(Photograph courtesy of Terry Hathaway.)

The Original Connorized Banjorchestra. Invented by James O'Connor, president of the Connorized Music Company of New York City, the Banjorchestra was reportedly perfected by November of 1914, with the company expecting to be ready to begin filling customer orders by the 1st of December. The initial Connorized Banjorchestra marketing campaign seems to have begun in earnest sometime in early 1915, and so, although announced in November of 1914, it could be said that the Banjorchestra's official public introduction was in early 1915. Instrumentation included a 44-note piano, four-string banjo, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, and a bass drum effect (a beater thumping on the soundboard). All components were neatly fitted into a keyboardless Connorized style upright mission oak finished cabinet, but it could be furnished in any other wood on special order. Two electric lights illuminated the interior while the Banjorchestra was playing. The Banjorchestra was six feet nine inches in height, three feet five inches wide, and two feet seven inches deep.

(Photograph courtesy of Terry Hathaway.)

The Original Connorized Banjorchestra. Here the upper door of the Banjorchestra is open, clearly revealing the foreward facing instrumentation. Central, of course, is the 4-string banjo. To its left is the triangle, and above it the snare drum. To the right of the banjo is the tambourine, and above it a set of castanets. Not visible is the 44-note piano (located at the back of the case), nor is the bass drum effect (a beater thumping on the soundboard).

(Photograph courtesy of Terry Hathaway.)

James O'Connor, President of the Connorized Music Company. It was during the year 1914 that O'Connor reportedly invented the Banjorchestra, which was perfected by November of that year, and the company expected to be ready to fill customer's orders by the 1st of December, 1914. The inspiration to create and develop a banjo centric device came about because of "the advent of the new dances, which have been so popular for the last two years, came the rejuvenation of the banjo and other stringed musical instruments of its kind. Orchestras in which the banjo has been the principal have been in demand and large sums of money have been paid nightly by dancing instructors and restaurateurs of international fame for this kind of music." as mentioned in The Music Trade Review of November 7, 1914. Thus, this revived public enthusiasm for the banjo inspired the creation of the Banjorchestra.

But Mr. O'Connor was no stranger to the idea of an automatically played banjo. In The Music Trade Review of February 1, 1913 is excerpted the following: “At the head of the company are men who have sound business judgment earned by years of experience. James O'Connor, president of the company, is well known throughout the trade as an inventor of note, having patented many devices which are now in universal use in the construction of player-pianos. Among these is the automatic tracking device used on many players familiarly known as the "O'Connor patent." Mr. O'Connor's career in the piano industry dates back many years when as a young man he and several others he was associated with in Wall street took up the manufacturing of an automatic banjo which was operated by electricity.

This did not prove as successful as expected, and Mr. O'Connor turned his attention to the study of pneumatics. The American Automatic Banjo Co. was the name of the firm which finally marketed the automatic banjo, pneumatically played, after Mr. O'Connor had perfected it. At that time the company was having manufactured for it paper music rolls for the banjo, but having difficulty in getting them, decided to manufacture them. It happened that the Farrand Co. also was having a hard time to get rolls and appealed to Mr. O'Connor to make rolls for them. This was primarily the way the Connorized music roll business was started. It was in 1900 and the name of the company was changed to the Connorized Music Co. soon after, when Arthur Conrow, the present general manager of the company, became associated with Mr. O'Connor.”

(Photograph courtesy of Reblitz-Bowers Encyclopedia.)

The New Style Connorized Banjorchestra. Sometime around the beginning of April, of 1915, the new style Banjorchestra was introduced sporting an entirely new case design, which incorporated devices that greatly facilitated the operation of the instrument. A new feature, a cut-off for the traps was added, consisting of five little buttons that, when pressed, stop the use of the traps singly or as a group, as may be desired. And the new style was to be produced in a mahogany case, instead of mission oak, and in an art finish, which was thought to greatly enhance the beauty of the instrument and make it an attractive ornament as well as a serviceable instrument. For larger and more noisy venues, the top lid could be propped open to enhance the volume of the banjo and trapwork. The visible instrumentation remained essentially identical to the original style, except for the castanets, which were moved down to a position below the tambourine, and also used a different style of activating mechanism. Below the triangle are four small tuning buttons, which can be used to aid in tuning the four banjo strings.

(Photograph courtesy of Terry Hathaway.)

The New Style Connorized Banjorchestra. This view, with the bottom access doors open, shows enough detail to help understand the mechanics of the Connorized Banjorchestra. Centered at the bottom of the case is the electric motor, with a round leather belt going to a large pulley on the vacuum pump crankshaft. On the shelf above the electric motor is a four-crank, 2 slide-valve windmotor drive for powering the spoolbox. Music rolls were arranged and made by the Connorized Music Company, with the usual roll containing ten selections. Special dance rolls could be made. Behind the spoolbox is the pneumatic stack, which extends almost the inside width of the case.

(Photograph courtesy of Terry Hathaway.)

The New Style Connorized Banjorchestra. All regulation features are accessible, being in the front of the lower part of the instrument, while the entire back opens on hinges, thus allowing free access for the tuner when the piano requires tuning, and also exposing the back of the automatic part of the instrument. The cast lettering on the piano plate reads: "Banjorchestra; Connorized Music Co." At the bottom of the case is the vacuum feeder pump consisting of three large bellows, and above it is the pneumatic stack. Careful examination seems to reveal that the snare drum had a single beater, located behind it, and probably of the reiterating type.