GARAGE SALE FIND ANTIQUE BANJO - WHO MADE IT?

Hi all, I found this at a garage sale today. It had a $150 price tag on it but ater I told the woman there that id had no name or makers mark & I couldn't tell if it was a good banjo or a made in China one, she agreed to sell it to me for $80.
Did I do good?
Can anyone tell who made it - or maybe where it's from?
Thanks, I appreciate any help.

 

Is that writing on the bottom front? What does it say?

 

@all_fakes may know.

 

@all_fakes .....may have an idea !!

 

Hahaha!!!!!!
Sniped by AJ !!!!

 

Great minds.

 

It's been around a while, but whether it's a good banjo or a bad banjo I haven't a clue. Some would say that's based on how it sounds. Others would say there's no such thing as a good banjo.

 

It has a 1940's feel to it. I believe it is missing the 5th string tuner ( you can see the bridge has spots for 5 strings but only 4 on banjo) and one inlay on headstock. Harmony/Chicago made banjos with square inlays on fret board. I couldn't find a similar banjo with same inlays on line. With an open back and limited inlay it looks to be an entry level banjo. Having said that with its age I believe it was a good buy...especially if you will play it.
The one thing I didn't quite understand is in the bottom back view, it seems like six of the bottom bracket shoes (Mechanisms to hold head on) seem very long

 

see picture for possible 5th string location.

 

The 5th string goes to a key on the side of the neck (key is missing). The long bracket shoes? are because they are not hooked to banjo skin? I wasn't sure how to do it so I left it as is.
I found BanjoHangout.com and posted a pic - 1st reply said it was turn of the century & American made?
Thanks all

 

As others have indicated, it is an older banjo, not of real high quality (Harmony was mentioned, a US maker of beginner-quality instruments, and that would be one possibility, but there were so many companies that it could be pretty hard to pin down.) You might try posting in a banjo forum...oh, you did. I'd go with American, maybe 1910-1930, or 1920-1940, somewhere around there. By the 1920s, 5-strings were being largely supplanted by 4-string banjos, and the 5-string didn't come back into vogue until somewhat later, though at most times there were some of each being made.
The four remaining tuners are friction-type, not geared, another indication of a lower-quality instrument. As noted, the fifth-string tuner is missing, and some of the brackets are loose.
Banjos are much more mechanical than most instruments, and can be repaired or adjusted with wrench and screwdriver, unlike most instruments. If you note the attachment method of the brackets that are still attached, you should be able to reattach the loose ones. There could be missing parts, nuts, and such, but those are fairly easy to source, like the missing tuner.
The name on the head would be the brand-name of the head, and wouldn't shed any light on the maker.
Having around 30 brackets indicates a somewhat better instrument, towards the upper end of entry-level; I've seen older Harmony banjos that only had 6-8 brackets.