Oklahoma City ... American Banjo Museum

From Thursday November 21, 2013


I felt I had to publish the two museum experiences I had in Oklahoma City last week in separate posts.   After visiting the National Memorial and Museum I drove around exploring the neighborhoods of this city and tried to decompress for an hour or so.

I'd also wanted to visit the American Banjo Museum while in the City; so I finally drove into Bricktown, to the east of downtown, which used to be a major warehouse district, the Santa Fe Railroad passing right through.  Now it's the entertainment district, much like the renewed warehouse districts in many large cities like San Francisco, New Orleans, NYC, etc.  The major attractions of the district are the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, the navigable Bricktown Canal, the 16-screen Harkins movie theater, many restaurants, including Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill, and the corporate headquarters of Sonic Drive-In.......

And, my destination .... The american Banjo Museum

Once again, in the middle of a workday, I found a parking space right outside the front door of the museum.  Of course, the building is made of bricks!

The American Banjo Museum is a world-class facility honoring the "rich history, vibrant history and unlimited future of the banjo."  It contains the largest collection of banjos on public display in the world.  Included in the displays are 'primitive instruments developed by African slaves in the Old South, Minstrel Age instruments from the 19th century, post WWII instruments used in bluegrass, folk and world music, and a core collection of ornately decorated banjos made in America during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 30s.'

I don't play the banjo, never have; but, after this visit I'm tempted to try.  What an interesting and fun time I had in my visit .... bringing back happy memories of my childhood, learning a lot about this interesting instrument and the people who play(ed) it.  This is definitely a great museum to visit for people of all ages....

Again, this 21,00 square feet of exposition space is divided into the history of the banjo and its mostly 'happy' sound.
                                                                    Enjoy .....

 As you walk through an era of banjo history the sound system plays the appropriate banjo music

This is just a sampling of the 70-some photos I took.  What an interesting afternoon.  As you can see, the 'banjo story' is described all around the rooms of the museum.  There are also lots of audio and video presentations by banjo great performances ..... Mickey Rooney (1942), Minstrels shows, Roy Smeck, Eddy Peabody on the Lawrence Welk TV Show, Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Don Reno, Steve Martin, Alison Brown, the Muppets .... the lis goes on.

Of course, my very favorites:  The Kingston Trio and the Limeliters.  From the movies, there's a video of Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman, playing, and the scene in the 1972 movie, "Deliverance," that I so-well remember ....  If you've not seen the movie, watch this video.  If you have seen the movie, watch this scene again .....

Dueling Banjos