The Original American Kazoo Company, founded in 1916, is now the only factory in the world still producing metal kazoos. A Victorian home in Eden, N.Y., just south of Buffalo, houses the machines. Workers must be churning out the buzzing little noisemakers round-the-clock to meet international demand and keep the thuggish birthday clown union at bay.
The house also contains a kazoo museum that highlights the cultural significance of the one instrument that requires no talent/skill/effort to play. Glass cases display wooden kazoos, liquor bottle-shaped kazoos that celebrated the end of prohibition, antique kazoo instruments, as well as silver and gold kazoos, according to the website. Self-guided tours are free and kids can make their own kazoos. Only in Western New York do they let children operate iron metal-stamping factory equipment.
Inside the kazoo gift shop, visitors can buy (you guessed it) kazoos, as well as a variety of beanie babies. We're not sure how they relate to kazoos, but we just can't pass up those adorable little palm-sized animals. The rear dash of our Taurus looks so naked without them.
Related Stories:
· Buffalo Travel Stories [Jaunted]
· Original American Kazoo Co. [Official Site]
· Buffalo Hotels [HotelChatter]
[Photo Credit: Balinagra1]
