Nokes & Nicolai All Metal Drum, ca. late 1910s

Boston's Nokes & Nicolai succeeded the F. E. Dodge Company in 1912 and operated until 1926 when they merged with string instrument maker Joseph Pancheco and the Liberty Rawhide Company of Chicago, Illinois to form the Liberty Musical Instrument Company. Nokes & Nicolai's primary metal shell snare drum offering, the No-Nic All Metal Drum, was introduced sometime in the mid to late 1910s and was produced into the mid 1920s.

No-Nic All Metal Drums are easily recognizable by their 1/8" thick aluminum shells, star shaped vent hole configuration, and logo stamped shell and hoops. Most examples are buffed to a high shine and then lacquered. This particular drum sports a black painted shell and faux gold hardware. Nokes & Nicolai's All Metal Drums, as well as their Separate Tension Orchestra Drums, are tuned by way of twelve separate tension lugs which are adjusted at the side of the drum using a wrench. Stamped metal hooks attach over the counterhoops and hold free-floating swivel nuts into which the tension rods feed. The posts are formed from milled brass and allow the rods to turn freely. Tight fitting stamped metal caps cover the posts providing a more finished appearance while keeping the rods in place when not under tension.

Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 5, ca. 1913

The snare mechanism present here is an evolved version of Dodge's "Combined Snare Strainer and Muffler". The original design (for which a patent was applied but apparently never granted) used a thin lever to engague and disengague the snares. Nokes & Nicolai's updated version used a thin metal tab positioned at the top of the mechanism to switch the snares on and off. Despite evolutions in other areas of drum making, a more modern snare butt never arrived at Nokes & Nicolai. The wires are held in place opposite of the strainer by a simple snare anchor.

Do you have an drum made by Nokes & Nicolai? I would love to see it! Feel free to send Lee an email anytime at lee@vinson.net. And for more on the early 20th century snare drum makers of Boston, Massachusetts please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com or follow @old_boston_drums on instagram.

No-Nic Bass Drum Pedal, ca. early - mid 1920s

From user "Big Beat" at DrumForum.org comes an interesting Nokes & Nicolai bass drum pedal. The pedal is marked only with the moniker "No-Nic", an abbreviated version of the company name.


The pedal pictured above is completely different in design from the Piano-Action Pedal Bass Drum and Cymbal Beater as advertised in Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 5 circa 1914.

Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 5, circa 1914

Nokes & Nicolai Piano-Action Bass Drum Pedal

The 'piano-action' style pedal is included again in Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 6, circa 1918 so the more modern pedal must date no earlier than the very late 1910s. But the later No-Nic pedal is significant because it shows that the company was still evolving with the times into the 1920s even though their days were numbered. Nokes & Nicolai would merge with the Liberty Rawhide Company of Chicago in 1926 to form The Liberty Musical Instrument Company.

Do you have an instrument by Nokes & Nicolai? I'd love to see it! Drop Lee a note at lee@vinson.net

Origins of the F. E. Dodge Company

A small ad for the F. E. Dodge Company appearing on the back cover of the Dodge Drum School published in 1909 reads "a drum factory since 1868". It is a dubious claim coming from a man who was born in 1877. The ad goes on to state "over forty years of experience is back of the Dodge drums, tympani, orchestra bells, xylophones, and drummers' traps". How could this be true when the company namesake was only in his early thirties? Frank Edward Dodge was born on July 10th, 1877 in Wenham, Massachusetts. His father Frank Dodge (who has no middle initial) was a native of Marblehead, MA and is listed in the 1880 United States Census as a janitor at Abbott Hall. Frank Edward's mother Maria A. Dodge, formerly Maria A. McCarthy, was originally from Bangor, ME, the daughter of Irish immigrants. By the mid 1890s the Dodge family, including a second son Harry Plummer Dodge born in 1883, had relocated to Boston where Frank Edward received his primary schooling at Boston's English High School graduating as a member of the fourth year class in 1896. F. E. Dodge continued his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology enrolling in 1896 as a Mining Engineering major. He would later complete studies in both Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry. According to MIT's newspaper The Tech Dodge was in 1896 - 1897 a member of the Freshman Orchestra serving as the group's treasurer. An MIT Register of Former Students lists Frank E. Dodge as having been at the school from 1896 - 1898 and then again in the years 1900 and 1901.

