Orpheum Banjo Hypothetical Date Chart II - Discussion Forums

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ARCHIVED TOPIC: Orpheum Banjo Hypothetical Date Chart II

Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/326551

beezaboy - Posted - 01/12/2017: 08:11:09

Happy New Year 2017.

Attached is our Orpheum Banjo Hypothetical Date Chart unchanged from Jan. 2016.

Also attached is our Orpheum Banjo Serial Number List current through Jan 4, 2017. We have several new listings collected since the last list.

New information about Orpheum banjos:

1. Rettberg and Lange was not late to the tenor banjo craze which, generally speaking, began with the Tango in America starting in 1910 and kicking off the decade during which "America went dance mad" [ Sigmund Spaeth: A History of Popular Music in America].

2. In 1910 Rettberg & Lange introduced their Banjorine Mandolins which were 10 1/2" spun rim 21 fret extended fretboard 4-string banjos approximating the scale of a tenor banjo. You can see one of these R&L Banjorine Mandolin in the Bruno 1912/1913 reprint catalog (attached).

3. In addition, In 1910 Rettberg & Lange advertised that you could special order one of these Banjorine Mandolins with a 10 1/2" Orpheum Banjo rim for $70. So, possibly somewhere out there in the back of a closet may be one of the first Orpheum tenor scale 4-string banjos. To date, we on Banjohangout have not seen one.

4. This 1910 10 1/2" Orpheum rim Banjorine Mandolin with a 21 fret extended fretboard does not impact our Orpheum Hypothetical Date Chart because the earliest known Orpheum "Tango [Tenor] Banjo" was not depicted or described until April 24, 1915 (attached). The 1915 Orpheum "Tango [Tenor] Banjo" was a 4-string 17 fret banjo with an 11" rim and the lowest serial number we have for this version of an Orpheum 4-string banjo is #1890. Orpheum #1890 is dead-on the 1915 description (I have Orpheum #1890 in my collection)

Thanks to all our Banjohangout people who have contributed to and encouraged our Orpheum Serial Number List threads.

We know more now about Orpheum Banjos than we did 5 years ago thanks to you.

If you see an Orpheum with a Rettberg & Lange rim tag (badge) and a serial number please let us know about it.

Edited by - beezaboy on 01/12/2017 08:13:50