That's so Savannah: Kazoo lovers can learn history of musical instrument in nearby Beaufort
If you can hum then you can play the “most democratic” instrument in the world — the kazoo. The modest instrument is right up there with the recorder and the baby xylophone as the first instrument people learn to play. It takes only a moment to learn and no time to master.
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The humble kazoo has a silly, buzzy sound that made it popular in vaudeville, comedy and jazz acts of old, and it continues to be a popular American musical invention. There is even a National Kazoo Day celebrated on Jan. 28.
The kazoo has several different origin stories. The most commonly told story about the invention of the kazoo is that it was created in 1840 by a German clockmaker named Thaddeus Von Clegg for an African-American entertainer from Macon, Georgia named Alabama Vest, who later called it the “Down-South Submarine” when he presented it at the 1852 Georgia State Fair. However, there is no documentation to prove this story, so it’s hard to prove how much of it is true.
A more verifiable story is that the American inventor, Warren Herbert Frost, named his instrument/toy “kazoo” when he patented it in 1883. The submarine-shaped kazoo we know today was later patented by George D. Smith of Buffalo, New York in 1902, but it was the Original American Kazoo Company, opened in 1916, that began to mass produce it a make it a part of American musical culture.
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Visitors to nearby Beaufort, South Carolina can learn more about the history of the kazoo at the Kazoo Museum, located at the Kazoobie Kazoo Factory at 12 John Galt Road. The museum features over 200 kazoos, making it one of the largest kazoo collections in the world. Some of the unique pieces include kazoos shaped like cartoon characters, an electric kazoo, a kazoo used in The Partridge Family television show, and several kazoos that are over a hundred years old.
If you aren’t convinced that kazoos are awesome, watch the classic “You on Kazoo” video on Youtube. Customers of Kazoobie Kazoos include Weezer and flautist Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
Visitors to the museum can also visit the factory to see how kazoos are made and then construct their own from fourteen different body colors and custom made resonators. If you’re looking for stocking stuffer ideas this holiday season, it might be worth checking out the gift shop—that is, if you can stand to listen to your children blaring on the little hummers all Christmas morning.
Sometimes the silliest attractions are the best, so give the Kazoo Museum a visit and see what all the “buzz” is about.
Christopher Berinato is the author of "Secret Savannah: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure".
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Largest kazoo collection in the world is at the Kazoobie Kazoo Factory
