Finally, Bill had had enough, quit the Elkhart based band instrument giant, loaded up the family and moved home to Chicago where he remained for the rest of his long life.

If you read original advertising back then, you will see that Bill Ludwig was a star in his own right. U. G. Leedy was gone, H. H. Slingerland wasn’t a drummer, Gretsch was not a national brand, Rogers made inferior instruments, George Way merely an employee but Bill Ludwig got this kind of copy: ‘Study the men behind the product. Investigate his skill, knowledge, reputation and integrity...veteran artists will tell you that in all the world there is no man with a richer background of designing and manufacturing experience. But first and foremost, Bill Ludwig is an artist with an artist’s standard of instrument quality’.

Those words were written in 1939, three years after Bill left Conn. He cashed in the stock which was now worth $100,000 in post Great Depression dollars. He handed the money to his wife, Elsa who became the official dispenser of funds.

Bill knew his name would give them success so he founded the William F. Ludwig Drum Company. Since Conn bought his last name in 1930 their attorneys convinced Bill that he couldn’t use it. His son told me once that ‘Dad said well, they can’t keep me from using my initials!’. So the WFL Drum Company became the new name and those letters were used for 20 years inside countless Keystone shaped drum badges – all because of the famous motor oil from Pennsylvania.

The WFL factory, later the Ludwig factory after the momentous unification to come, was located at 1728 NH. Damen Avenue – an address tattooed into the memory banks of drummers for years.

Today’s snare drum was WFL’s leading model for a number of years. I would estimate the snare to be from 1939, partly due to the interesting Full Dress design of the red and gold glitter that has aged to purple and copper. There is no mention of the design in any WFL catalog but it is in the 1939 Duplex catalog.

I would venture to say that since this drum has chrome parts and has a matching bass drum and two same motif mounted tom toms that some endorser had this kit and took good care of it.

NB: I only have the snare drum, the rest of the set was donated to PASIC. “The White Marine Pearl - or simply Marine Pearl to WFL at the time – has understandably yellowed. There are eight beautiful self-aligning lugs with long tension rods. These lugs were called the Imperials, a name still used by Ludwig for the lugs on concert bass drums and US made metal snare drums.

WFL has two special features in the advertising of the Twin Strainer Model – also known as the Ray Bauduc Dixieland Swing Models. He was WFL’s first important endorser. Another guy named Rich came along by 1947 and made everyone forget about Dixieland.

First, WFL promoted the Twin Snare idea that a drummer could use ‘the world’s greatest snare strainer’ to use light or heavy snares or both for playing. The light snares were made of wire. Heavy snares were either gut or silk-wound snares. The snares extended past the shell.

Secondly, WFL patented the triple flanged hoop. We take them for granted but they were invented by WFL’s General Manager Cecil Strupe who used a pair of pliers to bend the rim of a double flanged hoop from straight end to a round over. He wondered if it would sell. Well...it sold. For almost eighty years drummers have chosen triple flanged hoops and from every manufacturer of note.

Strupe had been the Chief Engineer at Leedy Indianapolis until it sold. Then he was the “S” at L & S. WFL was the last drum company. Cecil invented a lot of things but the triple flange is the invention for which he is remembered.

Originally the Twin Strainer and its less expensive brother, the Single Strainer model came in 5 x 14 and 7 x 14 sizes but 7 x 14 outsold the other size and became the only choice available within two years. World War II ended the model although replacement strainers, P36 and P37 for the Twin strainer model P35 for the single strainer unit were cataloged for sale for years.

WFL had the Twin and Single set up also for snare drums with the lesser expensive Zephyr lug. The Zephyr was a pressed steel lug with threads cut into it. There are no lug nuts in the Zephyrs. They were less expensive and looked likme it.

The Twin Strainer/Ray Bauduc as pictured listed for $64.50. The Zephyr model Twin Strainer/Hollywood Swing was $5.00 less – not a lot today but significant in 1939.

There are also brass shelled models with the various lug and strainer combinations and you’d recognize the center bead. Our drum today is a three-ply shell with mahogany inner and outer plies and the center is poplar. Maple reinforcement rings are at the top and bottom and the shell interior is unfinished. We have to get the Ludwig family into the 1960s before they sealed the interiors.”