A Grand Gran Cassa

The ties between Boston's Oliver Ditson Company and Chicago's Lyon & Healy are evident in the similarities between the two firms' products. It is no mystery as to why, since in 1864 it was Oliver Ditson & Co. who provided the capital to help establish P. J. Healy and George W. Lyon in Chicago. The companies obviously maintained some form of business relationship for many decades to come and the instrument featured here is just another example of that arrangement.

From Elise Abrams Antiques in Great Barrington, Massachusetts comes an enormous rope tension bass drum dating from circa 1890 which bears a label telling us that it manufactured by Lyon & Healy for Ditson. The geometrically patterned wooden marquetry adorning the shell is a common feature on Lyon & Healy's "Monarch" drums around the end of the 19th century. The hand engraved silver plaques, or oversized 'badges', are beautifully engraved with wording stating, again, that this instrument was manufactured for Oliver Ditson, not by Ditson.

Oliver Ditson Bass Drum by Lyon & Healy, ca. 1890

Ditson Bass Drum Wooden Marquetry

But the most striking thing about this bass drum is its sheer size. The reported diameter is a whopping 40 inches! Instruments of this size were not frequently produced for a number of reasons. For one, shells this large were difficult to build and drumheads of the necessary size were challenging to locate. Also, transporting such a behemoth would have presented logistical problems for most drummers. And given the amount of sound that a 40 inch bass drum could generate, an instrument of this scale would have been best suited for performance applications involving a very large group of musicians such as a full concert band or symphony orchestra. From the lettering on the drumhead, it appears that this instrument hasn't traveled far from its home in Bangor, Maine where it belonged to the Bangor Band.

Lyon & Healy for Oliver Ditson Drum Label

Lyon & Healy for Oliver Ditson Drum Badge

Amazingly, after more than 100 years, the Bangor Band still exists. And even more incredibly, a historical photo on the band's website taken on Memorial Day in 1898 shows a group of musicians posed for a picture with their instruments including what may be this very drum! The wording on the head is a very close match to the one still mounted on the drum minus the logo in the center. And if nothing else, the size of the drum looks to be quite large, the height reaching higher than the waist of anyone who stands next to it.

Bangor Band, Memorial Day, 1898

Oliver Ditson Bass Drum by Lyon & Healy, ca. 1890

Do you have a drum made by or for Oliver Ditson & Co.? I'd like to hear from you! Feel free to send Lee an email at lee@vinson.net. And for more on Ditson and many other Boston based drum makers of the early 20th century, please visit www.BostonDrumBuilders.com.

A Christmas Master-Model

Nothing says Happy Holidays like a Master-Model drum from Boston's own George B. Stone & Son! This instrument, which has been in the collection for several years now, is date stamped December 23, 1923 making it exactly 91 years old today. This particular example bears its original "Black De Luxe Finish" with nickel plated hardware and is in very good condition. The rosewood grommet, cylindrical tension nuts, long arm throw-off, and Stromberg butt plate are all indicative of the first generation Master-Models produced in 1922 and 1923. Look for a more comprehensive dating guide for the Stone Master-Model drums during the coming year. There is of course no way to know, but I'd like to think that once upon a time this drum was gift wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. It would have been a nice way for some young New England drummer to bang in the new year almost a century ago.

1923 George B. Stone & Son Master-Model Drum

Do you have a Master-Model drum or another instrument by Geo. B. Stone & Son? I would love to hear from you! Send Lee an email 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.

1883 J. C. Haynes & Co. Catalog

One would think that a company which vanished more than 100 years ago would be difficult to research, but there is actually quite a lot of information to be found on John C. Haynes & Company, the musical instrument manufacturing branch of the Oliver Ditson Company. It is a testament to the Haynes Company's size and influence that such a great deal of ephemera and other advertising was left behind.

An original 1883 John C. Haynes & Co. catalog is held in the Winterthur Museum Library in Wilmington, Delaware. And thanks to modern technology, and sponsorship from the Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation, the full catalog has been digitized and is viewable online at the Internet Archive.

1883 J. C. Haynes & Co. Catalog - Front Cover

1883 J. C. Haynes & Co. Catalog - Inside Cover

Listed in the catalog amongst a myriad of other instruments ranging from accordions, banjos, and bassoons, to violas, xylophones, and zithers, are of course drums. Included are a couple of different styles of drums notably rope tensioned wooden shell drums available in rosewood or maple, and 'Prussian' style rod tension drums which were offered with maple, rosewood, nickel, or brass shells.

Rope Tension Field Drums and Orchestra Drums

Rod Tension 'Prussian' Drums and Rope Tension Bass Drums

Both rope tension and rod tension 'Prussian' style bass drums are catalogued as well. Timpani are listed in two styes: "French" which utilized brass shells, and "best American" which employed hammered copper shells. Eight models of polished snare drum sticks are offered in a variety of woods including ebony, rosewood, cocoa wood, and snakewood.

