The Kazoo & Macon, GA
EXHIBIT AT THE TUBMAN MUSEUM OPENS ON NATIONAL KAZOO DAY, JANUARY 28th!
The legend of the kazoo invention and an African American inventor named Alabama Vest remain forever tied to the city of Macon. And, this year... we are bringing it home and making some big NOISE in the process!
Exploring Macon's Connection & the Origin of the Kazoo!
Legend has it that freed slave Alabama Vest created the musical instrument we know and love as the kazoo in Macon, Georgia in the 1840s. Inspired by the African horn-mirliton or onion flute, Vest brought his original prototype- made from a simple wooden tube with a piece of paper attached to it- to local clockmaker Thaddeus Von Clegg. Together they produced a design that they officially debuted at the Georgia State Fair in Macon in 1852, calling it a "Down South Submarine."
Photo: Two men play kazoos and other instruments in the late nineteenth century, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Tubman Museum Exhibit: January 28th (National Kazoo Day) through March, 2025!
This pop-up exhibit has been created and customized for Macon and the Tubman Museum, by the original designer/curator of the Kazoo Museum & Factory of Beaufort, SC. The exhibit celebrates more than 150 years of kazoo history featuring rare and historic kazoo/archives from around the world and colorful, interactive, made-for-selfie photo opps. The booming music city (where Little Richard, James Brown, The Allman Brothers and Otis Redding all got their starts) will feature the instrument and the musicians who ultimately became fans like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and more.
According to the curator, "We’ll highlight how kazoos played an integral role in early blues and jazz music and how the instrument crossed paths with personalities including Questlove, Mister Rogers, Dionne Warwick, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and many others."
