Tilton <i>German Scheitholt</i> Zither
date: label: date made
content: ca 1885 - 1890
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This <i>German Scheitholt</i> type zither was likely made by "Dr." Sidney A. Tilton in Licking County, Ohio, about 1885-1890. It has a trapezoidal shaped body made from walnut, with a metal nut and bridge, five strings (two melody and three drones), 15 metal frets, 1 round sound hole and 1 heart-shaped sound hole, 5 tuning pins, and a rounded head.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>As per the collector Anne Grimes, "Dr." Tilton was not a medical doctor but was known for expertise in the use of herbal medicine. He was left a widower with two small daughters, Erma and Myrtle. Myrtle was blind. "Dr." Tilton made Myrtle the dulcimer and taught her to play it when she was a little girl. Later he bought his daughters a piano. Myrtle and her father sometimes gave concerts, she on the dulcimer and he on the fiddle, playing old-time songs and tunes such as "The Irish Washerwoman." After Myrtle attended the State School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio, her repertoire widened.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Anne Grimes (1912-2004) was an American journalist, musician, and historian of American (particularly Midwestern) folklore. Grimes studied voice and piano at Ohio Wesleyan and initiated graduate studies at Ohio State University. Following her education, Grimes was a music teacher, music and dance critic, and radio host. After WWII, Grimes began collecting and documenting folk songs throughout Ohio, as well as collecting Appalachian dulcimers and zithers. She would continue this work, performing, recording, and lecturing on instruments from her collection throughout the rest of her career.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Dulcimers
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Smith, L. Allen. Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1996.0276.03
label: accession number
content: 1996.0276
label: catalog number
content: 1996.0276.03
label: collector/donor number
content: A36
objectType: label: Object Name
content: zither
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 in x 3 3/4 in x 33 5/8 in; 7.62 cm x 9.525 cm x 85.4075 cm