Browse Items (78 total)

Fiddle-shaped Dulcimer, Kentucky/West Virginia

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This modified hourglass dulcimer was acquired by David Schnaufer in July 2003 via Ebay. Its previous owner was located in Northern Illinois.

Bowed Dulcimer, by Sylvan James, Gass[a]way, West Virginia

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This instrument was built in 1969 by Sylvan James of Gassaway, WV. In Gerald Milnes's 1999 book Play of a Fiddle, James is described as a "pre-Revival Braxton County dulcimer maker, Lower Mill Creek."

Big Tyler Mountain Dulcimer

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Schnaufer's notes for this instrument read as follows: "Big Tyler Mt., West Virginia/1911/Maker - Denis McCown for Helen Melton Saffel/Owner Schnaufer/Purchased from Wanda Parrish (Las Vegas, Nevada), great niece of Helen Saffel, 1987." Wanda Parrish…

[Wayne County Dulcimer #3]

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This music box was found in a house built by Wesley Galloway, a carpenter, and the great-great-grandfather of the instrument's current owner. The family had come from Lawrence County before settling in Wayne County.

[Wayne County Dulcimer #2]

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The current owners bought this instrument around 1978 from Bill Spencer in Wayne County. Its previous history is unknown. This dulcimer appears to be a primitive (homemade) instrument.

[Wayne [Hardin] County Dulcimer #1]

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The current owner purchased this instrument from one Ocie Burns in Waynesboro in 1988. Her grandmother, Sara Josephine Ford Pulley, had had it, and it was probably made by her father, John Ford, who was living in Hardin County at the time. It was…

[Sullivan County Dulcimer #1]

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This music box dates from the late 19th century, and was purchased by David Schnaufer around 1990 for $325 from an antique dealer in Black Mountain, NC.

[Shelby County Dulcimer #1]

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The current owner acquired this instrument at a flea market in Memphis, Tennessee.

[Perry County Dulcimer #3]

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This instrument was found in a house that the current owner's father had bought about 60 years before (ca. 1930s).