The 1900 United States Census lists F. E. Dodge as a musician still living under his parents' roof at 163 West Canton Street in Boston's South End. The 1900 Boston Directory also lists him as a musician, not a student, suggesting that he had begun his career as a professional drummer by this time. Boston newspapers frequently include mentions of Frank E. Dodge as a featured xylophone soloist at the Boston Theater in 1901 and 1902. By 1903, city directories begin listing Dodge's work address simply as "Colonial Theatre", the newly opened grand theater at 106 Boylston Street opposite Boston Common.

Boston Theatre Ad from the Boston Post, October 20, 1901

1903 photo showing Boston's Colonial Theatre at far right.                 Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Looking again at the 1900 Census, the elder Frank Dodge's occupation is listed as "Mfg - Stitching & Plaiting" while the 1900 Boston Directory lists him as a manager working at 12 Winter Street. These pieces of information coupled together point to the Boston Stitching and Plaiting Company at 12 - 14 Winter Street in Boston. The president of this company was a man named John A. McCarthy whose home address was 163 West Canton Street, the same address as the Dodge family. This confirms a connection both personal and professional between the Dodge family, John A. McCarthy and his Company.

A very early F. E. Dodge orchestra drum bears a makers label listing an address of 12 - 14 Winter Street, the same location as the Boston Stitching and Plaiting Company. Also notable about the wording on the drum label is that it reads "F. E. DODGE MANUFACTURING DRUMMER", not F. E. Dodge Company. All of this raises the possibility that there may have been some correlation between the Boston Stitching & Plating Company and the very early years of Frank E. Dodge's drum making endeavors before the founding of the F. E. Dodge Company.

F. E. Dodge Orchestra Drum, ca. 1903

F. E. Dodge Drum Label, ca. 1903

Various business listings and advertisements place the Boston Stitching and Plaiting Company at 12 - 14 Winter Street from at least 1898 until 1903. By 1905 the company had moved to 28 Summer Street. The 1906 Boston Directory lists the elder Frank Dodge as working as a treasurer at this address. But by this time the younger Dodge's drum building venture was standing on it's own at 3 Appleton Street. Public Documents show that on December 22nd, 1903 the F. E. Dodge Co. became incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts with a capital of $50,000 to manufacture drums, traps, drum findings, professional xylophones, orchestra bells, and timpani.

In tracing the exact origins of the F. E. Dodge Company, it is important to note that no such business is listed in Boston Directories until 1905. In the years immediately leading up to this point Frank E. Dodge is listed as a musician but the F. E. Dodge Company is nowhere to be found. The December 1903 incorporation, as announced in the Music Trade Review in January of 1904, is the earliest documented account of the F. E. Dodge Company. If Frank E. Dodge had founded his drum company in 1903, he would have been just 26 years old. Capital investment aside, a man as young as Dodge would have needed help starting a new drum manufacturing business and he may have found it in William J. Blair of Boston's Blair & Baldwin, drum makers since 1892. The missing link between Blair and Dodge and their respective drum companies is provided in Christine Merrick Ayars' Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston 1640 - 1936 (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1937): "William J. Blair was a drummer in the Civil War and a maker of good drums. Baldwin was a fine workman also. He resigned to manufacture bicycle wood rims and wheels. Later he worked for John C. Haynes & Co. where he was known as "Grandsire Baldwin". When Mr. Baldwin resigned about 1905, F. E. Dodge bought out Mr. Blair who worked first for Mr. Dodge and then for Nokes & Nicolai until his death."

Ayars' statement about Grandsire Baldwin resigning in 1905 cannot be correct seeing that Nahum "Grandsire" Baldwin died in 1896, but her reporting about Blair checks out. Military records show William J. Blair was born in Monticello, New York in 1846. He later resided in Syracuse working as a blacksmith when in January of 1864 he joined Company H of New York's 16th Heavy Artillery Regiment as a musician. Much later in his life, Blair is listed in the 1908 and 1909 Boston Directories as a drummaker at 3 Appleton Street confirming that he did in fact stay on board with the F. E. Dodge Company after Dodge bought out Blair & Baldwin.

If William J. Blair had been building drums since the late 1860s, then by 1908 he would have had about 40 years worth of experience in the business. And that may well have been the reason that Frank E. Dodge could claim "over forty years of experience is back of the Dodge drums." It certainly wasn't that the F. E. Dodge Company had been founded four decades earlier.

