The Original American Kazoo Company

he Original American Kazoo Company was established in 1916 and is now the only metal kazoo factory in North America. The museum highlights history, amusing trivia, and shows step by step the way kazoos are made.

This working museum continues to manufacture a complete line of kazoos. Believe it or not, kazoos are made the same way today as in 1916. The Kazoo Factory machines that make kazoos are the same die presses that were installed in 1907 when the building housed a sheet metal workshop. Over the years, demand for kazoos became so great that the other metal operations ceased. Today, as in the past, over 20 machines are run with one 10 horsepower motor connected with overhead jack shafts and leather belts. The factory is truly one of the few remaining working museums.

McIntyre and Richardson began producing metal kazoos in 1914. McIntyre even received a patent for the kazoo in 1923. Samuel Whetzle was the key employee who later married the boss’ daughter and took over the business in 1939. After running the plant for many years, Whetzle sold the company to a group of Buffalo investors. In 1985, the company was sold to Brimms Inc., a local family business run by the father & son team of Robert and David Berghash. In 2003, the Berghash’s deeded the Kazoo Gift Shop and Museum to the Claddagh Foundation, Inc. and handed the factory operation over to Suburban Adult Services, who use the original machines to continue to produce metal kazoos today. In the Fall of 2005, Claddagh transferred the museum to Suburban and sold the gift shop to two longtime Eden residents who continue to run the Kazoo Boutique Gift Shop today