Field Trip: Appalachian Instruments
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HOST: The Great Smoky Mountains that stretch from North Carolina to Eastern Tennessee are an integral part of Southern Appalachian mountain culture. The history of this storied region is explored at the Museum of Appalachia. Appraiser Ken Farmer was excited to take a look at some wonderful old Appalachian folk instruments.
APPRAISER:
(guitar playing)
HOST: That's nice, Ken. It's beautiful to sit here amongst all this assortment of homemade instruments. Give us a little bit of the history of this music.
APPRAISER:
Well, the earliest settlers out here in the mountains were mainly Scotch Irish. And of course, there were many other ethnic groups that came out here, working in the mines and doing various things. But basically, this is music from the British Isles that has incorporated African American traditions, mainly from the banjo. This dulcimer is made out of Southern yellow pine. The top and the back are made out of that, and then the sides and the fingerboard are made out of cherry.
HOST: Well, you were just playing on it. It sounds like... essentially like a brand new dulcimer. But when was this made?
APPRAISER:
This was made in 1890. And actually, one of the things that's so exciting about this is that on the back here, it has the maker. His name was Jacob Neff. He says, "It is a-raining today."
HOST: Good day to make a dulcimer. That's great.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. He had 13 children. Supposedly he made one for each one of them. This banjo was made by a gentleman from Kentucky named Noah Kenny. And you talk about make do, now, the top is tin. It's actually painted to look like a hide head. But a lot of people refer to this as a hubcap banjo, for obvious reasons.
HOST: That looks like a... that's a hubcap, all right.
APPRAISER:
According to the museum founder's notes, he bought this from Mr. Kenny in 1981. But my guess is, as dark as the varnish is, it might have been made 20 or 30 years earlier than that.
HOST: Somewhere around this area is some late 1970s car with three hubcaps.
APPRAISER:
(laughs)
HOST: Let's turn to this fiddle here. This case and the fiddle almost entirely is made out of matchsticks.
APPRAISER:
Well, this was made by James Davis. According to the records, he finished this in 1939. The thing that's most amazing to me about it is the fact that it's stayed together. All those little joints of wood through the years, you would have thought they would have separated with changes in humidity.
HOST: Weather, sure.
APPRAISER:
But what a great thing. Value in this case is very subjective, because they are one-of-a-kind objects. Most homemade musical instruments that I see are not very well made. They're not particularly playable. They're interesting, and they're usually less than $500.
HOST: I see.
APPRAISER:
A similar dulcimer like this one would retail as high as $1,500 or more because of all the characteristics that it has. And it's just cool, the way that it's done. It's very well executed. This banjo-- and it's not exactly a thing of beauty, but it's...
HOST: Well, it's got character.
APPRAISER:
But it's cool in its own funky way. And there's a lot of people out there that would love to have that. And I would say that it would cost you $800 to $1,200 for a similar example. The fiddle and the case together make an amazing package. There's a lot of people that would just love just to have the case. But to have both of them, know when they were made, and know who made them, I would not be surprised to see that in a retail setting for $2,000 or $3,000 for a similar example.
HOST: Ken, every time we sit together we're enjoying some music and having a good time, so I appreciate that.
APPRAISER:
I appreciate it too, Mark.
Appraisal Details
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