Rudolph Wurlitzer 1856 - 1940 next maker Violin making ran in his family and Rudolph Wurlitzer, of German decent, established his business, as an importer of a whole range of European musical instruments, in Cincinnati in the mid 1850s. While violins were his personal passion the company is best known for its organs. As the banjo became a popular instrument he added them to his catalogue and at times he was the distributor for the Howard Banjo and other good quality instruments made for him by Fred Gretch . Pictures courtesy of Cindy Purves

... was in partnership with G R and J H Martin in 1872 trading as Martin, Pollmann & Co. but by 1880 Pollman was an established manufacturer and importer in New York. His wide interests in all types of fretted and automated instruments led to him being granted a patent for a harp attachment for a guitar. He is best known however for his long necked, flat mandolin bodied 5 string banjos and 6 string guitars. Trading out of 70-72 Franklin Street in 1904 his business was incorporated and his two sons Edwin and Arthur joined the board. The following year the business moved to 91-93 Mercer Street by which time their range had expanded to include band instruments, violins and accordeons, but the company soon went bancrupt, the whole stock being purchased and sold off by Buegeleisen & Jacobsen. Pictures courtesy of Intermountain Guitar and Banjo August Pollmann next maker

This maker or retailer was active in New York City during the last 20 years of the 19th Century. As the business grew it became Strebe Brothers. The two originally gut strung examples below show there origins or influences to be from main US wholesale manufacturer of the late 19th C, JH Buckbee , also NY based. Strebe could well have been maker who fitted their preferred inlays, skins, tail pieces and strings to standard Buckbee parts and then branded them as their own. The later "palm tree" courtesy of the Estate of Richard Evans. Images of the earlier converted fretless courtesy of Jerry Mc Hugh The gallery picture of the back of the dowel stick shows the use of roman numerals rather than number stamps, to match the pot and neck suggesting earlier business practises and/or lower production levels. However what is interesting is the 3rd Strebe mark! on the back dowel stick which suggest that Strebe at least assembled the banjos as there is no reason for another maker to stamp the mark 3 times on the dowel stick. It also looks like it was stamped hot after the finish was put on. HF Strebe & Strebe Bros. next maker

An unfretted banjo marked "W. Hardy of Lincoln" as the maker was passed through A.P. Sharpe’s hands but no details of this maker details have been found. Being unfretted indicates the instrument was made about 1880. The recently discovered maker Williamson also of Lincoln made fretless banjos in a very similar genre to Hardy and they were no doubt contemporaries although the neck of this example is made of mahogany. Images courtesy of AE Dowse & Son, Sheffield W Hardy next maker

The August 1910 issue of “The Crescendo” reported that “Dalton MacGee and Leslie Uncless , both of whom are teachers of the banjo at Syracuse, New York, are now making banjos”. The types of banjo which they are making are of original style and are for use in concert work”. Nothing further is known of these makers or their instruments. According to Partee this style banjo had a tremendous volume and brilliance of tone (although predictably somewhat metallic) as was used extensively by such artists as Cha. E Latshan and “Joe” Hart. MacCord retired from banjo making in 1890 and bequeathed some of his experimental banjos to Partee who in turn presented the two oldest instruments to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where they were displayed in a glass case labelled “Banjos of the 19thC”. Dalton MacGee Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

…. was born in Twickenham, Middlesex and was living with his father there in 1851. His father James (b 1802) was listed as a Professor of Music as was James W, aged 20. By 1861 he was married to Elizabeth (1829), had three daughters and was a Banjoist living at Burnham House, Paradise Road Twickenham. He music business was growing and by the time he was 40 he had expanded into a shop, he was employing 3 people including his daughter who was working in his shop and his household included a further 4 sons, a servant and a nursemaid. He was making and repairing instruments as well as selling sheet music and books. By 1871 he had moved to 8 Hill Street Richmond with a household of 11. His first wife then died and he married Emma who was half his age (25) in 1881 when his business and shop was at its peak with 5 employees. That marriage did not last and he married another Elizabeth fathering 2 more daughters. By age 70 his household had reduced and with his wife, one daughter and a servant he was running his shop and living at 18 Hill Street Richmond on Thames, Middlesex. Images courtesy of Richard Evans estate James William Etherington 1831 - 1904 next maker

Thompson & Odell Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker ... was founded by Ira Odell in 1872 who went into partnership the following year with C W Thompson at 121 Court Street, Boston, Mass. In 1874 they moved to 86 Tremont Street and relocated several more times into Washington Street as the business grew. They were instrument manufacturers and music dealers making a range of of products both under their own name and under the "Artist”,"Crescent" ,and " Luscomb " brand names, also making for other manufacturers and distributors including Washburn . The company was incorporated in 1891, and Odell retired from the business in 1892 but his son replaced him, Thompson died in 1903 and the company was forced into liquidation in 1905.

