Here is a lovely example of a turn of the century Lyon & Healy 5 String banjo, built circa 1895. Though there is no stamping on the dowel stick or label, it has the signature L&H shaped peghead and the lovely L&H Patent tailpiece which confirms the origin. The Lyon & Healy firm grew out of an effort by Oliver Ditson – beginning in 1864 – to expand his wholesale musical instrument business into the US Midwest, with a facility in Chicago run by George Washburn Lyon and Patrick J. Healy.
Lyon And Healy
Around the start of the twentieth century, Lyon & Healy were one of the larger musical instrument builders in the USA, with Washburn being one of their brands. This Lyon & Healy Washburn Oak parlor guitar, built in Chicago in the 1920s, is an example of the instruments available at that time. It features a ladder-braced Spruce top and Oak for the sides and back. The heavily V shaped neck with slotted peghead is likely Poplar, while the fingerboard is a dyed, hard and tight grained wood like Maple.
This instrument has sold
MORE →Here’s a treat – a Washburn Soprano Ukulele, built by Lyon & Healy during the 1920s in Chicago, Illinois and in very nice condition with the original canvas trap-door case. As to Lyon and Healy, towards the end of the 1970’s, the Steinway company purchased Lyon & Healy, spinning off their other efforts to focus on building quality harps. This Washburn Soprano ukulele is built with a mixture of Mahogany for the body and bridge, Spanish Cedar for the neck, Rosewood for the fingerboard and small pieces of Ebony for the nut and saddle. The top, back and soundhole are bound with a grained ivoroid celluloid.
This instrument has sold
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