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Discover Mid-America - September 2004

America's love affair with banjos

It took Professor Paul Gura, a cultural historian, and James F. Bollman, world-renowned banjo collector, and authors of America’s Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century (University of North Carolina Press), to put together the colorful, factual history of the American banjo. It’s sure to stimulate collectors of musical instruments as well as musicians.

What a life the banjo has had — beginning as a gourd in Africa, and immigrating to America with African American slaves. Over the centuries, it has been not only played, but also depicted in toys, paintings decorative ceramics and many other items.

Banjo made by A.C. Fairbanks and Company, Serial no. 14000, c. 1896. (photo courtesy of the James F. Bollman Collection)

Over the decades, it has undergone not only decorative but structural changes, too. Bollman has assembled a museum quality collection taking the banjo to its humble beginnings to today’s popular bluegrass instrument. However, it hasn’t been easy for the banjo. There have been ups and downs when it was out of fashion.

“It had been brought to the new world as early as the 17th century by enslaved Africans,” Gura says. It had a long neck and the large, hollowed-out gourd soundboard had four catgut strings. It was totally different than today’s version. There were few illustrations depicting the instrument before 1830.

During the 1840s, a new form of American entertainment made the banjo all the rage. The minstrel show that caricatured African Americans, featured white Americans wearing “blackface” makeup. The banjo had evolved to using a fifth string peg.

As Gura points out, “The minstrel show also included other instruments such as violin, tambourine and bones.” Popular minstrel shows toured the country and even went to England.

By the 1850s, with the advent of the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 and with the popularity of the minstrel shows, not only were there daguerreotypes and art but also lithographed sheet music depicting banjo players. Many of the songs were written just for banjos. Some minstrels had fan followings like today’s rock groups.

The quality of the banjo improved by the 1860s when professional banjo makers began concentrating on beauty and workmanship. The backs of many banjos now featured elaborate marquetry designs and the necks showed the fine turnings done by a cabinetmaker. Rims and fingerboards were often trimmed. The banjo was finally getting the same attention to its appearance as violins and other concert instruments. Professional makers proudly stamped their names and often patent date and numbers for their designs.

It seemed in the 1860s that everybody wanted to play the banjo. Teachers advertised for pupils. Many made their own banjos. There were even mail-order courses.

One of the most successful 19th century makers of banjos was Samuel Swaim Stewart. He opened a shop in 1878 in Philadelphia. By 1891, he employed 15 workers who made 250 banjos a month. He made the high end, silver rim banjo and other lower priced instruments to reach the growing middle class.

By the 1920s the popularity of jazz put banjos on the shelf. Years later, with the emergence of bluegrass music in Appalachia and the North Carolina Piedmont, the banjo made a comeback.

CLUES

Would-be collectors would do well to study the important names in banjo making. A W.A. Cole c.1895 model Eclipse, serial No. 2300, was estimated by a Sept. 7, 2004 auction at $600-$800. It sold for $4,406.00. William A. Cole (1853-1809) was one of the makers who set the standard for quality.

Ken Farmer, whose auction house in Radford, VA sells banjos and other stringed instruments, says there are affordable banjos for beginning collectors. “You can buy a homemade (folk) banjo for under $500. However, beginners should try to find 1960s and ‘70s,” Farmer said. He also advises lots of research.

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