For more on F. E. Dodge and the other early 20th century drum makers of Boston, Massachusetts, please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com.

W. Lee Vinson can be contacted any time by email at lee@vinson.net.

F. E. Dodge Field Drum ca. 1904 - 1907

At approximately 110 years old, this F. E. Dodge field drum shows its age. Cosmetic flaws aside, it is still a wonderful example of an early rod tension drum from Boston's most prominent drum maker at the turn of the twentieth century. Measuring in at a robust 10" deep by 16" across, this is a large instrument closer in size to the wartime regimental drums which preceded it than the much shallower orchestra drums which were becoming widely favored for popular music styles. This was after all a 'street drum' intended to be played while standing or marching with a military style band or drum corps.

The tension rods and even more so the claws used tension the heads are rather forward thinking for the first decade of the 1900s. For that matter, the use of metal hardware at all suggests that this was a professional level model as rope tension drums were more affordable. The single ply maple shell with solid maple reinforcing rings is constructed as well as any other instrument of the day. But Dodge's innovative hoop claws are the most ingenious feature here. Long before modern drum lug casings housed fully swiveling nuts to accommodate tuning rods, Dodge's claws represented an early attempt to help let the tensioning hardware fit into place without the possibility of any binding, warping, or stripping.


The shell interior is painted black, a characteristic of some, but not all Dodge drums. A large circular paper label is visible inside of the drum. Note the inclusion of the "Inc." lettering which likely means that this drum was produced after the company's incorporation on December 22, 1903 and before it was legally dissolved in 1907. Curiously, the label is positioned upside down, another peculiarity common to many F. E. Dodge drums.

The snare mechanism is rather basic by modern standards but was in fact a small step forward in functionality relative to the traditional snare strainer in that it allowed the snares to be tightened using a knurled knob easily reached from the top of the drum and without the possibility of the snares becoming twisted. A simple leather snare butt, cut in Dodge's distinctive jagged fashion, holds the snares in place against the opposite counterhoop.


While a 10" x 16" model isn't specifically listed, the drum matches very well with those advertised in the 1907 Dodge catalog. A final indication that the drum featured here was constructed no later than about 1908, the Dodge Drum School published in 1909 includes illustrations of a Dodge drum featuring an updated claw design which would go on to be commonly used on Dodge drums until 1912 and by their successors Nokes & Nicolai until 1926.

Do you have an percussion instrument made by the F. E. Dodge Company? I would love to see it! Send Lee an email anytime at lee@vinson.net. And for more on the early 20th century drum makers of Boston, Massachusetts, please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com.

ca. late 1910s No-Nic All Metal Drum

During Nokes & Nicolai's fourteen year existence from 1912 through 1926, the company had more success than any of the other Boston Drum Builders at manufacturing metal shell drums. As metal drums gained in popularity through the 1910s and into the 1920s, virtually every American drum company had their own rendition, the most common shell choice being nickel plated brass. Nokes & Nicolai constructed theirs around a thick, polished aluminum shell riveted together at the seam. Earlier examples such as the one seen here featured similarly constructed aluminum hoops while later versions of the same model feature diecast hoops eliminating the need for rim clips. Another indicator that this particular drum is an earlier one dating approximately from the mid to late 1910s is the snare-throw off, an updated version of which was installed on later models.

Polished aluminum cleans up fairly easily as it does not rust. The cap of the Washington Monument is formed of solid aluminum for just this reason - its resistance to deterioration. A light layer of oxidation can occur, but this in a way seals the metal protecting it from further damage. A homemade paste of cream of tarter and water removed enough of the oxidation in this case that the aluminum shell and hoops could then be polished back to a brilliant shine. The before and after pictures show the transformation.





For a more in depth comparison of multiple examples of the No-Nic All Metal Drum and including catalog artwork, see the post from March 6, 2012. And for more on the early 20th century drum builders from Boston, Massachusetts, visit BostonDrumBuilders.com.

Drum Catalogs from Yesteryear

Simply put, drum catalogs are an ephemeral form of advertising material. Small trade publications such as these were entirely disposable after a very short period of use. As soon as a new catalog was issued, the old one was irrelevant. Little thought was put into what would happen to these bound sheets of paper once their short term purpose had been fulfilled. But for those who collect and study antique drums and the now defunct companies that produced them, one hundred year old drum catalogs are a priceless treasure trove of information about long gone manufacturers and their wares.

