Editing Kazoo (section)

==History==
[[File:Kazoo manufacturing machines.JPG|thumb|left|Machines at the Kazoo Factory and Museum]]
[[File:Kazoo manufacturing steps.JPG|thumb|left|Kazoo manufacturing steps]] Simple membrane instruments played by vocalizing, such as the [[eunuch flute|onion flute]], have existed since at least the 16th century. It is claimed that Alabama Vest, an African-American in [[Macon, Georgia]], invented the kazoo around 1840, although there is no documentation to support that claim.<ref name = "Harness">Harness, Jill, [http://mentalfloss.com/article/29859/great-moments-kazoo-history Great Moments In Kazoo History], Mental Floss, January 28, 2012, accessed July 12, 2013</ref>  The story originated with the Kaminsky International Kazoo Quartet, a group of satirical kazoo players,  which may cast doubt on the veracity of the story,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jensen-Brown|first1=Peter|title=Bazoo, Kazoo, Bazooka, From Playful Instrument to Instrument of War (a History and Etymology of Kazoo and Bazooka)|url=http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2017/05/bazoo-kazoo-bazooka-from-playful.html|website=Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog|date=May 2017|access-date=2 May 2017}}</ref> as does the name "Alabama Vest" itself.

In 1879, Simon Seller received a patent for a "Toy Trumpet" that worked on the same principle as a kazoo: "By blowing through the tube A, and at the same time humming a sort of a head sound, a musical vibration is given to the paper covering c over the aperture b, and a sound produced pleasing to the ear."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Seller|first1=Simon|title=US Patent 214,010|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US214010|website=Google Patents|access-date=2 May 2017}}</ref>  Seller's "toy trumpet" was basically a hollow sheet-metal tube, with a rectangular aperture cut out along the length of the tube, with paper covering the aperture, and a funnel at the end, like the bell of a trumpet.  The first documented appearance of a kazoo was that created by an American inventor, Warren Herbert Frost,<ref name = "Harness" /> who named his new musical instrument ''kazoo'' in his [[patent]] #270,543 issued on January 9, 1883. The patent states, "This instrument or toy, to which I propose to give the name 'kazoo' "..."<ref name="Frost">[https://patents.google.com/patent/US270543 Kazoo Patent], U.S. Patent Office, Washington, D.C., accessed July 12, 2013</ref> Frost's kazoo did not have the streamlined, submarine shape of modern kazoos, but it was similar in that the aperture was circular and elevated above the length of the tube. The modern kazoo—also the first one made of metal—was patented by George D. Smith of [[Buffalo, New York]],  May 27, 1902.<ref name = "Harness" /><ref name = "Smiths">[https://patents.google.com/patent/US700986 Smith's Kazoo Patent], U.S. Patent Office, Washington, D.C., accessed July 12, 2013</ref>

In 1916, the Original American Kazoo Company in [[Eden, New York]] started manufacturing kazoos for the masses in a two-room shop and factory, utilizing a couple of dozen jack presses for cutting, bending and crimping metal sheets. These machines were used for many decades. By 1994, the company produced 1.5 million kazoos per year and was the only manufacturer of metal kazoos in North America.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Allen|first1=Frederick|title=The Kazoo Monopoly|journal=American Heritage of Invention & Technology|date=Winter 1994|volume=9|issue=3|url=http://www.innovationgateway.org/content/kazoo-monopoly-1|access-date=18 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401025825/http://www.innovationgateway.org/content/kazoo-monopoly-1|archive-date=1 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Wolk|first1=Bruce H.|title=Made here, baby! the essential guide to finding the best American-made products for your kids|date=2009|publisher=American Management Association|location=New York|isbn=9780814413890|page=258|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uj3ypHgzlWYC&pg=PA258|access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref> The factory, in nearly its original configuration, is now called The Kazoo Factory and Museum. It is still operating, and it is open to the public for tours.<ref name = "Harness" />

In 2010, [[The Kazoo Museum]] opened in [[Beaufort, South Carolina]] with exhibits on kazoo history.<ref name=Jordan>{{cite news |title=Kazoo factory tunes in to Beaufort County |first=Meredith |last=Jordan |newspaper=Bluffton Today |date=October 7, 2010 |url=http://www.blufftontoday.com/news/2010-10-07/kazoo-factory-tunes-beaufort-county |access-date=October 26, 2010 |archive-date=October 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012002307/http://www.blufftontoday.com/news/2010-10-07/kazoo-factory-tunes-beaufort-county |url-status=dead }}</ref>