Our young Vice-President of Sales also generously serves as the walking tour guide of the BRC 5 String Museum as pictured. After answering visitors’ many questions about the permanent banjo collection on display, she closes sotto voce with the comment that the BRC Founder is affectionately known to her as “Grandpa Doc”. As the guests depart, the VP of Sales instructs them that the Board of Directors is planning a BRC Banjo Pickers Hall of Fame annex to the Museum. Nominations are encouraged and should sent to the BRC including a photo of the musician with banjo and accompanied by a brief bio. Self-nominations are welcome.
In the lake behind the BRC workshop, our Research & Development team initiated a pilot study to treat banjo rim-shaped cuttings of local timber with submersion to potentially develop a novel line of hydro-aged lumber. This natural process, known for producing hardened and resonant wood for musical instruments, was expected to potentially cultivate a fertile material resource for future BRC banjos pots and other emerging markets. Modern evidence strongly supports that master violin maker Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) chemically manipulated the woods he used in making his celebrated instruments, but it is unknown whether he submerged the wood in the Po River that runs through Cremona, Italy, where he lived and worked. Unbeknownst to our feckless R&D innovators, their immersion project was situated in the middle of a colony of turtles. Because of the underestimated ecological impact of this feasibility study, the R&D project was abandoned.
Since the inception of the Banjo Rehabilitation Center, its unique mother of pearl identifier “BRC” appears inlayed on our products that are sold on eBay (see photos). As part of a public advocacy initiative, the support staff had a think-tank contest to develop an alternate message for the BRC label. The entries were:
Banjo Remain Calm, Bargain Real Cheap, Banjos ‘R’ Cute, Better Run Cacophony, Behold Righteous Celebration, Burn Routinely Crisp, Be Respectful Courteous, Back-off Really Contagious, Blues Rapidly Cured, Beguiled Readily Charmed, and Buying Requires Cash.
The safety-minded support staff unanimously declared the winner:
Banjo Remain Calm.
This sturdy little Concertone banjo uke (alias banjo ukulele, banjolele, or banjulele) is an antique gem and neighbor’s keepsake that was restored under our BRC pro bono program. There are two schools of pedigree hypothesized about the lineage of Concertone banjos ukes. Most collectors report that Concertone banjos were manufactured by Stromberg-Voisinet, which later became the Kay musical instrument company, and were marketed in the 1920-30’s through Montgomery Ward catalogue sales. Some collectors maintain Concertones were made by Slingerlands, the company famous for its drums, and these banjos were also retailed through Monkey-Wards. A fading hula girl on the aging calf skin head, probably sketched by an early owner, was re-traced to preserve the Hawaiian imagery.
(Image lost….)
Until the owner claims this precious restored keepsake, it will be under the watchful protection of our highly trained BRC K-9 Security Patrol.
Check out the below Comment.