The catalogs pictured below from John C. Haynes, F. E. Dodge, Thompson & Odell, Nokes & Nicolai, Oliver Ditson, and George B. Stone & Son depict a fairly broad view of drum making in Boston from the late 19th century up through the mid 1920s. And though all of these companies would in one way or another cease operation fairly soon after this time, the evolution of the snare drum can quite literally be be traced through the pages of these trade publications. Over a period of nearly 50 years, the snare drum morphed from an old fashioned, rope tensioned instrument during the mid 1800s, to a primitive single tension thumbrod style drum around the turn of the 20th century, and finally to an all but modern showpiece by the mid 1920s where finely crafted wooden and metal shell drums featured fully functioning snare throw-offs and separate tension lugs which allowed for either head to be tuned independently.

The Boston Drum Builders were at the same time experimental yet generally slow to evolve. The offerings pictured throughout these pages allow us to compare and contrast the instruments made in Boston with those of their Midwestern counterparts. In particular, Leedy of Indianapolis and Ludwig & Ludwig of Chicago were quicker to modernize and faster to grow allowing them to swiftly overtake the Boston makers in terms of size and influence. The relative scarcity of ephemera left behind by the Boston companies as compared to their peers is evidence of this trend.

The catalog cover photos shown below are a far from comprehensive depiction of the advertisements published by the Boston Drum Builders. Surely, many other trade publications exist. Stone published "Booklet L" sometime after Catalog K and presumably had printed something resembling Catalogs "A" through "F" before arriving at "G" sometime around 1912. It would be a logical assumption that some form of catalog preceded Nokes & Nicolai's "American Drummer No. 5". Perhaps Nos. 1 through 4 were printed earlier, or maybe picking up with number five indicates that F. E. Dodge had already issued four full catalogs before Nokes & Nicolai succeeded them in 1912. Many more J. C. Haynes & Company catalogs are known to have been published, mostly dating from the 1880s and 1890s and including a plethora of musical instruments, not just drums. The same is likely the case for Oliver Ditson whose "Wonderbook Number Four" (1910) corresponds with the volume number within a given year of publication rather than an issue in a chronological series.

The two more prominent boutique builders in Boston during the early 1900s, Harry A. Bower and Charles A. Stromberg, bear mention here as well though there are no catalogs to show. Neither maker left much behind in the way of advertising as compared to the other Boston makers. Some Bower advertising does appear in trade publications, but no full size drum catalogs by either Stromberg or Bower are known to exist. Stromberg appears to have hardly advertised his drums at all, perhaps because he was such a small, high end maker working with a broad diversity of instruments including harps, banjos, and finally guitars for which he would ultimately become best known.

Some of these catalogs are viewable online in part or in their entirety. The 1907 F. E. Dodge Catalog and Geo. B. Stone & Son Catalog K (1925) can be found at VintageDrumGuide.com. The 1883 J. C. Haynes Catalog, held by the Winterthur Museum Library in Wilmington, Delaware is viewable online at the Internet Archive. The remaining catalogs included here are from the authors collection.

George B. Stone & Son Catalog G - ca. 1912

George B. Stone & Son Catalog H - ca. 1915

George B. Stone & Son Catalog I - 1919

George B. Stone & Son Catalog K - 1925

F. E. Dodge Company - 1907 Photo: VintageDrumGuide.com

Nokes & Nicolai The American Drummer No. 5 - mid 1910s

Nokes & Nicolai The American Drummer No. 6 - ca. 1918

Thompson & Odell by Vega - ca. 1915

Oliver Ditson Company Ditson Wonderbook Number Four - 1910

J. C. Haynes & Company - 1883

Do you have a catalog from one of Boston's early 20th century drum makers? I would love to hear from you! Feel free to send Lee an email anytime at lee@vinson.net. And for more on the history of drum manufacturing in Boston, Massachusetts please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com.

