Lyon and Healy made very good quality instruments and the Washburn line were their best instruments. The model number '5316' is stamped on the neck block. Stamped on shell near neck joint: 9058 Fits the description of a Washburn Style E as described in, “Washburn Prewar Instrument Styles, Guitars, Mandolins, Banjos and Ukuleles,” by Hubert Pleijsier: “5-ply hardwood shell, mahogany finish, 22 brackets, one piece mahogany finished neck w/ ebony heelcap, unbound 17-fret…ebony fingerboard.” It has 5 pearl dots 1 at frets 5, 7, 10, and 2 at the 12th fret. Your ukulele was made by the Lyon and Healy Company of Chicago, probably around 1926-1928. Stamped on dowel: American Conservatory Oval Logo with faint WASHBURN stamp next to it that has been overstamped with 48.
It came with no neck or other parts, so I didnt have any knowledge of the original. It is made of blond maple and is an elegant old banjo shell. A year or two earlier I had bought a Lyon and Healy (the parent of Washburn) banjo shell from Campbell Coes Campus Music Shop in Berkeley. “The Kerschner Unique tailpiece was available in four, five and six string versions and became standard appointment on all Washburn banjos made after 1923.” They are highly sought after since they were used on many original 19 Gibson Granada's and Deluxe's. It was a 17-fret tenor, and even the dowel stick was missing.
Information from research: Original Kerschner Unique tailpiece with patent date of 12-29-14, 5-9-16 with Lyon and Healy Makers - Chicago, U.S.A. It has been well cared for and has new strings and is in playing shape. Item: 282365487546 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925. By the 1900s, if not earlier, Lyon & Healy might well have been manufacturing bowed string instruments. Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 1 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 2 2 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 3 3 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 4 4 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 5 5 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 6 6 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 7 7 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 8 8 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 9 9 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 10 10 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 11 11 of 12 Lyon and Healy American Conservatory Washburn Style E Tenor Banjo 1923-1925 12 12 of 12 See More Clearly, Lyon & Healy was making fretted string instruments in the 1880s, with Washburn (guitars, mandolins, banjos, and zithers) as their premier line.