The United States Patent Office published a Classification of Subjects of Invention on 1 July 1861. Musical instruments were placed in Class H, which had the broad heading “Fine Arts and Games.” Nine specific types of instrument were listed, of which “harps” were the only one anywhere near the substance of the following discussion.
A restructured Classified Index of Subjects of Invention with 145 numbered classes was published on 1 March 1872. Class 84 was “Music” with 66 subclasses that included the general category “stringed instruments.” “Banjos” and “dulcimers” joined harps in the list of specific instrument types.
The Revised Classification of Subjects of Invention, published on 4 January 1881, still had 145 classes. “Music” remained Class 84 but the number of its subclasses was reduced to 44. This was done by eliminating general headings and culling the named instruments. “Stringed instruments” were removed, as were “dulcimers,” leaving “harps” again the nearest classification for anything at all like a zither.
Skipping over two decades during which a lot of innovation took place on the zither front, in the revision of the Classification of Subjects of Invention published on 1 July 1906, the number of classes increased to 237, with “Music” still Class 84. It had 249 subclasses, many with subdivisions. “Harps” remained an undivided subclass, joined by “autoharps” and “zithers” in undivided subclasses of their own.
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