Kazoo History

Factory

The Original American Kazoo Company was established in 1916 and is the only metal kazoo factory in North America. The museum highlights history, amusing trivia, and shows step by step the way kazoos are made.

This working museum continues to manufacture a complete line of kazoos. Believe it or not, kazoos are made the same way today as begun in 1915. The machines that make kazoos are the same die presses that were installed in 1907 when the building housed a sheet metal workshop. Over the years, demand for kazoos became so great that the other metal operations ceased. Today, as in the past, over 20 machines are run with one 10 horsepower motor connected with overhead jack shafts and leather belts. The factory is truly one of the few remaining working museums.

The Birth of the American Kazoo

The kazoo was invented by an American named Alabama Vest and made to his specifications by a German clock master named Thaddeus Von Clegg in Macon, Georgia back in the 1840's. A traveling salesman by the name of Emil Sorg brought the idea of manufacturing metal kazoos to Western New York in about 1912. He teamed up with Michael McIntyre, a Buffalo tool and die maker, and together they found a way to manufacture the first production kazoos. McIntyre moved to Eden, New York where he went into partnership with Harry Richardson, the owner of a metal forming plant. The kazoo has become as American as apple pie. It is the most democratic of instruments because anyone can play.

Did you know the Kazoo was Patented in 1923?

McIntyre and Richardson began producing metal kazoos in 1915. McIntyre even received a patent for the kazoo in 1923. Samuel Whetzle was the key employee who later married the boss' daughter and took over the business in 1939. After running the plant for many years, Whetzle sold the company to a group of Buffalo investors. In 1985, the company was sold to Brimms Inc., a local family business run by the father & son team of Robert and David Berghash. In 2003, the Berghash owners deeded the Kazoo Gift Shop and Museum to the Claddagh Foundation, Inc. and donated the factory operation over to Suburban Adult Services, who use the original machines to continue to produce metal kazoos today. In the Fall of 2005, Claddagh transferred the museum to SASI and sold the gift shop to two longtime Eden residents who continue to run the Kazoo Boutique Gift Shop today.

Kazoo Boutique Gift Shop

Come and Visit the Kazoo Boutique Gift Shop in Eden, NY. Overheard - I cant believe this quality exists in Eden, this rivals Elmwood Ave shops in Buffalo. My sister has got to see the CLOTHES, JEWELRY and PURSES.