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...

[Joel Hooks]

I don’t know that it is exactly harmful, but that website has been thrown at me more times than I can count as a reference source for banjo history subjects (such as Temlett inventing the zither banjo).  So I suppose it harmed me a little.

[Jody Stecher]

Ah. That can be annoying, vexing, and eventually on the edge of infuriating. 

Some people are not interested in veracity. A casual attitude towards facts is no less present in the world of music than in the media, political campaigns, advertising, and autobiographies.