Joel Hooks - Posted - 11/12/2025:  05:37:27

For many years only a single issue (no 7) of Fred Bacon's "The Banjoist" was available, but it was being sold on a website by a certain "Musicman" as a locked PDF.



Now I present to the world, entirely free of charge, all 7 issues of Fred Bacon's "The Banjoist". This is in the Public Domain, which means that the "public" (you and me) owns it.



There are no restrictions on what you may or may not do with this.

 

Andy FitzGibbon - Posted - 11/12/2025:  06:11:18

Very interesting that the header says "Fred Bacon, Plant Building, New London, CT", but all the Bacon banjo advertisements (excepting the last issue) direct the reader to send to Forest Dale, VT for a catalog.

Thanks for scanning these, and everything else for that matter.

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 11/12/2025:  06:25:44

This is great! Thank you very much.

mikehalloran - Posted - 11/12/2025:  20:59:49

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joel Hooks

For many years only a single issue (no 7) of Fred Bacon's "The Banjoist" was available, but it was being sold on a website by a certain "Musicman" as a locked PDF.

---

No need to be coy. Many of us did a lot o business with Musicman Steve over the years. Decades ago, he was buying and selling vintage banjo parts when no one else was paying attention. Pretty certain that the originals of many of those pdfs sat on a few feet of shelf space in my studio once upon a time. I don't believe that we ever did a cash deal but there was a lot of horsetrading going on and many of my banjos have parts that I acquired from him. I can't find him on the internet anymore.

Joel Hooks - Posted - 11/13/2025:  07:00:26

mikehalloran , this complete series was sent to Lew Green by Hal Koons. Hal might have got them from Bacon or Cliff Spaulding (Shirley Spaulding's older brother).

They came to me by way of the Elias Kaufman collection of banjo music and ephemera.

banjotrader - Posted - 11/13/2025:  08:27:01

quote:

---

Originally posted by Andy FitzGibbon

Very interesting that the header says "Fred Bacon, Plant Building, New London, CT", but all the Bacon banjo advertisements (excepting the last issue) direct the reader to send to Forest Dale, VT for a catalog.



Thanks for scanning these, and everything else for that matter.

---

Makes sense actually, they officially moved to New London in 1915 as Bacon's father died early that year.  He had been caretaker of the Groton Monument.  The postmaster in Forestdale was a student of Bacon's and forwarded correspondances to New London during the transition.

mikehalloran - Posted - 11/13/2025:  09:26:02

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joel Hooks

mikehalloran , this complete series was sent to Lew Green by Hal Koons. Hal might have got them from Bacon or Cliff Spaulding (Shirley Spaulding's older brother).



They came to me by way of the Elias Kaufman collection of banjo music and ephemera.

---

Oh jeez, lighten up. I wasn't talking about what you recently posted, Joel. 

Steve had hundreds of pdf files on his site from old magazines to ephemera, much of which he got from me.