Item List Will Van Allen 1874 - Read More

Item List Chas F Alberts ​ Read More

< Back Fred J Bacon 1871 to 1948 .. was one of the leading banjo soloists of America, was born in 1871, became a pupil of A A Farland and started his professional career at the age of 16 years. In 1890 he met a lady who was to become his wife and stage partner in tours that for many years took them across the USA from NY to California. In 1908 he opened a studio at Forestdale, Vermont and with the title of "The Bacon Manufacturing Company " first advertised the "Bacon Professional Banjo" which had been made for him by the Vega Co . of Boston Mass. By 1921 he had formed the Bacon Banjo Co. with a factory at Grotton, Conn. to manufacrure instruments that were said to "incorporate the ideas of tone and workmanship by the President Fred J Bacon" . Bacon banjos were in demand and the factory kept working overtime to fulfill orders. On September 18th 1922 David L Day, with 39 years of of experience behind him left the Vega company and joined the Bacon Banjo Co as Vice President and General Manager and sson after the instruments were branded with the "B&D Silver Bell" trade mark. The Depression of 1929 seriously affected the company's business and in 1939 it was taken over by Fred Gretch Mfg. co. Inc. of 60 Broadway Brooklyn, New York. which continued t0 make the "B&D" banjos. Fred Bacon died in 1948 and David L Day in 1956. Find more information at banjoonmyknee.com Pictures courtesy of Smakula's Fretted Instruments Previous Next

< Back Barnes & Mullins 1872-1932 and 1873-1954 ....Samuel Bowley Barnes (b 1872 in Wimborne, Dorset) and Albert Edward Mullins (b 1873 in Bristol) were boyhood friends in their home town of Wimborne where they worked together at the local grocers shop. As young men they decide to join forces to become dealers in musical instruments; mainly selling banjos and mandolins in which they were particularly interested. Being players of no mean ability their public appearances helped them to sell their goods and soon they were despatching instruments all over the country, also because of their advertising and the launching (in February 1894) of their monthly fretted Instrument magazine called “The 'Jo." ("The 'Jo" title was changed to “The Troubadour" after a couple of years.) Both their sets of parents had died during the 1880's and while Mullins was living with his brother in law in 1891 neither appear on the 1901 census. They started to sell their "own" make of banjo but these were made for them by J. G. Abbott , W. E. Temlett . Windsor , Matthew , etc. - the usual makers "to the trade" at that time. It was in 1897 they patented their “mute attachment" which was fitted to B. & M. zither-banjos and worked from under the vellum. At the end of 1900 they moved to London and established themselves at Rathbone Place, off London's Oxford Street, as a wholesale house in all musical instruments and merchandise and, soon after, started their own workshops at Harrow, Middlesex. which at first were under the supervision of John G Abbott. During the dance-band boom they marketed- their "Lyratone" banjos, plectrum banjos and tenor-banjo which enjoyed considerable popularity. A feature of these instruments was the all-metal construction of the hoops. In 1924 Barnes was granted a patent simplifying the tensioning of the skin on a zither banjo through a redesigned tension ring. They ceased making banjos soon after the outbreak of World War II. the instruments branded "B. & M." sold from about 1965, have been made for them in Germany. Previous Next

Item List C F Allen ​ Read More

< Back C F Allen ​ ...of 193 Great Brinswick Street, Dublin was a successful teacher of the banjo and a promoter of local concerts from about 1890 to the turn of the century. He sold banjos bearing his name as maker but it is thought they were made for him by Barnes & Mullins. Previous Next

Item List Ball, Beavon & Co ​ Read More

Item List Barnes & Mullins 1872-1932 and 1873-1954 Read More

In 1883 he sold his factories and in 1889 went into partnership in the musical instrument business with Frank, his son as Stratton & Son. It is probably during this period that he sold banjos, almost certainly made for him by Buckbee , under the model names of Bijou and Appolo . These would have been gut strung banjos. John Franklin Stratton 1832-1912 next maker .. His first commercial venture in 1859 was to open a shop in New York as a music retailer being an accomplished player of wind instruments and a leader of various bands and orchestras. During the civil war he was a supplier of field trumpets. Stratton & John Foote joined forces in 1864 to buy an instrument importing business and then set up several companies in Germany to manufacture both woodwind and stringed instruments.

Ebenezer Batelle started selling sheet music from his Boston Book Store in 1783. The book store changed hands several times and came into the ownership of Colonel Samuel H. Parker in 1811. In 1823 Parker employed a trainee called Oliver Ditson and the sheet music business was profitable enough to be separated to its own entity, in 1835, to include music publishing which was then being organized by Ditson. At this time the company became known as Parker & Ditson but following Parker's death in 1842 Ditson acquired the whole business which became known as Oliver Ditson. The expansion of the company proceeded at pace with the acquisition of the publishing catalogues of, amongst others, William Hall & Son and John Firth & Son and with musical instrument production following the establishment of Lyon & Healy in Chicago in 1864 and John Church Company of Cincinnati Ohio in 1860. When John C Haynes joined the business in 1857 as a partner it became Oliver Ditson & Co. Ditson ensure tight control of the business by installing familly members in the main offices in New York and Philadelphia. On his death in the company changed its name to Oliver Ditson Company and continued trading until 1937 when the company was sold to Theodore Presser. Images courtesy of Steve Benson Oliver Ditson 1811 to 1888 next maker

.. born in Leicester on June 5th 1898 and learned the craft of woodworking from his father. He started to make banjos in the 1910's until the 1920's although his main activity was teaching and conducting a successful music shop with emphasis on the fretted instruments. He concentrated on producing one grade of high-class banjo, although he was known to have produced a cheaper instrument of varying designs at different times during his banjo-making days. Since 1939, when he ceased to make banjos, he was concerned mainly with making -guitars. He died in 1967. Joseph Chamberlain 1898 to 1967 Do you have a banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

Jetel next maker "Jetel" was the unofficial trade mark of J. Thibouville-Lamy & Co., of 10 Charterhouse Street, London, E.C., a firm which was established in Paris in 1790. They were large manufacturers of every type of brass and wood instrument ' who advertised their extensive "steam factories at Grenelle, La Couture and Mirecourt." At a later date they made a wide range of guitars and mandolins. Soon after they opened their London house in 1880 they included banjos and (after 1888-Ed.) zither-banjos among the goods they sold but these were apparently made for them by Matthew, Windsor and Houghton (of Birmingham) and Temlett and Wilmshurst (of London). The majority of the instruments sold under their name were made in their own factories in France but these never included banjos and zither-banjos. In one of their 250-page catalogues dated 1905 they offered a range of unfretted banjos from 3s. 8d up to the "Artist" model (fretted and with 30 brackets) 'or £3.10.0. Their range of zither--banjos was priced from £1.2.0 to £5.14.0. A 1924 catalogue of the company included a range of banjos from £3.16.0 to £12 whilst zither-banjos bearing the "Jetel" trade mart, were sold from £3 to £6.10.6.