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  Photos courtesy of Bob Hartman. The right photo was obtained from the family of the players, and Bob bought (and sold) one of the mandolins!

This nattily-attired Dyer player is a fellow named Jessie Runyan Hughes, born in Iowa in 1872, died in Nebraska in 1922	Mr. Hughes with zither player William Kuhn
Hughes' great grandson, Rick Mummert, in 1972. Note the replaced bridge.

Schwarzer Zither Orchestra, Omaha, c.1910

This lovely set of photos feature many of the same people, including the Dyer owner on the left, above.  The two Dyers have only 5 sub-basses, so are likely earlier specimens.

This dapper Dyer player is Todd Jones, who worked at a hotel.  His story will be appearing soon on this site.	Unknown group and vintage

Unknown musician has added a tailpiece support	The Cadenza, April, 1909	The Cadenza, Dec, 1910. Abt was actually a premiere mandolinist.

The Dyer Symphony Harp Quartet. The Cadenza, Nov, 1910	A Dyer subs for a Schrammel guitar in a Valentino and Swanson movie

The Charity Ball Hotel Utah, Salt Lake City, on November 12, 1912. Open the first image and see if you can spot the Dyer player. If not, here he is in the right image.

This postcard has a 1913 Minnesota postmark	This postcard is dated on the back 1916	Undated postcard

American Guitar Society Orchestra (1920's) The Society was founded by Vahdah Olcott-Bickford (standing, far right, with baton), whose collection of music and periodicals became the International Guitar Research Archive headed by Ron Purcell at California State University, Northridge.	Unknown group and vintage

Jim & Bob, "The Genial Hawaiians"	Vierra's Native Hawaiians, from the Chautauqua concert circuit, feature Jim & Bob, though the Dyer is now played by another.  They are a completely different circuit group than Vierra's Royal Hawaiian Singers and Players seen with a Knutsen harp guitar (see Knutsen Historical Photos). (image courtesy of the Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries)

King Benny Nawahie's band, c.1919.  Two Dyers and a Knutsen - talk about a "wall of sound"!	A spectacular hand-colored photo of King Benny (playing an unidentified mandolin) with his brother on the Dyer and the same black-top Knutsen player. (image copyright and courtesy Donatella Moores)

 

Another rare image of Vierra's Native Hawaiians, with the same Dyer player	The Dyer company letterhead in 1905

Proof that the bizarre Maurer/Larson "Picasso" harp guitars were taken seriously! These two  examples are again different from the patent and surviving specimens.

And another "Picasso" with two Dyers and a Gibson in this detail from the 1923 lineup of Milwaukee's Bonne Amie Musical Circle copyright and courtesy Paul Ruppa full image	The Milwaukee Bonne Amie Musical Circle again: Boating with harp guitars! copyright and courtesy John Pagenkop

This quartet of African American musicians includes some incredible instruments, including a Gibson 'teens harp guitar, a Dyer Style 7 harp guitar and two Dyer harp mandolins

From The Cadenza, Dec. 1910. The distinctive (ultra-thin body, oversize soundhole) H.F. Meyer instruments are believed to have been made by the Larson brothers	From The Cadenza, March 1907. Truax - Larson-made?  Hartman says no, Meulle-Stef and I say likely.