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Origin and history of bongo

bongo(n.)

"one of a pair of attached small drums held between the knees and played with the fingers," by 1920, in a Cuban context, the word popularized in U.S. 1929 when the Cuban government banned them.

The restriction carries heavy penalties on the ground that the monotonous reverberations induce a state of savagery in ignorant listeners and a state of irritation in others. [Associated Press, Feb. 17, 1929]  

The thing and the word noted as of African origin. Compare Lokele (Zaire) boungu. Related: Bongos.

Bongo drums were a feature of Cuban rhumba orchestras in the U.S. by 1941 (Xavier Cugat) and noted by 1949 as an element in bop combos.

An identical word is attested by 1861 as the name of a large bush-buck of the central and western African forests, striped and horned. The name is local. It is recorded in English by 1873 (in German 1872) as the name of a nation or people of Sudan known for agriculture and ironworking. More here.

also from 1920

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