Some conclusions (and some generalizations). What do you think? Bear with me - brevity is not my long suit. I'll get to the point eventually.
This discussion is about popular music of the U.S. (call it "popular music", "ragtime", "jazz" or "swing", etc. if you want) and does not include a discussion about Irish Traditional Music. It would be interesting to see how the tenor banjo is percieved in the ITM community today and the extent of its popularity. Perhaps in a separate thread.
1. In the beginning (about 1908-1915) the tenor banjo was concieved and supplanted the mandolin banjo and 5-string banjo in the dance bands that were proliferating due to the burgeoning popularity of social dancing. The tenor banjo, with its "orchestra" tuning in fifths (CGDA) was principally employed as a melody instrument by many of the initial players who began their careers as violin and mandolin players.
2. In the dance band the mandolin banjo failed primarily because it was pitched too high to give that familiar banjoey tone.
3. In the dance band the 5-string banjo failed because it's tuning was not compatable with piano music published at the time; the player had to read and "skate" all over the neck to play the melody; and the vast majority of 5-stringers (fingerstylists) could not tremolo to sustain notes. The 5-string fraternity largely deplored playing the 5-string banjo with a mandolin pick although some did, of course.
4. In the teens the tenor banjo style evolved from a single string melody instrument into a chord rhythm instrument and the tenor banjo "moved" to the rhythm section of the band.
5. In the mid-teens the plectrum banjo (CGBD) began being offered by manufacturers.
6. After WWI the U.S. entered a zany period now termed the "Jazz Age". More dancing, more "jazz", more dance bands and on the east coast, more tenor banjos. But, on the west coast the plactrum banjo caught on because bandleaders found its close harmony tuning to be more pleasing. The plectrum banjo close harmony tuning was fine for chording rhythm.
7. In the mid to late 1920's Eddy Peabody introduced the plecrtrum banjo as a melody instrument (and how!). Peabody's long career kept the plectrum banjo in the spotlight (however dim or bright depending on era) both pre and post war.
8. In 1930 the tenor banjo and the plectrum banjos fell out of favor. The public was tired of the banjo. The music changed and slowed. The foxtrot slowed. The acoutic guitar supplanted banjos. The string base replaced the tuba. By the mid 1930's big band swing was underway. The guitar was amplified and the tenor banjo and plecrtrum banjo disappeared from public view.
9. After WWII the jazz scene on the west coast (though largely inconsequential for the vast public at large) featured the plectrum banjo rather than the tenor. Interest in 4-string banjos perked-up in 1955 and perhaps the tenor was somewhat more popular than the plectrum at that time but the plectrum banjo was at least out of hibernation.
10. In the 1960's the "Roaring Twenties" nightclubs appeared. At this point, it seems to me, that the plectrum banjo gained more popularity than the tenor banjo. Eddy Peabody's seemingly unattinable style became attainable. The late 1960's and 1970's pizza restaurant banjos continued the trend.
11. From the 1970's forward the plectrum banjo appears to have gained in substantially more popularity with players than the tenor banjo. In this new century, as far a 4-string banjos playing a traditional U.S. repertoire are concerned, the plectrum banjo appears to the banjo of choice.
12. In sum and looking back, it turns out that the tenor banjo was just a fad. It's "fifteen minutes of fame" was for only ten years and occured 1920-1930. It's national "resurgance" in 1955 provided a public, hungry for nostalgia at that time, with a brief respit from the troubles of those times. It was short lived.
13. The plectrum banjo progressively became the most popular 4-string banjo among players and that trend continues today. If you see a show or hear a band that includes a 4-string banjo, chances are it will be a plectrum banjo.
14. The tenor banjo is again as it was during its "dark days" during the period 1935-1955. A historic instrument and trademark for the Jazz Age Roaring Twenties but ignored and forgotten by the public today. Perhaps "anachronism" is a proper word to describe its place in the 21st century.