To add some weight to this discussion, there is a scholarly work on the history of banjo-making which has beautiful color plates of 19th century banjos. It's also interesting reading, but then I am both a bibliophile and a banjophile.
America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry, that was supposed to be a blue clicky, but I hope cut&paste will work. Or Google.