Jack Canine played the banjo for most of his life, beginning his extensive collection during his 30s. He even named his Indiana-based manufacturing company The Banjo Corporation, although they produced liquid handling products for agriculture and industrial applications.
In 1998, he co-founded the National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame Museum in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with the donation of his collection of 60+ ornately decorated four-string tenor and plectrum banjos, the signature instruments associated with the Jazz Age.
In 2008, the world's largest collection of banjos on public display grew by 200 American-made banjos from a private collection and moved to Oklahoma City's Bricktown, becoming the American Banjo Museum. The same year, Mr. Canine established a $5 million permanent endowment at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to support the museum's operations.