruments and sheet music at the quality end of the market. The philosophy of quality in product and service was laid down by Charles J Tonk and they claimed to be the world’s largest exclusive wholesaler of stringed musical instruments including National Guitars and Washburn banjos, guitars, mandolins and Ukuleles. It was started in the early 1890’s by the Tonk Bros. and was taken over by Paul Moenning in the mid 1920’s still trading as Tonk Brothers, 623 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago. In 1928 he acquired the Lyon & Healey wholesaling business and had JR Stewart making Washburn banjos for him claiming $1 million of sales in 1929 when you could buy a National Style O for $60 In 1929 the stock market crashed and the manufacturing business of Stewart went bankrupt, so Tonk Bros bought the factory along with the Washburn name. As the US came out of the depression the industry had slimmed down and Tonk continued to trade with Regal who was building their instruments in the old Stewart factory and wholesaling though companies like Kay and Stella.

.. a Swedish cabinet maker, went to Boston Mass. in 1887. He secured work in the Thompson & Odell works and for eighteen years was their foreman in the banjo, mandolin and guitar factory. In 1905 he started his own business at 40 Hanover St., Boston, and five years later took his son Elmer into the business with him. Between them the two craftsmen produced hundreds of banjos, including other musical instruments in which they specialised. The banjos they produced and sold under the name of Stromberg had what they called a “Cupperphone Tone Chamber” which consisted of a metal ring placed on a series of upright metal tubes or cups fitted on a built in wooded shelf inside the banjo hoop and directly under the vellum. The firm appears to have gone out of business soon after 1929 Photos courtesy of Intermountain Guitar & Banjo Charles A. Stromberg next maker

... was born In Middlesex and moved to Birmingham, where he became a successful teacher, concert artist, recording star and broadcaster, sold many banjos, and zither-banjos bearing his name as the maker. All these instruments were made for him: at first by Windsor and then by Joseph Riley Sons . He was associated with the latter firm, as a teacher and demonstrator from about 1894 to 1898. In the first deacde of the 20th Century he was renown for playing the fashionable ragtime tunes of the period on his zither banjo. John Pidoux 1876 - 1953 Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

... of 184 Tottenham Court Raod, London was an important music publisher, teacher and dealer in musical instruments in the earl 1880’s (he published several tutors for the 7, 6 and 5 string banjos in 1883). He sold many banjos bearing his name as maker but most were made for him by Edward Spratt (c1823-1884) and Temlett . At a later date he changed his label to read “ Manufactured expressly for C. Roylance". Charles George Roylance 1841 - Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

also see Haynes Bay State Pictures courtesy of Intermountain Guitar and Banjo next maker

Elias Howe 1820 to 1895 next maker EH & Co. was founded in 1840 by Elias Howe Jr, made banjos in the last quarter of the 19th C in the Boston Mass., area. (He should not be confused with his cousin Elias Howe who was born in 1819 and invented the sewing machine.) He started out as a student of the fiddle and in 1840 published a book of the tunes he had collected and this developed into a music publishing business, the rights to which he sold to Oliver Ditson in 1842. During the Civil war he made drums and fifes for the Massechusetts Regiment and no doubt his knowledge of drums spilled over into banjo making in the early 1880's. The company bought out HC Barnes in 1898 and had numerous models in two ranges of banjos, their Academy (bottom end) and Superbo (top end)). Images courtesty of the estate of Richard Evans

