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| From Jim Davey in Norfolk, Massachusetts come photos of a turn of the century timpano by the F. E. Dodge Company. The pair of drums, one of which is shown here, was acquired several years ago at a large outdoor antique show in New England and now sees regular use with Southeastern Massachusetts Community Concert Band. Of note is that the drums are constructed around "Silver-Aluminum Bell-Metal Seamless Kettles". This is unusual in that timpani are traditionally built around copper bowls. The tuning system on these Dodge drums is also somewhat unusual as the handles used to tension the heads pull against metal bands which stretch fully around the outside of the shell and connect at the bottom of the drum. More conventional designs apply tension to brackets attached to the side of the kettles. The heads, I am told, originally were tucked directly onto the counterhoops as is the case with many antique timpani. However, to more easily facilitate modern performance applications, plastic heads have now been fitted onto the drum. The badge affixed to the drum is not one I have come across before. Perhaps it is of an earlier design and or a badge used exclusively for large instruments such as timpani. The drums rest on a simple three legged cradle and would have been suitable for use with theater orchestras or larger performing ensembles of the day. The drums were modeled around a patented design by Harry A. Bower. Timpani illustrated in the 1907 Dodge Catalog are of a more common design. The catalog page seen at right is taken from Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer no. 5, circa 1914. Nokes & Nicolai succeeded the Dodge Company in 1912 and continued to produce and market many of Dodge's products under their original names. Bower's design included both an external and internal tuning mechanism. The production model appears to use only the external system while the internal mechanism is absent from both the cataloged drum and the surviving example seen here. |  |
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| The early 1900s saw a great deal of experimentation in drum design and construction. One model which caught on for a brief time but has long since gone nearly extinct is that of the single head snare drum. Single head snare drums served several purposes. For one, they were compact in size and were highly portable. A small drum with only one head could easily nest with other smaller drums or be filled with traps and sound effects to be packed and transported to the next gig. Also, single head drums were by their very nature economical since they didn't require as much material to assemble. In some instances, these drums were constructed with less than high end shells and hoops which further reduced production costs. |
| It should be noted that companies were not promoting single head drums as being top of the line. Instead, these drums were targeted towards working drummers who were on the move and those buyers who were looking for cheaper options than the high end models. This isn't to say, however, that single head drums were poorly built. In terms of construction, most of these drums are fairly straight ahead. The three examples pictured here, as well as all of those depicted in catalog artwork below, utilize a single wooden counterhoop. Some use conventional tension rods and some use thumbscrew rods. Many but not all had some sort of posts affixed to the shell to facilitate the positioning of the tension rods. The style of hooks used to pull tension down on the hoop vary by maker. Some designs tension from the top but most tune from the bottom where the tensioning hardware would remain completely out of the way of the player. Perhaps the most unique aspect of these drums is how the snares are mounted inside of the drum against the bottom of the head. Some models had only a simple strainer with which to adjust the snare tension. Other examples, such as the one pictured at top, had a true throw-off capable of engaging or fully disengaging the snares from the head. The three drums pictured at right are all of unknown make. No badge or label is present on any of the three nor do they match up definitively with any of the catalog pages below. This speaks to a couple of point including the inherent generic nature of these drums, and the fact that these were generally considered lower level instruments even in their day. It would appear that many companies were less likely to herald or even label these instruments as they left the factory. |    |
| In the catalog pages below, most of which date from the 1910s, you will notice some shared artwork. Where these instruments were being manufactured is unknown. Note how adamantly the second Stone & Son catalog states that their single head drums are bought from another manufacturer! Again, this all speaks to the fact that these instruments were popular economical offerings available through a great number of companies during the early 1900s. |
 Oliver Ditson Wonderbook Number Four - 1910 |  Excelsior Drum Works - 1911 Photo: VintageDrumGuide.com |
 Geo. B. Stone & Son Catalog G - ca. 1912 |  Geo. B. Stone & Son Catalog H - ca. 1915 |
 F. E. Dodge Company - 1907 Photo: VintageDrumGuide.com |  Carl Fischer Musical Instrument Co. Photo: eBay |
 Acme / Sears, Roebuck, and Co. - 1908 Photo: eBay |
 Nokes & Nicolai American Drummer No. 6 - ca. 1918 |
 Thompson & Odell Drum, ca. 1880s |  Thompson & Odell Drum Label |
The similarities between the hoops on this Thompson & Odell drum (above) and a similar maple shelled drum by Lyon & Healy of Chicago (below) are uncanny.
 Late 1800s Lyon & Healy Drum photo: eBay |  Lyon & Healy Drum Label photo: eBay |
 Thompson & Odell Drum, ca. 1880s |
 Late 1800s Lyon & Healy Drum |
Lyon & Healy was one of the largest producers of band instruments in the late 1800s, and drums such as these often turn up with labels listing other instrument makers or music stores as is the case here. Lyon & Healy in fact proclaimed themselves to be the "largest general music house in America" and was likely a source of instruments for countless smaller dealers at the time.
This certainly isn't to say that all Thomposon & Odell drums were built by Lyon & Healy because that absolutely is not the case. Drums by J. B. Treat, and Charles A. Stromberg were also dealt by Thompson & Odell prior to the Company's bankruptcy in 1905. Stromberg was in fact employed by the company for a time. But the evidence to suggest some sort of working business agreement between Thompson & Odell and Lyon & Healy is strong as the two drums pictured above demonstrate.
Do you have a Thompson & Odell drum? I want to to hear from you! Send Lee an email at lee@vinson.net.
| First introduced in 1922, the Master-Model Drum was George B. Stone & Son's premier snare drum offering and remains the most easily recognizable and iconic instrument produced by the company. Originally marketed as the "All-Weather Drum", the name "Master-Model" was adopted by late 1922. The Master-Model snare drums were built around 5" x 14" staggered three-ply all maple shells, not single-ply maple as is sometimes reported. But with every rule comes an exception as is the case with this early prototype. All that remains of this drum is the shell and hoops. There is a paper label inside of the drum and a Stone & Son badge mounted on the top hoop which places the drum no later than 1922. (The Master-Model specific badge appears to have begun use around January of 1924.) What is most interesting about this early example is that unlike every other Master-Model shell I've ever handled, this one is formed from a single, thin outer ply with four reinforcing rings which combine to line the entire inside of the drum. |  |
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