Early banjos in America were made out of a hollowed out gourd and some string.  The emptied out gourd was covered with a flat skinhead.  The five string banjo has a tuning peg for the fifth string located on the side of the banjo instead of on top with the other four tuning pegs. In the 1830s, a man named Joel Walker Sweeney popularized the banjo and became the first white man to play the banjo on stage.  The banjo that Sweeney used replaced the empty gourd with a sound box that was like a drum.  Eventually the four string banjo was made and became popular around 1910.  The four string banjo has a guitar style neck.  Currently, the four string and five string banjos enjoy practically equal popularity among banjo lovers.  There are now many different types of banjos which include the five string clawhammer banjo, the four string tenor banjo, and the four string plectrum banjo. 

Aside from losing a string, banjos during the late 19th and early 20th century began to have more brackets placed on them.  Brackets are placed on the banjo to secure the skinhead onto the body.  Originally, banjos had approximately six brackets on them.  Over time this evolved into anywhere between thirty and forty brackets.  The brackets, along with the rest of the banjo, became much more decorated.  This increasing decoration came at the same time that the banjo was becoming an instrument accepted by people of higher status.  Banjo makers began to give their banjos elitist names like the "Monarch" and the "Imperial."

To the left is Analytical Banjo Method which is the oldest piece in the collection with a publishing date of 1887.

On the right is a collection called Van Eps Banjo Solos in C Notation with Piano Accompaniment.  This was published in 1923 and is the most recent music in the collection.