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.

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.

The Sad State of Stone

By the late 1930s, George B. Stone & Son was all but done as a manufacturer. Long past their heyday of the early - mid 1920s, Stone & Son was now little more than a small time repair shop capable of assembling low end models built of parts sourced from other makers. The Stone Drum School would carry on for years to come as George Lawrence Stone had become quite successful as a teacher and author, but the drum production side of the family business had sunk to a very low point. And representing that unfortunate era is the drum pictured here which was recently offered on ebay by a seller in North Carolina. The most striking thing about this instrument is just how basic it is from top to bottom. The wooden shell and hoops are simple in construction and may or may not have actually been produced by Stone in house. (This is a topic which was discussed at further length in an earlier post.) The snare strainer is of the rudimentary, old fashioned variety and is not a capable of easily engaging or disengaging the snares from the bottom head. The tensioning hardware is also quite old school. Simple thumbrods connect through single point, stamped metal claws to threaded claws on the opposite hoop and tune both heads simultaneously. This is the definition of single tensioning which does not provide for the individual tuning of each head. Separate tensioning, where each head can be tightened independently, had been common on higher end models for several decades by this time. The drum has no butt plate, only a simple fiber snare butt which is held in place against the bottom hoop by the snares themselves. This may have been commonplace in the early 1900s and even into the 1920s for some models by some makers, but by the late 1930s when this drum was put together, using a true butt plate was more typical. Everything about this drum points to it being an inexpensive assembly project dating from extremely late in Stone's existence. So far from it's prime had Stone's workshop descended by this point, they had apparently even run out of maker's labels to apply to the inside of drum shells. So it had come to this. Someone evidently sat down at a typewriter and pecked out the name and address "GEO. B. STONE & SON, Inc. / 61 Hanover St. / Boston, Mass" on a blank adhesive label, almost succeeding at keeping the lettering inside of the colored margins. This is the miserably poor level of attention to detail to which Stone had sunk in the end.

The quality level of Stone drums had certainly tumbled a long way, but it is all part of the story of how Boston's largest drum builder rose and fell over an arc of nearly fifty years. It is a shame however that drums such as this could easily give the impression that Stone & Son wasn't at one point a maker of carefully crafted, top of the line instruments capable of stacking up favorably with those from any other maker in the world.


And as always, if you have an instrument made by Geo. B. Stone & Son, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a note at lee@vinson.net.

Stone Master-Model Restoration - Completion

Restoration projects always take some time to complete. In a test of patience, this one took more than two years to come back together. But the end result is a beautiful George B. Stone & Son Master-Model drum. The drum dates from late 1924 or early 1925 based on its four digit Stone serial number. And at age 86, there were a lot of issues with this drum when it arrived in the summer of 2011. The original finish had been removed from the wooden shell and hoops, and a shoddy coat of goop had been applied in its place. The metal parts were in no better shape. There were several missing claws and nuts, though this isn't too unusual when these drums surface. But the remaining hardware had been poorly replated over the existing original nickel plating, most of which was beginning to flake away as rust was starting to take its toll. So the decision was made in the Spring of 2012 to ship this one off to a couple of experts to have them work their magic.

The maple shell and hoops went to Will Tillman of Drummers Dream in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania. Will is a Cabinetmaker who specializes in the restoration and reproduction of period American furniture and he builds drums as a side business. His experience as a woodworker and his knowledge of period finishes and application techniques makes him uniquely qualified to handle a project such as this one. Will was able to remove the unoriginal wood finishes and then apply several coats of natural shellac bringing the drum as close as possible to its original appearance.

The metal hardware went to Italian master craftsman Adrian Kirchler. AK's handmade metal shells, formed in the tradition of the early 20th century drum makers, are setting a new industry standard and have been featured on special edition models from Ludwig and Craviotto as well as Adrian's own custom made drums. His work as a craftsman is of the highest caliber and, even as his custom drum business has made it difficult to take on restoration projects, he was willing to tackle this project. Aside from stripping and replating all of the original hardware, Adrian was able to make several reproduction claws and nuts to help complete this drum. He was also able to re-blacken the background on the Stone Master-Model badge so that the raised lettering could once again be legible.

Master-Model Badge, Before and After Restoration

Reproduction Master-Model Claws and Nuts

Master-Model Hardware - Before Restoration

Master-Model Hardware - After Restoration

Now that the drum is reassembled, it is a truly striking example of a blond Stone & Son Master-Model. The before and after pictures tell the story best.



Do you have a Geo. B. Stone & Son Master-Model? I'd love to hear from you! Send Lee an email at lee@vinson.net.

Corroborating Haynes Labels

A drum in my personal collection manufactured by J. C. Haynes & Co. bears a fantastic label inside which reads in part: "Manufacturers and Importers of Brass and German Silver Musical Instruments. / J. C. Haynes & Co., / Importers, Wholesale and Retail Dealers in / Musical Instruments, Strings, Sheet Music, and Musical Merchandise. / 33 COURT ST., opp. the Court House. / John C. Haynes.   Oliver Ditson.   C. H. Ditson.   J. E. Ditson."   Left incomplete, however, are the blanks where the date and owners name can be filled in. Even upon close inspection, no handwriting can be made out. One theory as to why this information isn't present is that the ink has simply faded over time. It now appears more likely that these blanks were never filled in at all. We can say this with a bit of confidence after comparing it with another similar instrument.

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum, ca. 1870s - 1880s

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum Label, ca. 1870s - 1880s

The example seen below was recently offered up on ebay by a seller from Texas with the username "all_things_peacock". The drum is quite similar to mine, especially upon viewing the shells from the inside. Both drum appear to be made of a dark hardwood and have narrow reinforcing rings made of a lighter colored wood at each bearing edge. The labels on these two instruments are a perfect match which helps solve a bit of a mystery as to how old my own drum is. Past research showed that the address on a Haynes label by itself was not enough to accurately date a drum beyond a decades wide window spanning most of the later half of the 19th century. But this new label, complete with a hand written date provides a firm point on the timeline. September 9th, 1880 it reads, which happened to be a Thursday for what it's worth.

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum, 1880

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum Label, 1880

For more information on John C. Haynes and their parent company Oliver Ditson, please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com. And as always, I love hearing from folks about old drums so feel free to drop me a note at lee@vinson.net.