Boston's Black Beauties

The term 'Black Beauty', as it applies to antique snare drums, is typically attached to the blackened shell, ornately engraved snare drums of the 1920s and 1930s manufactured by Ludwig & Ludwig of Chicago. Hardware on these drums, when not actually gold plated which is rare, was commonly lacquered and or plated to achieve a color similar to the metal exposed by the engraving on the blackened shell. The end result is an instrument with a striking appearance. Originally catalogued as the "DeLuxe Model", Ludwig's engraved drums date as early as the late 1910s. It wasn't until 1931 or 1932 that Ludwig adopted the name 'Black Beauty'. Leedy of Indianapolis of course had the "Black Elite" and Duplex of St. Louis made a very small number of "Black Jewels", but it was Ludwig's cross town rival Slingerland with their engraved Artist model who supposedly first used the moniker 'Black Beauty' to describe an engraved, blackened metal shell drum in their advertising around 1928.

Ludwig Black Beauty Snare Drum, ca. 1932 - 1934

But in 1925, several years before Slingerland began using the term, Boston's George B. Stone & Son described in Catalog K (see page 27) the inclusion of a black Separate Tension Drum which they called a Black Beauty. So while no snare drums built by any of the early 20th century Boston makers could truly match Ludwig, Leedy, or Slingerland's metal shell mastery, there are examples of New England-made drums which aimed to emulate the brass against black appearance of such drums.

This George B. Stone & Son Master-Model drum dates from the late 1920s or early 1930s by which time the company was fading from its prime. For better or worse, this drum was subjected to a full restoration at the hands of a previous owner. That much is certain as it arrived with the receipts for the replating work tucked away into the drum case. Faux gold plating, or "Knobby Gold" finish as Stone referred to it in their catalogs, was indeed a factory option meaning that the brass hardware against the black lacquered three ply maple shell seen here may very well be how this instrument looked straight from Stone's shop on Hanover Street. Short of a few All-Metal Master-Models, Stone was never much for making their own metal shell drums. Of the small number of brass shell drums they distributed and the much smaller number of aluminum shell drums they built out, none are known to have been engraved. So this is as close as Stone would come to producing their own 'black beauty'. Nokes & Nicolai also apparently offered a brass over black snare drum. Their All Metal Drums were built around a thick single sheet of aluminum riveted together at the seem. Most shells were buffed and lacquered leaving them to shine in a polished silver color. This particular example however is dressed in black enamel so that the faux gold hardware stands out nicely. It is possible that these finishing touches could have been later modifications, but a close inspection of the drum is inconclusive. Whatever the case, factory original or aftermarket, the drum has not been touched in a very long time so that a nice patina is in place which suits the drum well considering its age. And assuming that the brass over black configuration is original, it is a clear attempt by Nokes & Nicolai to stack up against the black beauties of the world. It's worth mentioning that an engraved, metal shell Stromberg snare drum does supposedly exist. But despite the good word of a highly reputable collector, the drum hasn't surfaced. So for now, the two drums pictured here are the closest we have to what most would think of as a Boston Black Beauty.

Geo. B. Stone & Son Master-Model Drum, ca. late 1920s - early 1930s No-Nic All Metal Drum, ca. early - mid 1920s

Do you have a drum built by one of the early 20th century Boston makers? I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to send Lee an email any time at lee@vinson.net.

The Smallest of the Small

By the first decade of the 1900s, smaller snare drum sizes were fast becoming the norm for use in popular music. These lighter musical styles, which would one day evolve into jazz and eventually morph into rock and roll, called for brighter sounding instruments than the military music of earlier days which utilized drums so regularly.

By the 1920s, fourteen inches had become the most common snare drum diameter with fifteen inch drums being offered as an alternative for larger performance settings. Drums intended for classical and popular music generally ranged from about 3" to 8" in depth. The military instruments of the previous century were typically 16" or larger in diameter and much deeper. While the 14" diameter ultimately proved to be the most widely accepted because of its versatility, 15" drums were offered by many makers through the mid 20th century as "band" drums generally intended for large concert bands and symphony orchestras, and on instruments produced for use with marching bands and drum and bugle corps.

The comparatively minute diameter of 13" may be a common size for piccolo snare drums today (with still smaller options available for special effects), but this was a very small instrument in relation to the other professional level offerings circa 1900 - 1920. Outside of toy drums or instruments intended for children, drums smaller than 14" were not typical. On the very edge of the size spectrum would be the 3" x 13" professional model as seen below.