In February 1914 J E Dallas moved to 202 High Holborn and by the late 1920's the banjos and zither-banjos bearing the company's name were truly mass-produced instruments and started to bear the trade name of "Jedson." With the outbreak of World War II, J E Dallas ceased to make banjos but in 1947 they started to produce, in small quantities, the inexpensive banjos which have been sold by music shops throughout the country. These also bear the "Jedson" trade mark but are in no way comparable to the pre-war instruments bearing the Jedson name It was in 1963 that the Houghton works in Birmingham were closed down and George Houghton set up workshops for the Dallas company at Bexleyheath, Kent and it was from here that most of the post-war banjos bearing the Dallas name have been made. Pictures of Jedson mid 1930's 5 string banjo Jedson .. JE Dallas & Son next maker

.. was born in St Joseph Montana in 1852 and in his younger days worked as a stone mason. He became interested in wood working and mechanics of various kinds and became skilled in the use of a wide range of tool based skills. As a hobby he played the banjo (extremely well say critics of the period) and while still a young man joined a minstrel troupe with which he toured extensively for several years. His familiarity with minstrel performers and theatrical people , coupled with the growing demand for banjos induced him to open a factory in Chicago in 1870. He became one of the greatest banjo makers in America (as far as quality was concerned) and it was said the reason for the excellence of Schall’s banjos was due to the fact that he was an exceptionally skilled mechanic who worked at the bench beside his five employees. His banjos became justly celebrated and were in demand among all the leading banjoists of the day. In 1881 Clarence L Partee became the manager of his offices and showrooms and in addition he taught banjo “by note”. Schall sold all the banjos he and his five workmen could manufacture and received high prices for them, but he would not enlarge his factory to keep pace with the growth in demand for his instruments. Also, prosperity proved too much for his and as soon as he had accumulated a few thousand dollars he would neglect his business until he had spent the money and then returned to the factory floor. By1893 he was also making banjos for the celebrated banjoist E Hall who had a teaching studio in Chicago, and James Waldo. In his absence , with no foreman in charge, his workmen could not be relied upon to keep up the standards and when new less skilled workmen replaced the older ones quality suffered and poor instruments were produced. About 1895 Schall suffered a stroke and had to close his business down. He eventually recovered but for several years suffered from chronic rheumatism and partial paralysis. In 1905 his health had improved enough for him to open a small banjo shop (over which he lived alone) and he started to make banjos by himself for professional players although orders were scarce. He did make a banjo for Bert Earl in 1907. He died in dramatic circumstances in around 1907 when he was 55. He had just completed two banjos for an act appearing at the Olympic Theatre in Chicago and the players invited him to hear their performance. Occupying a front seat on the balcony he was listening intently to the instruments he had made when he suddenly rose out of his seat with a choking cry and appeared that he would fall over the balcony when he collapsed to the floor. Ushers rushed to his aid and carried him into the foyer where they attempted to resuscitate him. The act on stage had continued unaware that Schall was dying on the balcony. Once he partially gained consciousness , opened his eyes and murmured “I can go home now” and as the act on stage burst into the last bars of a popular song JB Schall breathed his last. Images courtesy of the estate of Richard Evans J B Schall 1852 - 1907 next maker

.. was born in Hampton Wick, Middlesex. From the early 1880s until 1913, Alfred Smith, of Grove Road and, after January 1895, Penrhyn Road, Kingston on-Thames, Surrey, was a successful teacher of the banjo, mandolin and guitar and a public performer on these instruments. In addition, he conducted a successful amateur B. M. & G. orchestra of over thirty members, made up of his pupils. He also arranged successful concerts in and around Kingston. All these activities enabled his name to sell the banjos and zither-banjos bearing his name as maker but these were probably made for him by Parslow or Tilley . These images show his "Special" with the neck angle adjuster fitted. Alfred Smith 1873 to ... next maker

Frank Goscha of Philadelphia is mentioned as having been one of the early banjo makers in America but no details of him or his products have ever come to light. Philadelphia was a centre of activity for banjo making in the early 1880’s and it may be that he was one of the wood workers that cashed in on the banjo craze. Frank Goscha Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

.. of Reading, Berkshire put his name as maker on banjos around about the turn of the 20th century'. A specimen seen had a 10 inch hoop of nickel silver with 36 brackets. 'The fingerboard was inlaid with 17 frets; the remaining space of the fingerboard being taken up with of a large crescent and star in mother-of-pearl inlaid into the ebony. The ornate inlays in the fingerboard were of mother of pearl and diamantÆ stars. No details have been discovered of Deane but it is possible he was a local teacher and the banjos were made for him - possibly Windsor or Abbott. October 2012: Arthur W Deane born October 1865 in Henley on Thames and was living in Reading St Lawrance and registered as a carpenter in the 1901 census, aged 35. His wife Elizabeth ( b 1867) was a music teacher. The banjo referred to in Sharpe's original text has been located and these are the pictures of it. Living near Reading he would have had easy access to London by train and would have been able to buy the hardware to make banjos from dealers in London probably making the necks and doing the inlays himself. Arthur William Deane 1865 - 1909 next maker