Item List Robert H Benary ​ Read More

In 1926 Stewart re-joined Marks. By then the tenor banjo boom was in full swing so Marks figured to get in on the game and used the Stewart name on the "Fred Stewart Magictone" tenor banjo.By 1894 his factory was turning out really first class instruments by the hundreds (priced from as low as $10 to as high as $200) and he had an agency in every town in the country as well as selling to agents in countries all over the world. At different times he kept full page advertisement running in “The New York Clipper” and he did a lot to make America “banjo conscious”. Demand for Stewart banjos far exceeded production for some years. At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 he had a display of banjos and the catalogue for the Exposition stated: “SS Stewart’s banjo manufactory in Church Street, Philadelphia, is the only establishment of its kind in the world – the largest and most complete banjo manufactory in existence”. It conceded the fact that there were other larger factories making banjos but added that they also made other instruments. “Stewart’s factory only made banjos” it proclaimed. Stewart was the first maker to strengthen the banjo neck with inlays of hardwood set on the cross grain to prevent warping. He once said “on my banjos I claim no new inventions nor have I any patents connected therewith. I do claim an improved and more perfected banjo, secured by processes of manufacture; some of which remain secrets of my own and which to attempt to protect by letters of patent would merely place part of my knowledge in the hands of others”. It is interesting to note that in the late 1890’s Francis Beddard, an Englishman, settled in Philadelphia and secured employment in the Stewart factory. He returned to England in 1901 and made the first “ John Grey ” banjos for Barnett Samuel & Son Ltd. On 1st January 1898 SS Stewart merged with George Bauer, mandolin and guitar maker, and the firm of Stewart & Bauer opened a new factory at 1414/1412 North 6th St., Philadelphia, with Stewart’s eldest son Frederick S. taking up a position in the office. On 6th April of the same year Stewart died of apoplexy and three years later the firm failed. George Bauer then formed his own company and the Bauer Company of 726/730 Girard Avenue, produced “Stewart” banjos “made on the original models and designs in the original Stewart Factory” but, despite the announcement that “every effort to maintain the high standard of these celebrated instruments would be made” inferior materials were used and the instruments did not sell. In 1920 Marks bought out Stern. Fred J Stewart had joined Jos. W Stern & Co of 34 East 21st St., New York City, when Stewart & Bauer had failed and Stern’s started to produce the SS Stewart’s Son Improved “4S” banjos. At prices ranging from $9 to $65 the instruments were said to be made under the personal supervision of Fred J Stewart. They were advertising this instrument for at least three years but no later mention has been found. In August 1914 Buegeleison & Jacobsen of New York City announced that they had bought the “patent rights” of the Stewart banjo and would resume the manufacture of banjos bearing the SS Stewart name but these instruments were mass produced factory made banjos and did not compare in quality or tone to the original Stewart instruments made in Philadelphia. Buegeleison & Jacobsen ceased to make banjos when America entered the 2nd WorldWar. In 1926 Stewart re-joined Marks. By then the tenor banjo boom was in full swing so Marks figured to get in on the game and used the Stewart name on the "Fred Stewart Magictone" tenor banjo. Samuel Swaim Stewart 1855 to 1898 next maker .. was born in Philadelphia , PA on 8th January 1855. He originally studied the violin but in 1872 took banjo lessons from George C Dobson. Six years later he opened a studio for teaching the banjo in his native city which laid the foundation for what became a vast publishing and manufacturing businesses. Being dissatisfied with the banjos currently being produced he spent a lot of time studying construction and in 1879 opened a factory at 221/223 Church Street. Improving on the designs of Clarke, Dobson, Schall etc., as George Lansing Said many years later “he took the reins of banjoism in his hands and it is to him … we owe a debt of gratitude for the popularity of the instrument”.

During the dance-band boom of the early 1920s Hawkes & Co. of London marketed banjos bearing their name, these instruments were made for them by J.G. Abbott & Co. In 1930 the firm was incorporated with Boosey & Co. to become Boosey & Hawkes Ltd. Hawkes & Co. Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

Following a tour of Englad with his brother George (b 1857) the African-American James Bohee established a teaching studio in Coventry Street, London, in 1882. He first sold S. S. Stewart banjos at exorbitant prices to his pupils but before long he decided it was more profitable to sell his "own" banjos. These had a 12 inch hoop, plain nickel-silver, fingerboard without any fret markings, and push-in ivory pegs. When the Prince of Wales, who was soon to become King Edward VII, took lessons from him, the banjo craze hit British High Society. It is said he was a shrewd business man and asked as much as £50 for one of his banjos, a truly great price when one realises the highest-priced instruments at that time were 9 or 10 guineas. Bohee banjos were branded "Champion" and Alfred Weaver made the majority of them, although some were said to have been made by Arthur Tilley of Surbiton. Bohee died in 1897 but his brother liver on to 1930. James Bohee ... 1844 to 1897 Do you have a banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker