.. was a Music Publisher and Band Instrument Manfacturer based in South London at the turn of the 20th C. Banjos and zither banjos bearing the name made of Boosey and Co., of London were made in the early 1900's by both Windsor and Weaver , while a few of the cheaper models were of German origin. When the dance-band boom started in the early 1920's the banjos sold under the Boosey name were imported from the U.S.A. Boosey & Co. became incorporated with Hawkes & Co. in 1930 to become Boosey & Hawkes Ltd. Images of this Weaver made model courtesy of Stan MacBroom Charles T Boosey 1857 - next maker

Born 19th August 1868 ... was a musical instrument maker during the last quarter of the 19th C. in Wall Street' Binghampton, NY. He is buried 3 miles away in the Glenwood Cemetry, Port Dickinson George W Quick 1868 - next maker

.. of Emporia, Kansas and later Chicago, was a prominent banjoist in American fretted instrument circles in the 1880’s. In 1885 he conceived the novel idea of attaching the banjo’s 5th string peg to the tailpiece “thereby removing the projection from the banjo neck and allowing more freedom in left hand manipulation”. Another of his improvements was the “steel neck stiffener” which was fixed to the base of the banjo heel and ran across the hoop to just below the tailpiece bolt. In July 1892 he patented his “Grand solo banjo” which has a 10” hoop, twenty four frets, and included a steel brace in the neck ”to prevent warping”. Henning was not the actual maker of instruments bearing his name, they were probably made for him by JB Schall and/or Washburn . In 1897 he issued a banjo magazine called “The Chicago Trio” and organised a mammoth BM&G Orchestra, both of which he used to publicise the banjos bearing his name. Eventually he moved to Los Angeles and died there in the 1930’s. It is perhaps interesting to recall that early in his career he acquired the Sweeney banjo now in the Los Angeles County Museum which he left to them in his will. It now appears from the makers logo on this banjo that he also at some time worked out of Meridian, Mississippi. Images courtesy of Kris Stroda who's Great Grandfather owned this banjo . This Henning has interesting detailing on the inside of the pot, a Patent date of July 18 1890 on the side of the dowel stick and Washburn "Imperial" type hardware. Chicago makers logo. Images courtesy of the estate of Richard Evans John E Henning next maker

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.

.. of Bermondsey London (father of George E. Morris the well-known professional banjoist) was a busy teacher of the banjo during the banjo boom of the 1920’s he had zither-banjos made especially for him by a local man named Jim Gough. The demand for the instruments among Morris's many pupils was more than Gough could cope with and George Morris had to turn to Temlett and Windsor for his supplies. The Morris zither-banjos were well made instruments and highly thought of at the time. George Morris 1877 to Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

In 1909 the Ludwig Drum Company was founded in Chicago by two brothers. William F and Theo. Ludwig. In 1920 Charles Mc Neil the tenor-banjo player on the then popular dance orchestra of Ishman Jones used to call frequently at the Ludwig factory in N Lincoln Street, for special parts to be made for his instruments and, including especially good quality calf velum. He complained that few tenor-banjos were fretted correctly , intonation was bad and he suggested that there was room for improvements in many tenor-banjos made in the period. In 1921 William Ludwig finally became interested in the tenor-banjo so took the matters up with his chief engineer RC Danly. Feeling there was a market for better quality instruments and after lengthy discussions they decided to make an all metal banjo hoop from cast bronze (along similar lines to a side drum shell) which had a scalloped bezel for top tension , with the brackets engaging a solid flange in stead of passing through shoes to take the conventional nuts. In addition they devised ways of overcoming the other faults Mr McNeil had pointed out to them. As production of the “Ludwig” banjos came nearer the company provide a studio in the factory in which McNeil could teach his pupils. Ludwig saw great potential for their banjos and built specialist manufacturing equipment to produce their revolutionary instruments. In 1926 Chas. McNeil joined the Ludwig Company as official tester and inspector and every banjo (5 string, tenor or plectrum) passed through his hands. Before long they had a complete range of models ranging in price from $75 to $1,000, sold only through dealers and in every part of the world through intensive advertising. In 1931 The Ludwig Co. stopped making banjo because demand for top end banjos had dropped while its drum business was expanding. In a letter to Terry Hollands in 1965 WM, F Ludwig Snr. wrote that his company had no intention of entering the banjo market again. “We would” he said “just as soon forget the whole thing because of the sad experience we had in those ten years. We put in and lost about $200,000 on tools and equipment that were sold for scrap a few years later – and that is not counting the multiplicity of hours our engineering department spent on the development of the Ludwig banjo". Pictures courtesy of Intermountain Guitar & Banjo Ludwig Next Maker

On December 19th 1882 O R Chase of 698 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. patented his “Apollo” banjo which was said to have been constructed on “entirely new and scientific principles.” The shell was cast in one solid piece of “bell” metal as was the bezel. There was a complete range of instrument in 9”, 10”, 11” and 12 ½ ”hoop, all of which were noted for the largest number of brackets used –as many as 56 on the “Professional” 12 ½” model . O R Chase Do you have a banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

This maker had premises in High Street, Peckham, London and flourished during the banjo "boom" (1880 to 1914) and is said to have been a maker of cheap zither-banjos for the retail trade. Many of the zither-banjos in the shops for less than £1 at this time would have been produced by him. Birch Do you have a banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

See Hewett Stainer Manufacturing Company Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

.. was born in Bethnal Green, London to a father who was a mason living in Emma Street. Emma Street was redevloped and the familly moved away and by age 21 (1881) he was just married and was registered as a screw turner. He was known as George Coker and within 10 years had 3 children and was registered as a banjo maker. Again his work changed and he became a French polisher and subsequently by 1910, living in Islington, N London and was registered as a celluloid case maker, and had started using William again as his first name. The banjo-making firm of W. G. Coker & Co. of London was, in the beginning, a partnership between W. G. Coker and G. H. Young; sometime prior to 1886 for in that year they took out a patent for "doing away with the necessity of drilling holes in the banjo hoop for the shoes" by using a "ring, angular in section something like the figure 7", this being either "hooked on to the hoop or attached by means of a flange turned round at the lower edge of the hoop." It is also interesting to note that in the patent specification they also suggested a flanged bezel - an idea used by several modern makers of banjos both in America and England. The banjos these two craftsman made were extremely heavy instruments, solidly built and all with a short scale length of about 14 inchs. They were fitted with Coker's own patent non-slip pegs which had a knurled adjusting screw at the top to tighten the mechanism and, if necessary, lock it. Coker's "trade mark" was a large raised metal star fixed to the face of the peg head on which the name Coker was-punched in. Young eventually left, and the name of the firm was changed to W G Coker & Son with the address of 41 Melville Road, London, E.17. Images courtesy of Bill Cannon William George Coker 1860 - 1940 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.