Mark Ralston - Posted - 07/25/2014:  06:52:39

This year I'm going to have a small display "Tribute to John H. Buckbee" at my booth at Clifftop.  I'm going to have some known & some probable Buckbee banjos plus some documents, including the attached.  

There really isn't much published information available on Buckbee.  Comments, additional information, and correction of errors are welcome here @ BHO and @ Clifftop.

Tribute to John H. Buckbee

G Edward Porgie - Posted - 07/25/2014:  07:46:08

Nicely done, although the items on pages 4,5, and 7 are not dated. That information would be helpful, if it's available.

bargrasspicker - Posted - 07/25/2014:  08:04:47

nice work! 

I want a zobo.

BanjoKatz - Posted - 07/25/2014:  09:30:38

FYI: on Craigslist in California. Thought someone might be interested.

Buckbee Celebrated Benary Banjo - 1890's - In Very Good Condition 

The banjo has internal geared tuners, it looks and sounds great!

$600/ OBO

Located in Sebastopol

bargrasspicker - Posted - 07/25/2014:  09:36:34

reading this again im confused, the article says that c.bruno won the auction of this effects and that J. Shenia  was the purchaser in the article, so did bruno just buy the banjos on hand and shenia the factory? At the point of the sale lange would have been working for bruno, then shortly after bought the factory from shenia and made banjos under his name which bruno distributed?

Mark Ralston - Posted - 07/25/2014:  09:49:32

bargrasspicker -  hard to tell, but I bet the July 13, 1897 report in The American Stationer was incorrect, and then some of the (bogus) details were  reported in the August 14, 1897 Music Trade Review.  From what I can tell, Bruno was not involved in the transaction.  Buckbee sold to Sheina, who sold plant, machinery, and stock to the newly-formed partnership of Rettberg & Lange.

G. Edward - I'll have to look up the dates for the citations, thanks for the comments. 

Jim D - Posted - 07/25/2014:  11:09:33

As I read it, the auction was held to satisfy a debt Buckbee owed to Bruno... $1,088 of the proceeds of the auction would have gone to Bruno.

csacwp - Posted - 07/26/2014:  10:01:00

It's questionable that Boucher made drums before making banjos.  As was common in the 19th century, it seems that the drums signed by Boucher were made elsewhere but marketed by him for his store. 

Mark Ralston - Posted - 07/26/2014:  13:18:08

Jim -  you're right..... sale of Buckbee's assets to Sheina to satisfy a debt to Bruno is consistent with the old clippings.  I did find an old New York court document that described a John H. Buckbee being released from a debt in December 1897, but the listing was under the "Office of Attorney for Collection of Arrears of Personal Taxes"..... maybe this listing also included business debts that were being pursued in court.

John -  limited on-line research seems to indicate that Boucher did manufacture drums.  Here are some that support him being a drum manufacturer, some of which imply that Sweeney affiliated w/ Boucher to make his banjo(s) because Boucher was already making drums.    Thanks for the input, would appreciate any cites that you may have re Boucher & drums, ditto cites on Buckbee.  Absent any actual, historical documents regarding Boucher making drums prior to banjos, the cites below may just be "churning" of already-published mis-information as opposed to actual fact.... however, some of these sources are fairly reputable.  

americanhistory.si.edu/collect...ah_605671

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

describes Boucher as "a drum maker and musical instrument dealer. He became the first commercial maker of banjos, perhaps through his association with the celebrated minstrel banjoist Joel Walker Sweeney"

blog.fielddrums.com/2010_02_01...hive.html

cites Boucher as a "provider" and as a "producer" or drums, also has an image of a "large paper manufacturer's label stating "Wm. Boucher Jr./No 38 E Baltimore Street/Baltimore, MD". SIZE: 16"w x 16"h."   Also has some useful hints on doing research on historic musical instruments.

articles.baltimoresun.com/1997...m-boucher

Baltimore Sun; Jan 27, 1997

"Between 1845 and 1870, William Boucher Jr., an immigrant German drum maker, became the country's first commercial banjo maker, in a shop on Baltimore Street near High Street. Only a handful of his originals survive and are much sought after by museums and private collectors"

African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions.  Cecelia Conway.  see Google Books

"Indeed, the Sweeney wooden-rim banjos (apparently made about 1840) seem to be the first documented.  Appropriately, the man that Sweeney chose as a partner to manufacture banjos was a drum maker - William Boucher of Baltimore, Maryland."

The Confederate Army 1861-65 (6): Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland.  Ron Field.  see Google books

"Several manufacturers and importers of musical instruments in Baltimore probably supplied drums and bugles that were carried to Virginia for Confederate use.  William Boucher, Jr. and the Eisenbrandt family produced drums with very distinctive "eagle" designs."

www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work...usic3.htm

authentic-campaigner.com/forum...2293.html

edmondsun.com/arts/x611418147/...k-at-past

Two more days until Clifftop ! ! ! !

