Many of us old time collectors used to think that Liberty was a jobber that bought parts from Ludwig and especially Slingerland, since their drums looked so much like the early Slingelands.

With this information it seems more likely that it was Slingerland that copied and used the Liberty stuff.

I'm guessing, that since Slingerland was more of a copier than inventor, that the 3 point throw off, which is seen on Liberty drums, was actually a Liberty design and not Slingerland's...

Cool find - thanks for sharing it.

One thing to keep in mind for anyone doing any further research on Liberty based on this article: I think there's an error in the address on the company. Austin Blvd. is the street that marks the western border of the city of Chicago, but it runs north/south, so there is no 1431 - 1435 W. Austin.

1431 - 1435 N. Austin is an old residential neighborhood that predates the article, and 1431-1435 S. Austin is a Catholic school in a residential neighborhood, and is actually in Cicero, not Chicago, so it's not a mistake with the north/south/east/west designation.

So it appears that either the writer got the name of the street wrong, or there was another street named Austin in Chicago back then which has since been renamed.

A possible clue: the old Chicago Stockyards, where the raw material for drum heads would have come from, were located on Chicago's south side, mostly between about 800 W. and 1600 W. A lot of related businesses were located in this area, and obviously 1431 - 1435 W. falls within it. So maybe (and I'm only guessing) there was another Austin there which no longer exists.

Scott

Interesting stuff!

I like the line:

"Mr. Placko is well known to the trade and has had a wide experience as a manufacturer of drum, banjo and [COLOR="Red"]ukulele heads[/COLOR]."

Well, whaddaya know...

I delved in a little deeper, and discovered that "Austin St." is now "Hubbard St." 1431 - 1435 W. Hubbard is a former light industrial area, which has undergone some gentrifying in recent years, with some restaurants, clubs, etc. in the area now. And as it turns out, the Liberty Drum building IS still standing, and was recently undergoing some renovation. Not sure if this will work, but below is a link to a view of the building in Google maps.

http://tiny.cc/VipAH

Scott

Rich K - Very interesting! I think your on to something. I would like to see those throw offs and will go looking. Feel free to point me to some examples!

Thanks for your response!

[COLOR="Red"]The Slingerland 3 point WAS aquired from Liberty, probably at the auction in August of 1927, visit here to see:[/COLOR] http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/drcjw/article_5_strainers_3point-1.html

Thanks for your response!

Wow! Checker - I guess the name "Checker" is especially appropriate when you have done this very cool follow up. Much appreciated! I will try to see the building sometime.

Your are truly "The Checker”

[COLOR="Red"]Just saw the building at Google, and they had a view that was shot from the same angle as the photo on the History page at vintagedrumguide.com .[/COLOR]

It looks like the link didn't work, but I was able to capture a street view of the former Liberty Drum building, which is attached below.

Scott

Is that sign on the door the Shure electronics (mics etc.) that we all know?

That's what I thought at first too, but it's a different Shure:

http://www.shureproducts.com/

Scott