Rod Tension 'Prussian" Bass Drums

Kettle Drums and Drum Sticks

The catalog lists a full selection of calfskin and sheepskin drum heads, and a variety of drum snares including natural gut and "clock cord" which was likely made from braided linen. A full selection of drum fittings for both rope drums and rod tension 'Prussian' style drums is also offered. The last drums pictured are "Toy Drums" which were smaller sized, more simply built drums for children and young drummers.

Rope Drum Fittings

Toy Drums

Do you have a drum made by John C. Haynes & Company? I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to send Lee an email at lee@vinson.net.

Who was A. W. White?

It never ceases to amaze how intertwined were the vast number of drum makers in Boston during the 19th and early 20th centuries. While the focus here tends to be more on the prominent builders of the early 1900s, these drum producing entities were on many levels merely following in the footsteps of their predecessors of the late 1800s and the Civil War period before that. To better understand where the early 20th century Boston Drum Builders had evolved from, it warrants a look back at their forefathers. One such maker was Asa Warren White.

A great deal of information on White is included in Christine Merrick Ayars' Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston, 1640-1936 which describes the White Brothers, Ira Johnson and Asa Warren, as "the first Boston master makers of violins". Both Whites are reported to have been fine woodworkers who taught themselves the craft of violin making by studying instruments from the European masters. Drum making evidently made up a comparatively small part of the brothers' operation who were known primarily for their string instruments. Ayars reports that Asa and Ira J. were in business together as music dealers, publishers and instrument makers under the name I. J. & A. W. White from 1849 to 1852 at 52 Court Street, and as White Brothers from 1853 until 1863 at 86 Tremont Street. After 1863, Ira went out on his own relocating just north of the city first in Malden, Massachusetts and then later in Melrose. Ira Johnson White died in December of 1895 at the age of 82.

The Musical Record, October 7, 1882

Ira Erving White, the oldest son of Ira Johnson White, was also a musical instrument maker and repairman whose work included violins, basses, guitars, harps and drums. It does not appear that Ira E. White at any point was partnered directly with Asa Warren as the two are listed concurrently in city directories at different addresses. Ayars provides an extensive description of Asa W. White which is excerpted below. Ayars' footnotes indicate that the included quotations were provided by William H. Howe and that the anecdote at the conclusion of this passage was related by violin maker Treffle Gervais.

"Asa Warren White was born in Barre, Massachusetts in 1826. He worked in his young days for Henry Prentiss [dealer and publisher], with a violin maker named Giradol, a quick workman, who worked on all forms of stringed instruments. In 1849 Ira J. and A. W. White formed a partnership and worked together repairing and making different instruments. Asa Warren made his instruments after the Stradiuarius and Guarnerius models. After Ira J. withdrew from the firm, Calvin Baker worked for him [Asa Warren] and made many good violins. After him, Orrin Weeman worked for A. W. White about three years and for a while also a man named Alden." When Asa W. White was in business alone he continued at 86 Tremont St. until 1870. Later addresses were 50 Bromfield St. from 1876-79 and 147 Tremont St. from 1881-83. He (A. W. White) turned out several hundred violins "and about ten 'Cellos, several violas, three viol da gambas, and two viol d'Amors. A. W. White received a gold medal from the Massachusetts Mechanics' Fair." He advertised the quality of his instruments thus in 1883: "Violins Highest Awards Wherever Exhibited Over three hundred now in use None have proved inferior Endorsed by the best artists in the country Every instrument guaranteed Only the finest and best old wood used in construction Amati, Stradivarius, Guarnerius & Maggini Models $75 each" Asa Warren White apparently followed the lead of Elias Howe in collecting old instruments for sale, as the same advertisement stated, "I keep in stock a line of fine old Violins - Italian, French & German - A list sent upon application." He imported French violins of the celebrated Italian models which he graduated and adjusted and sold for $17 alone, with bow and case for $21. He also graduated and adjusted German violins selling them for $9 alone, with bow and case for $13. He kept in stock for sale violins, violas and 'cellos of different grades, boxes, cases, trimmings of all kinds, and Italian and German strings by the best known makers. His shop in Boston was a training school for some of the later violin makers. He died in 1893. The following story is related of him: A short rotund man brought into his shop one day an instrument which he claimed was a Stradivarius. Mr. White, a tall, genteel-looking man, examined it carefully and said he was not interested as it was not a genuine one. The man thereupon swore roundly and vociferously at him reasserting the authenticity. Mr. White simply stamped his foot and exclaimed, "You're an ass!"

To fill in one missing gap in the timeline outlined by the above excerpt, around 1871 A. W. White partnered with Louis P. Goullaud to form White & Goullaud, an arrangement that would last until about 1875. White & Goullaud was predominantly a music publishing business which was located at 86 Tremont Street.

The drum seen below figures to have been manufactured by A. W. White after his brother Ira left for Malden around 1863, but before Asa partnered with Goullaud around 1871. Even if White continued to build instruments under his own label while in business with Goullaud, the drum would date no later than about 1876 by which time White had relocated to 50 Bromfield Street.

A. W. White drum, ca. 1863 - 1870

A. W. White drum label, ca. 1863 - 1870

Do you have a drum made by A. W. White? I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to drop me an email at lee@vinson.net.