The newest addition to the collection is a Thumbscrew Rod Orchestra Drum by Boston's Nokes & Nicolai dating from about 1912. This particular piece comes from dry climate and is quite well preserved with no significant damage to the wooden components. The shell is solid steam bent maple, complete with original rosewood grommet. What is atypical about this drum for Nokes & Nicolai is the original 'Mahogany' finish which is clearly stained maple, not mahogany veneer. Nokes & Nicolai's catalog American Drummer No. 5 dating from the early to mid 1910s boasts "We can make any size or style Snare Drum from any material. NO VENEERS USED IN OUR DRUM SHELLS." Perhaps this stained finish was, at that time, the solution to a customer's request for a shell built from some material other than the commonly used maple.

Nokes & Nicolai Thumbscrew Rod Orchestra Drum ca. 1912

Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 6 published circa 1918 claims "Solid Mahogany, Rosewood or Bird's-eye Maple shells add $1.50 to above prices" so it may be the case that different wooden shell materials were a later addition to the company's offerings. The 3" x 13" size is listed in both catalogs No. 5 and 6 with an even tinier 2" x 13" offered in the earlier catalog but not in the later.

The most intriguing thing about this drum is the label inside. While partially missing, the label clearly read "F. E. DODGE CO. / 3 APPLETON ST. / BOSTON, MASS." The badge affixed to the top hoop, however, reads NOKES & NICOLAI / BOSTON, MASS." So it would appear that this instrument dates to right around the time when the company was handed off from F. E. Dodge to Nokes & Nicolai in 1912 making this something of a transition drum.

F. E. Dodge drum label, ca. 1912

Nokes & Nicolai drum badge, ca. 1912

Do you have an instrument made by Nokes & Nicolai or F. E. Dodge? I'd like to hear from you! Feel free to send Lee an email at lee@vinson.net. And for more on Nokes & Nicolai and their predecessors F. E. Dodge, please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com.

The Nokes & Nicolai Thumbscrew Rod Orchestra Drum

New to the collection is a Nokes & Nicolai Thumbscrew Rod Orchestra Drum. After a gentle cleaning and polishing, and the addition of two new calfskin heads tucked onto the original flesh hoops, this drum is up and rolling once again.

Nokes & Nicolai Thumbscrew Rod Orchestra Drum, ca. 1912 - 1920

Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 6, ca. 1918

It is a simple but elegant instrument built around a one-ply maple shell. As the name would suggest, this is a single tension drum tuned by using thumbrods which pull down on both heads simultaneously. The drawback to this type of tuning system of course is that the heads can not be tuned independently from one another. When this drum was produced in the mid 1910s, however, single tension drums still had a significant following of drummers who either preferred the convenience of tightening both heads with the turn of a single screw, or were stuck in their old ways and weren't ready to accept the change over to separate tension drums which were fast becoming the industry standard on high end models.

This particular example appears to date from earlier in Nokes & Nicolai's existence, not too long after they had succeeded the F. E. Dodge Company. This much is suggested by the fact that both the snare throw-off and one pair of the rim clips are stamped with wording indicating that patents are pending. These markings are absent from hardware on later instruments as the patents were evidently never granted and the earlier 'patent applied for' stamped hardware were eventually used up.

Nokes & Nicolai Label, ca. 1912 - 1920

Nokes & Nicolai Thumbscrew Rods and Claws

This drum is of particular interest to me because it completes a 'set' as pictured in Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 5.





Do you have a Nokes & Nicolai snare drum? I'd like to hear from you! Feel free to send me an email at lee@vinson.net. And for more on Nokes & Nicolai and their predecessors F. E. Dodge, please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com.

Savage & Sons Rope Drum

From Ellis Mirsky's Field Drum Blog comes an interesting early 20th century Boston-made rope drum labeled with the name of a little known musical instrument dealer. The hoop mounted metal badge reads "HENRY H. SAVAGE & SONS / MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS / 166 Hanover St., BOSTON, MASS.". The characteristics of this drum are all typical of the Boston Drum Builders of the early 1900s, but information on Savage & Sons is hard to come by. Henry Harrison Savage was born in North Bridgton, Maine on September 12th, 1839. Savage was married with three children, including two sons, and in his early life was involved with farming and the grocery business. He moved to Boston in the 1860s working as a clerk in a broker's office for several years before going into business for himself about 1878. Savage would go on to have diversified business interests including real estate, development, and banking, and was active as both a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Savage passed away in Wakefield, MA at the age of 92 on March 22nd, 1932. During the late 1910s and early 1920s, Savage & Sons advertising appeared in college newspapers including MIT's "The Tech" and Boston College's "The Heights". The business obviously dealt in more than just musical instruments as their advertisements listed an eclectic array of wares for sale including everything from "Talking Machines and Records" to "Diamonds, Watches, Clocks, & Jewelry". It also says something about Savage's target audience when advertisements are running in college newspapers but not the prominent music trade publications at the time. All of these clues suggest that Savage was more of a lower level musical instrument dealer than any sort of high end drum manufacturer. The drum pictured here, which appears to be fairly common in design and construction, was likely bought and relabeled by Savage & Sons. The biggest tipoff that this is a relabeled drum is the four extra holes around the savage hoop-mounted badge. A different, larger badge was obviously in place here at one time. The other major clue is the deteriorated paper label inside of the drum. There is very little left of the original label, but what is still present would appear to correspond with a late Nokes & Nicolai label circa 1920 - 1926. The way the original badge was removed and replaced suggests that this instrument wasn't even a contract build so much as it was either repaired or bought by Savage and then quite literally relabeled for sale.

