The House of Musical Traditions was originally in New York City, where it was operated by dulcimer builder Hank Levin as a source for imported ethnic instruments and a retail outlet for Hank's lap dulcimers. A 1967 Time Magazine cover on the Beatles featured an original HMT sitar from the days when Hank ran the store. David Eisner purchased the business in 1972 from Hank, who was then making dulcimers for Jean Ritchie, and became too busy to devote enough time to the store.

In April 1972 Dave moved the store to its present location at 7040 Carroll Ave., in Takoma Park, Md -- near the now-closed Maggie's Farm, a small boutique that he owned on Columbia Ave.

This is HMT in June 1972, shortly after opening. On the wall you can see the original "Musical Traditions" dulcimers made by Hank.

The large funny-looking instrument on the floor, resting on its two large gourds, is a vina (pronounced "veena"). To its right is a talking drum. In front of it is a tabla, then two dumbeks in the middle, and the drum in the foreground is probably a mrdangam. Resting against the left wall are a few sitars. To the left of the vina is a harmonium, and you can just see a bit of an oud in front of the harmonium. This collection of instruments probably represented about 80% of the entire store stock!

Dave sold Maggie's Farm in 1974 and moved HMT to Berkeley Springs, WV, while the new owners of Maggie's Farm moved into the space vacated by HMT. In 1977 Dave acquired the piece of stained glass artwork that you see in the upper left hand corner of our web site, which is set into our front door, and is incorporated into our T-shirt design. In 1981, when Maggie's Farm went out of business, Dave decided to re-open a branch of HMT in the original Takoma Park location. In 1983 the Berkeley Springs store closed and HMT has been in Takoma Park ever since.

This is a 1996 photo of the same room pictured in the opening day shot. This is now our central room, off the main entrance. (This photo was taken from the front door) There is another room of the same size on either side of the main room. You can see the entrance to the Recordings Annex on the left, with the circular sign above it, from back when the only recordings we carried were LPs. On the left is Tony, formerly our record buyer and resident Irish B/C box player. He left us to work at Maggie's Music (no relation to Maggie's Farm). To the right is the banjo, mandolin and fiddle wall, in the back are the percussion instruments, and against the back wall is the barely visible Dreaded Wall O' Squeezeboxes, which was added in 1994 at the implacable insistence of Wendy, the Squeezebox Lady.

HMT is a central resource for the folk music enthusiast! We offer:

• Just about every kind of instrument you can think of and many that you may never have heard of
• Books, local artist recordings, and accessories
• Rentals, lessons, workshops, concerts
• Free special order service; international mail orders

Among our staff, many of whom are working musicians, can be found experts in such diverse types of music as Celtic, Klezmer, Indian, French, Scandinavian, and Asian as well as American folk. HMT's mail order department ships all over the world.

The Monday night concert series, which maintains a mailing list of loyal concert goers, is known throughout the area for the great programs it offers. Some concert performers also offer workshops while they're in town.

The store has been in the folk music business for so long that it has become known as a clearinghouse of information about concerts, dances, folk organizations, festivals, bands, and other music resources for the greater Washington area. HMT is often asked to sell tickets to local events, and we've posted a bulletin board near the front door with current concert and dance info. The book room also has a small bulletin board for musicians looking for band members or just others to jam with.

Speaking of jamming, for many years the upstairs lessons room was the scene of the very popular Friday Night Beat Jam. (NOTE: The Beat Jam moved in early 2004 to another location just down the street, click here for more information.) The Beat Jam is a great way for rhythm players of all levels to drum with others under the kindly eye of Stream Ohrstrom, whose affiliation with the store dates back to Berkeley Springs days. He also builds Blue Dragon bamboo flutes for HMT and does most of the drum repairs.

During the summer, most weekends find a few HMT people working a festival booth somewhere on the East Coast. There are loyal HMT customers who have never been to the Takoma Park store, but wait each year for their festival to come around so they can shop at the HMT booth. It's not unusual for HMT staff to also be on the program as festival performers.

A visit to the shop is an experience not to be missed. It is convenient to the Takoma Park Metro.

• As you leave the station, head up Cedar towards the 7-Eleven.
• Keep going to Laurel Ave, then turn left onto Carroll Ave.
• The store is just down the block on the left, across from the gazebo.