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40
THE
erally known, it is none the less true that
the origin of the banjo is lost in the mists
of a past that, comparatively speaking, is
by no means remote. Although Dr. Clarke
has labored faithfully to clear up the mys-
tery, he has thus far made very little prog-
ress.
TRKDE.REiZIEM
PIANOTI8T
PIANO
LAYER
PL A YS ANY PIANO.
ANYONE CAN PLA Y IT.
EASILY ADJUSTED TO ANY PIANO.
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA tayi: "It is a wonderful instrument of great musical merit."
HARK HAflBOURO writes: "It is superior to any other Piano Player."
ERNEST SCHELLINO (favorite pupil of Paderewskl) says: "It is far more artistic than
any other such device."
And a host of other Eminent Musicians unequivocally endorse it.
POINTS OF SUPERIORITY:
Does not interfere with use
»
of piano in ordinary manner. No clumsy cabinet. No tw
laborious pumping. No pneumatics to get out of order.
It Is the ONLY player that operates perfectly either by POOT TREADLE. ELECTRIC
CITY lany current), WATER HOTOR. or a combination of any two. Our "NICKEL"
IN.THE-SLOT" device is the only perfect and reliable one on the market. It Is ao
simple that It Is Impossible for It to get out of order.
LIVE DEALERS should lose no time in writing for
Art Catalogue B, and best discounts.
ClH Only Player Awarded a tlWUi
at Fart* Exposition.
^
$175
According to Noah Webster, who, far from
being infallible, had, nevertheless, a happy
faculty of inventing meanings for every word
in the English language, regardless of its
ADEK M'F'G COMPANY,
E. D . ACKERMAN, GENEML > N . « . «
correctness, the people of the Mediterranean
Factory and Offices : 449-455 West 41st St.
Warerooms: 503 Fifth Avenue, cor. 4__d St., NEW YORK
coasts have from a remote antiquity possessed
CONTAINS SPECIAL FEATURES OF
a musical instrument known as the "pan-
GREAT VALUE, INCLUDING THE
dore," the name of which is derived from
TRANSPOSING KEY-BOARD.
the Greek divinity Pan, the god of nature,
Write for Catalogue and Prices.
whom the ancients credited with having
FACTORY. LAWRENCE, MASS.
MERRILL PIANO MFG. CO.
invented and performed on this instrument.
u
The "pandore" is a large orpheon, having
a flat face and back, similar to a guitar,
with two incurvations on the sides. The
The Largest Value for the Dealers.
bridge was set straight over the face, while
Make a note now to write for Cata-
the sound hole of the instrument was in the
logue and Particulars. You should not
back. The "pandore" was equipped with
overlook the Edna Line. .' " ' .'
fourteen strings, and, notwithstanding the
EDNA ORGAN & PIANO CO.,
Factory, MONROEVILLE, OHIO
fact that it bore little, if any, resemblance
to a banjo, Webster declares that the latter
instrument is an adaptation of the former,
and that the name "banjo" is a corruption
WORLD-RENOWNED PIANO-FORTE ACTION
of "pandore," for both of which the negro
slaves of the West Indies and the Southern
States are responsible.
L. CHARPIAT, SOLE AQENT FOR UNITED STATES AND CANADA
Dr. Clarke is satisfied that Webster's def-
inition is in error. As nearly as he has been
PARIS FACTORY,
NEW YORK FACTORY,
able to learn, the banjo did not appear in
J6 Roe de l'Evangile.
88 Lincoln Avenue
either the West Indies or on the west coast
of Africa, in which latter region it remains
to this day quite unknown, but that its ori-
gin must be sought somewhere in the South-
ern States. By patient and persevering in-
KAFFENBERGER & C A N T O R , Manufacturers and Importers,
vestigation he has discovered that the first
banjo was made by an old negro somewhere
GOODS SENT
103 Fifth Ave., New York
ON SELECTION
in South Carolina before the Revolutionary
War. It was a tack-head banjo, the head
consisting of a section or part of a gourd, to
T W E N T I E T H
C E N T U R Y
I D E A S
I N C O R P O R A T E D
I N T H E N E W
which a wooden handle was attached. Even
this, however, is very vague and uncertain,
and the origin and name of the instrument
are still involved in the mists of the past.
*
Illustrated Catalogue now Ready
William Boucher, of Baltimore, who is
still living, invented the first screw-head ban-
nnm ana Beit cim,
•
•
Buffalo, Hew Vork, U. $. J\.
jo in 1847. His sons are to-day the largest
banjo-makers in the United States. Mr.
GARRETT GORDON,
Boucher made several improvements on his
Manufacturer and
original invention, which, with the original, Dealer in
la the Finest and Best
are now in the National Museum. When
Organ made.
Sold all
Dr. Clarke called on him some months ago,
over the World on Its
No J J8 AVENUE D, Bet. 8tn & 9th Sta*
rierlts alone.
hoping to learn something as to the origin
NEW YORK.
No traveling salesmen re-
of the banjo, he was disappointed, Mr.
quired to sell our entire
product.
Boucher being unable to throw any light
HENRY KELLER & SONS,
This extraordinary
fact
speaks volumes for the
on the subject whatever. He stated that at
Manufacturers of
quality of our instruments.
the time he invented the screw-head banjo
It's the "Old Reliable Hlller
Organ '' all the time.
the old-fashioned tack-head banjos were
Write for Catalogue and Prices
common throughout the South, and that as
RIDER AVENUE,
little was known of their origin then as now. Bet. 140th and uistSt*.,
NFW YORK*
MILLER ORGAN CO..
West of Third Ave.
INJCW
X\JKS*»
Thus the matter stands at present.
LEBANON, PA.
In a work by Carl Engel, entitled "A
Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical In-
THE
struments in the South Kensington Mu-
seum in 1874," S. W. Koelle, a missionary
to West Africa, is quoted as saying that the
tribes north of Liberia have a guitar-like
Factory and Office :
instrument of seven strings—the banjo has 617-619 Tenth Ave.,
New York.
only five—called the "bana," and that in
of 1901 surpasses any of its predecessors. Progressive
Senegal, where the same instrument is also
dealers like them, and expert buyers pronounce them to
used, it is known as the "bania." This, he
contain the best value in the piano world to-day ««* J*
thinks, may have been the parent of the
American banjo. It is worth noting that
most of the negro slaves brought to this
PIANOS
JEWETT PIANO C O .
country before the Revolutionary War were
B5I West 4Oth Street
J. J. Woodbury
recruited from this very region.
NEW YORK
LEOMINSTER, MASS.
M
Merrill Piano
_________ _ ^ ^ ^
EDNA ORGANS
BURDETT PIANOS
SCHWANDER
J. HERRBURGER
The Big Piano Cover House,
£ba$e $ Baker Piano-Player
Upright Pianos
HOFMANN&CO^
Piano forte manufacturers,
CAMYRO
JE-WETT
PIANO*