Savage & Sons Rope Drum, circa early 1920s The Heights, Volume IV, Number 15, February 8th, 1923

Compare the pictures below of the Savage & Sons drum to a Nokes & Nicolai instrument from the same time period. And for more photos of the Savage & Sons drum, visit Blog.FieldDrums.com.

Savage & Sons Drum Badge	Nokes & Nicolai Drum Badge, ca. 1920 - 1926
Label appearing inside of Savage & Sons Drum	Nokes & Nicolai Drum Label, ca. 1920 - 1926

Do you have an instrument from Henry H. Savage & Sons? I want to hear from you! Send Lee and email at lee@vinson.net.

Military and Art Drumming, by Enes J. Nokes

Enes J. Nokes, one half of Boston's Nokes & Nicolai, was also an active performer and teacher. Below is an interesting article by Nokes comparing and contrasting rudimental and concert snare drumming. This essay was published originally in THE METRONOME on September 15, 1926.

The question often arises as to what differentiates military drumming from art drumming and why military drumming may not be considered art drumming as well. Another question which has been raised is why an art drummer is said to be able to play any military beat whereas even an excellent military drummer might not always be able to qualify as an art drummer. Military drumming represents a skill developed originally for signaling purposes in the army and marking the step of soldiers on march whereas art drumming represents an adaptation of drum beats to musical figures. From these widely diversified sources two separate schools of drumming came into being. In some respects they were similar, in others, dissimilar. Each demanded much technical facility but the paths of the two schools diverged. One coordinated physical technic and dexterity with musicianship at every point whereas the other developed the physical technic and dexterity with musicianship at times a secondary consideration. The laurels lay with the art drumming because while in many cases it made no greater physical demands it adhered closer to true musical concepts. For the reason that military drumming frequently ignores musical principles the thoroughly schooled and musicianly drummer sometimes experiences difficulty with some of the military beats in that they violate his musical sense. The physical dexterity can soon be developed by any well schooled drummer but the unmusical attributes of certain of the beats can quite conceivably baffle the musician who possesses a well developed rhythmic sense. An analysis of that military beat the single paradiddle will help to illustrate the foregoing. This beat consists of two alternating single strokes and one double stroke. Such a combination cannot produce the correct normal rhythm when applied to even notes of equal mathematical value with their accompanying relative stress values. In particular, there is a peculiar lilt to the paradiddle - a rhythm which does not coincide with natural musical rhythm. To discover the reason for this requires an analysis of the manner in which a paradiddle is produced. In a rapid sequence of notes, the fourth stroke of the paradiddle must necessarily be a bounce of the third stroke and in this respect is to more or less extent beyond the absolute control of the drummer. We therefore obtain three strokes under perfect control and one under limited control with a consequent sacrifice of perfect temporal evenness. Similarly, the proper stress values are to an extent beyond the control of the drummer. The Six and Ten-Stroke Rolls are musically unrhythmical and are, therefore, seldom found in art music. The nearest approach to such "rolls" to be found in art music is what might be termed a "feint off" a stroke roll. This occurs when a stroke roll (five, seven, or nine) ends upon an accent and is followed rapidly by a single stroke. The single and double drags and the single, double, and triple ratamacues are names only for combinations in rhythms characteristic of military drumming. Grouped as they are in these rhythms they are likely to be musically awkward especially the characteristic rhythm of the double drag. The nearest approach to a rhythm in art music similar to the triple ratamacue is to be found in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Here the snare drum repeats a figure very similar to the triple ratamacue and requires the same technic. (The drum part of this composition was analyzed recently in an issue of THE METRONOME.) The reader should not infer from the foregoing that because certain beats in military drumming are musically unrhythmical that this applies to all. For instance, the so called ratamacues are not inconsistent with the rhythmical demands of art music and while it is conceivable that the double drag would similarly not defy musical laws it nevertheless remains an awkward sounding rhythm. The paradiddles, however, are to musical rhythm what slang is in English. This will be clearly understood if the reader will compare the paradiddle to a similar effect produced on the trumpet. Let us suppose that a first class trumpet player is asked to play a sequence of rapid notes in double rhythm. For this he will use single tonguing unless the rhythm is extremely rapid in which case he may resort to double tonguing if he has not developed his single tonguing sufficiently. Ask him, however, for the sake of producing an effect similar to the paradiddle, to mix the tonguing by playing two singles and one double upon a group of four equal notes and he will produce a rhythm which is not legitimate even though it may be pleasing in its lilt. Such a combination of tonguing would surprise a good performer and would sound equally surprising to the trained listener. If the drummer will but bear in mind the significance of these military beats together with the musical shortcomings of certain of them he will find in the rudimentary practice of them much valuable material for developing his technic. Many drummers feel that because military drumming is not wholly compatible with art drumming that it should be discarded. This is a misunderstanding of the case. Military drumming is distinct from art drumming and has a legitimate place. It is only when the military drummer without discretion and without musical education takes the technic of his military school "bodily" and indiscriminately into his orchestra playing that he errs and brings disparagement upon military drumming. Because the drum so lends itself to faking, it is with difficulty that a high standing of drumming is maintained. Added to this is the regrettable fact that worthwhile literature upon the instrument is scarce. Composers, too, frequently err in writing for the drum and this in itself adds to the general chaos of misunderstanding surrounding the instrument. One may say that it is drawing the line to finely to differentiate between certain military beats and art beats but it is only by maintaining a strict line of demarcation between that which is musically legitimate and that which only approximates it that the technic of the drum and the literature concerning it can be raised to the level and standard existing for other orchestral instruments.

