Photo of Cammeyer

[Jody Stecher]

What do the resident panel of experts think of this photo that has appeared on eBay? On the back of the photo is written:

"This is a picture of A D Cammeyer holding his original Zither banjo made approximately 1886. The picture was taken by Len Broomfield while Cammeyer was in retirement. It was probably one of the last pictures taken of the great master". 

I cannot work out what I am actually seeing. Where could this have been taken? It looks like a closet in a railway station!. The banjoist, who does not much resemble Cammeyer as he appears in other photos, is seated on what appears to be a very odd chair.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banjo-Zither-Photo-Alfred-Cammeyer-/18156...

[thereallyniceman]

He seems to have been ahead of his time as I see he was playing along to his laptop behind him.

:-)

He must have been a good player being able to play the banjo in a chair with arms like that getting in the way!

[Jody Stecher]

Yes indeed, but is it actually Cam? And what are we really seeing? What is the pipe or other metallic cylinder that arises behind the "computer" and vanishes into thin air?  One non-mysterious thing: I know why he is wearing a hat and overcoat indoors. When my father visited England for the first time, in the early 1960s, and experienced the chilly interiors of some houses there, he told me "Jody, I always wondered why the English have their plumbing pipes on the *outside* of their houses. Now I know. It's to keep them from freezing". 

[marc dalmasso]

I think the picture could be original for 2 reasons :

- there 's no really interest to make a false one because only a few people could have an interest with A Cammeyer

- the eBay seller didn 't sold many items since last year and seems to be an occasional seller

[Jody Stecher]

Your logic is impeccable, Marc. But the question remains: if this is Cammeyer, why does he not look like the other photos that are said to be of Cammeyer?  I don't think there is deception here but there may be simple misinformation or mistaken identity. Here is the usual photo one sees. Can the shape of a person's nose be changed so much by age?

marc dalmasso said:

I think the picture could be original for 2 reasons :

- there 's no really interest to make a false one because only a few people could have an interest with A Cammeyer

- the eBay seller didn 't sold many items since last year and seems to be an occasional seller

[Richard William Ineson]

This photograph is definitely of Cammeyer, taken at his home in Brailsford in Derbyshire, probably in 1949, the year that he died. Cammeyer moved to Brailsford on his retirement in 1938, the house was provided for him by his banjo pupil, the Hon. Arthur Strutt - the Strutts were very wealthy mill owners in this area. Arthur Strutt married a ballerina of some note - she used to skate on the lake outside Cammeyer's cottage (which is still there but much altered) whilst Cam played his banjo. Strutt also had a very large St.Bernard dog, which Cam used to walk through the village, there is a famous, very old tree, still growing in Brailsford, with reputed mystical powers which fascinated Cam, he used to spend hours looking at it. I got this information from the local undertaker (mortician) when I visited Brailsford sometime in the 1990s, he remembered Cammeyer very well, from when he was a boy. Cam's long time housekeeper had only recently died so I missed out on an opportunity to get the inside information on this banjo legend, from the horse's mouth. I also spoke to an old lady in the village, who was sent to London by Cam, during the war, to collect a banjo from  a house there, she had no details of the banjo or whom she collected it from, very mysterious. Cam does not appear to have left any money behind him, which is another mystery as his wife was the daughter of a jeweller who had premises on Jermyn Street, London and the Cammeyer's lived in some style during their time in the Capital, Mrs.Cammeyer died in 1938, which probably prompted Cam to move to Derbyshire. Cam actually died in the Royal Canadian Hospital, which I think was near Maidenhead, but I am not sure of this without getting the mouldering files out. Len Broomfield  was a contributor to B.M.G. and he inherited the 'first zither banjo' from Cammeyer, I do not know where this banjo is now, but I think that  I may have been offered this instrument to purchase some years ago and I didn't realise what it was at the time. I still own the Vibrante Royale which belonged to Bernard Sheaff. The Strutts moved to Scotland and are probably still there, their mill empire long gone. I tried to correspond with them some years ago, but received no reply - they may still have some Cammeyer memorabilia, music etc. if anybody wants to try their luck with them you can probably get their address from the Archivist at the Derby public library.

[thereallyniceman]

As Richard correctly points out, Len Broomfield was a regular correspondent and author of articles for the BMG in the 1930-1940s and maybe longer.

Here is one letter that he wrote:

In our site PLAYER BIOGRAPHIES page we find:

"In 1939 Cammeyer retired to Derbyshire, UK to live in a house provided by another of his wealthy patrons, The Honorable Arthur Stutt. It was there that in 1949 Cammeyer died."

...so thank you for this in depth information Richard.

Perhaps it explains why Cam is playing indoors with hat scarf and gloves.. maybe he died of the cold when the mysterious pipe that Jody is concerned about (the chimney of his wood burning stove?) was stolen by metal thieves? 

[Jody Stecher]

Thank you Richard, for the detailed response. I have no idea why I like to read or hear about all these little details, but I certainly do.  Thank you, Ian for the Broomfield story. I wonder why he did not mention the model of banjo he got.

[Richard William Ineson]

A bit of pedantry - Cam did not die in Brailsford, when he fell ill in 1949, he was taken to the Royal Canadian Hospital (which may have been located near Maidenhead or Marlow)and he died there, I don't know why he couldn't have been treated in the local area, but he wasn't. Before I knew this, I searched the burial records in the church at Brailsford, for the location of his grave, without success. I wonder if anyone can find out where he was really buried?

thereallyniceman said:

As Richard correctly points out, Len Broomfield was a regular correspondent and author of articles for the BMG in the 1930-1940s and maybe longer.

Here is one letter that he wrote:

In our site PLAYER BIOGRAPHIES page we find:

"In 1939 Cammeyer retired to Derbyshire, UK to live in a house provided by another of his wealthy patrons, The Honorable Arthur Stutt. It was there that in 1949 Cammeyer died."

...so thank you for this in depth information Richard.

Perhaps it explains why Cam is playing indoors with hat scarf and gloves.. maybe he died of the cold when the mysterious pipe that Jody is concerned about (the chimney of his wood burning stove?) was stolen by metal thieves? 

[Richard William Ineson]

I wrote about my visit to Brailsford in search of Cam, in 'The Banjo' in the 1990s, I will have a look for the relevant issue and see if there are any other details which have slipped my memory.

Jody Stecher said:

Thank you Richard, for the detailed response. I have no idea why I like to read or hear about all these little details, but I certainly do.  Thank you, Ian for the Broomfield story. I wonder why he did not mention the model of banjo he got.