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Heroes of the Jazz Age: American bows in 1925

2025-10-10T08:48:00

Callier Bow display Sesquicentennial 1926-1

For many reasons, the 1920s saw the first great boom in American bow making. Raphael Gold tells the stories of some of the original US bow makers and examines examples of their work

One century ago, in 1925, a remarkable blend of cultural ambition, economic pressure and national pride sparked one of the first attempts to start a bow making enterprise on American soil. First, the US government had for decades pursued a series of protectionist policies that were meant to promote native industries, including the fabrication of musical instruments.

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