Traces of Dodge

More prominently remembered today for authoring the Dodge Drum Chart (1908) and the Dodge Drum School (1909), Frank E. Dodge and his brother Harry owned and operated a well established percussion instrument manufacturing business in Boston, Massachusetts through the first decade of the 1900s. Surviving ephemera from the F. E. Dodge Company is quite scarce however. One hundred and one years after the operation was succeeded by that of Boston's Nokes & Nicolai in 1912, about all that is left of the Dodge Company is a few surviving drums, keyboard instruments, and traps. While a few tangible scraps of advertising are still floating around in the basements and attics of old New England homes, it is now easier to find mentions of the Dodge Company online thanks to the digitizing of many historical publications. Even then, traces of Dodge are few and far between. But upon running a web search for "F. E. Dodge Co." a few tidbits are brought to light. One of the most interesting finds is this small blurb from the Music Trade Review dated January 19, 1904. From this we gain a fascinating glimpse into the Dodge Company as the brief writeup describes both the amount of business in financial terms that Dodge was conducting, and the size of the workforce employed by the company at that time. Later listings in industry publications indicate that in 1907 the incorporation was legally dissolved though the business clearly continued to function for several more years.

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This little slip of paper recently surfaced on ebay. It is a paid check dated March 12, 1912 made out to the F. E. Dodge Company in the amount $2.50. The check was written by "F. H. Howell" of Calais, Maine, a small town at the northern most tip of New England.

Stamps on the check indicate that it was deposited at the National Shawmut Bank in Boston on March 15th, 1912. And lest there be any doubt that this check was made out to a different "Dodge Company", the back of the check is endorsed with the names of none other than Nokes & Nicolai who were by this time in the process of transitioning into ownership of the business. So what exactly could you buy for $2.50 from the F. E. Dodge Company in 1912? Well, as a point of reference, the 1907 Dodge catalog listed drum sticks for $1.00 and untucked 18" calfskins starting at $1.15. Orchestra drums, available in both 3" x 14" and 4" x 15" sizes, sold for $12.00.

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Do you have an instrument made by F. E. Dodge? I want to hear from you! Send Lee and email at lee@vinson.net.