todd: I almost bought that National as my Christmas present to myself. Until I realised I’d already bought a Christmas present to myself.

more power to the owners of cheezy fluke ukes….!!!

karl: Thanks very much for the info.

Ron: LMAO!

Lyon and Healy used to be the company (and factory) and Washburn one of the brands they used for lines of fretted instruments. A way to remember that, is that Washburn was cofounders George Lyon’s middle name.

Somewhere down the line (in Teagle’s awful history book on the company) Lyon and Healy bought in instruments, and mingled with the other brands and factories up in Chicago – only their concert harps remained their own production, even up to this day. The names ended up on the auction block, if I remember it right.

Washburn was revived as a brand at least once in the 1970s, with Asian production.

The same goes for Oscar Schmidt, which once was a factory and brand in Jersey city. Schmidt continued longer than LH/Washburn, until 1965, but folded and was reused as a brand for Asian instruments much later.

Long story, short morale: antebellum brand names referering to US produced instruments are popular nowadays as brands for companies selling instruments made in Asia. And the even put OS under the wings of Washburn, which doesn’t really make any sense, but explains the similarity.