Edited by - Mark Ralston on 07/26/2014 13:26:16

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 07/26/2014:  14:15:25

I bought a probable Buckbee  earlier in the year, and did a lot of research to find out more about Buckbee and whether my banjo in fact is a Buckbee. I could not prove that Buckbee made my banjo, as it is a one of a kind custom job, but everything points to it being a Buckbee. What I did find out was that Buckbee was one of the main custom builders of the day. Professional banjo players would go to him and tell him what they wanted, how much they had to spend, and then Buckbee would make a masterpiece for the fellow. I think my banjo is one such banjo, but I'll never know. It's always possible that someone else did the custom work, but Buckbee was known at the time as being one of the few banjo makers who could do magnificent custom projects for professional players, so he's a good candidate. Also, the rim and many brackets also point to Buckbee. What the heck, I'm happy with it regardless who made it, but it does seem that Buckbee missed out on being recognized appropriately by banjo history.

Mark Ralston - Posted - 07/27/2014:  04:52:11

G Edward - thanks for the input.

p4 is from Music Trade Review, July 19, 1897  Vol XXV No. 2

p5 is from Music Trade Review, May 29, 1897  Vol XXIV No. 22

p7 is from an undated Bruno catalog that has some handwritten notes in the front which mention the years 1888, 1889, 1893, so it's probably no earlier than 1893.

Bill - can you post some pictures of your (probable) Buckbee ?

In the course of researching Buckbee I ran across some interesting (personal, promotional, and otherwise) newspaper articles about the Dobson family.  I also think that you could probably approximate the rise in popularity of the banjo based upon the number of banjo instruction ads in individual issues of newspapers in NYC, Phila, and Boston from 1850 to 1930.

Edited by - Mark Ralston on 07/27/2014 04:56:19

Noah Cline - Posted - 07/27/2014:  15:32:27

This is neat that you're doing this. I'd love to see it, but I probably won't make it to Clifftop.

Maybe post some pictures and/or a video of your booth?

Camden - Posted - 07/28/2014:  04:53:59

Awesome! I'm going to clifftop this year for the first time, excited to see some new faces including yours and your booth!

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 07/28/2014:  07:11:41

I have tried without success to post a picture of my probable Buckbee. For some reason, BHO simply won't post it, or my computer isn't picking it up. Oh, well, at least I tried.

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 07/28/2014:  07:47:57

BlowingRockNC - Posted - 07/28/2014:  07:56:32

Gosh, I don't know what I did, but this is it. Thanks to banjoboy for offering to post via e-mail, but this just popped up while I was trying to do an e-mail, and I couldn't copy to the e-mail either, then I tried again here, and it just popped up. I'll never understand computers. Anyway, the only truly original part of the banjo is the rim, which is brass clad and had 48 holes for brackets. The neck was a custom job, using a known custom Buckbee neck as a model. The hardware is either new or handmade. I like it because it was likely used in the day by a riverboat or saloon banjo player. It has no identifying marks or serial numbers, and given the quality of the rim and the fact that it has survived for so long, it seems evident that it was a custom job. Whoever had it made obviously wanted a totally blinged out banjo to impress the audience with, plus one-up his competitors. Well, at least that's what I like to think. Regardless, it is a great player banjo, sounds great, and looks very unusual. Based on my research, I can't think of anyone other than Buckbee who could have made it during that period of time, although a solo craftsman can't be ruled out either.I have Carl Arcand of Quebec to thanks for this, as he did all the work and made it possible.

Mark Ralston - Posted - 08/05/2014:  18:04:44

Booth photos.  General consensus of people looking at the display was that, yes, Buckbee was relatively unknown despite the number of instruments that he made.

GSCarson - Posted - 08/06/2014:  06:23:55

Mark, It was good to see you again and I enjoyed checking your banjos out as always.  Forgot to bring the one I had along by to show you, an interesting early flush fret I believe to be Buckbee.   Also missed out on playing a few tunes with you.  That week always flies by. Glenn

Viper - Posted - 08/06/2014:  07:03:55

That Pollman Royal Standard makes me drool. Love all the hooks and the brass plate! Great collection, Mark. 

Edited by - Viper on 08/06/2014 07:04:20

Noah Cline - Posted - 08/06/2014:  13:49:09

Thanks for the pics! Also for the info on each banjo.

After seeing yours, I'd almost considered bying one of the "Silver Gems" on eBay, but it was missing some inlay, and other parts.

Bronx banjo - Posted - 08/08/2014:  08:21:12

In the book, America's Instrument, The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century, reference is made to a James  H. Buckbee. Is this the same person?