Photos will always clarify Bill... Are you sure it's not a snare drum? I know 18" seems big, but for a marching drum I've seen a lot of 16"-18" snare drums made as parade drums. A bass drum that size just wouldn't have made sense for people in the 20's or 30's and so I don't think it would've been made for that, unless it was a toy drum? Maybe there are some snare beds you didn't notice? You may know this already, but snares from that era, especially field/marching/parade drums, often had gut snares that were "installed" in the on position, without any reason to play them snares-off or they had a very primitive strainer installed on the hoop, rather than the shell. I'll attach a photo - this is some random google search image but you get the idea.

I have seen old bass drums about that size used in bagpipe bands. Would be a

very awkward marching snare. Too thin to hang right.

[COLOR="Green"]Funny you say that.

These are actually called "Scotch" Bass Drums...really. 12x18 small marching bass drum. Sometimes the depths become even less....

I have made plenty o' nice Bop Kits out of these....I have seen a few different old makes, too. Once-member Mtarrani actually did some research on these....they became re-popular for a time in the '50's, apparently. Although yours is older, I believe.

Ludwig much later took the idea and used it in their Jazette kits....perhaps the first use of the drum on the floor, actually.[/COLOR]

There is almost no chance this was originally a bass drum. If it doesn't have snare beds, it was probably a marching tenor drum.

Found this on a Slingerland site.

Haskell Harr said that the larger tenor drums in the ’50s were

being carried vertically like bass drums because they were harder to

control using leg rests. Hence, the vertical tenor drum holder was

developed. One of the more interesting innovations to come from the

’50s was the 6 1/2 x 18 tenor-scotch bass drum. The Slingerland

drum company developed this to make crossover strokes easier.

Subsequently, tenor drum players began using felt mallets, which

replaced the previously used sheepskin mallets.

Interesting side note, I knew Haskell Harr. He gave me my first pair of drumsticks at about age four when my dad was getting his masters at Vandercook in Chicago in the 50's.

I thought the "Scotch" bass drums were usually thinner than 12" but I may be wrong. I've seen 18" marching bass drums for sure, but from the 1920's-30's? That would be a first for me.

Very cool about Harr...

A photo or two will solve everything I'm sure. You learn something new everyday so I'm curious to see what this thing actually is.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]You are incorrect, then; and you seem to be basing it only on your observation and opinion.

I didn't make this up....the info is out there. Do a search for "Scotch bass drum Tarrani" and you will find it.

Yes, there are 18" marching tenor toms...Slingy made 'em quite a bit...but they are 10" deep and were always part of a tri-tom setup.

This was intended to be a vertically held marching bass drum. That's what a Scotch Bass Drum is. That's what the Leedy is.

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My observation spans 50 years, I own more than 100 vintage marching drums, and I have an identical 18x12 Leedy tenor.

Mounting a drum sideways doesn't make it a bass drum.

Scotch basses are 8" or 10" wide, and much larger in diameter. More importantly, marching units didn't consider an 18" diameter drum a bass drum until the last couple of decades.

Do your research. Read the catalogs on this site. They tell the story.

It's a tenor, for heaven's sake. What's the big deal? You can still use it as a bass drum today.

Boys don't fight, don't make me pull this car over!Excited