I found this article online today from covingtonohio.org about the history of Rogers drums. There is no mention of Rogers drums ever being produced in Cleveland Ohio..... Is that true?
And a copy/paste of the article........
When Covington worked for the beat of the drum.
By Judy A. Deeter
In Covington’s Fort Rowdy Museum, drums that once filled the air with music now silently sit
on shelves. Their use as musical instruments is probably over; their purpose now is to tell the
story of the company that made them – the Rogers Drum Company of Covington, Ohio.
The Rogers Drum Company did not begin or end in Covington, but the years there are
considered their best years. Some writers refer to the Covington years as the company’s “Golden
Era”.
Joseph H. Rogers, Sr. founded the company in New York in 1849. The company was known for
its outstanding calfskin drumheads and sheepskin banjo heads. (coverings of the drum and
banjo). Years ago, parts of the drums and banjos were made from animal skins. Musicians paid
top dollar for these heads, which were made from the highest grade hides and had a consistent
thickness. With the exception of drums made for the Union Army during the Civil War, the
Rogers Drum Company seldom made drums in its first 80 years in business.
The company was a family-owned business for over 100 years and for most of that time the
standards of excellence started by Joseph H. Rogers, Sr. were maintained. Joseph H. Rogers, Jr.,
who took over the company after the death of his father moved the company (with the exception
of a hide tannery) from New York to Farmingdale, New Jersey. A second tannery was built in
New Jersey.
When Joseph H. Rogers, Jr. died in 1929, his sons Cleveland S. and Joseph B. Rogers took over
the business. Cleveland ran the operation in Framingham, New Jersey and Joseph the tannery in
Highview, New York. Other family members including a brother-in-law and nephew also
became involved in the business. Product quality had been instilled in the family, but by the
third generation of family ownership times were hard. Near the time Joseph Rogers Jr. died, the
U.S. Stock Market crashed.
The United States fell into an economic depression, banjo playing was on the decline, other drum
companies started tanning their own skins for drumheads and customers began looking for less
expensive skins - - they looked for affordability rather than quality. World War II followed the
“Great Depression” of the 1930s. In order to stay afloat, Cleveland Rogers began to diversify the
products and used his own money to keep the Rogers Drum Company in business. When
Cleveland Rogers died in 1951, the company was producing more than 150 music-related
products.
In 1952, the Grossman Music Corporation of Cleveland bought the company. It had been the
intent of the owner Henry Grossman to move company operations from Farmingdale, New
Jersey to Cleveland, Ohio - - the New Jersey plant was in very bad shape. Grossman also wanted
to it that those ideas sere put into production. Officially Ben was retail manager Trophy
Products.
The first few years in Covington were spent in organizing the company, working in product
development, and rising to a place of prominence in the music world - - going from a “so-so”
company to the best in the world; selling drums world-wide. The company’s best product might
have been the “Dynamic” snare drum, which featured several innovations. The “Powertone”
snare drum was another beloved drum.
The best drummers started using the “worlds greatest drummer”, endorsed Rogers Drums for
nearly a decade. Other well-known drummers such as Bob Rosengarten (played for Mitch
Miller), Bob Neel (played for les Brown), Art Anton (played for Stan Kenton) and Hal Blaine
(played for Tommy Sands) were Rogers endorsees.
The Covington factor employee about 130 people and was considered a good place to work. The
“Covington’s Famous Factory” manuscript says;
By the early 1960s, sales were picking up and, with advent of the cast lug about 1964, Rogers
drums now had no ‘weak spots’. Sales boomed and they become a real force in the industry.
Employment climbed, profits soared, and they actually had a difficult time meeting customer
demand. The industry’s best bass drum foot pedal the ‘Swiv-O-Matic” never caught up with
demand.
When the company was at the “top of its game” in 1966, Henry Grossman sold it to the
Columbia Broadcasting Company, which promised the Covington they would keep operations
there. For a while, manufacturing continued in Covington in the building leased from Joe
Thompson; company officers and the warehouse moved to Dayton. In February 1967, the plant
caught fire. Employees acted quickly to restore the building, but in a few months, the
manufacturing was also moved to Dayton.
Joe Thompson died 1968. Carved into the tombstone are the words “Creative genius,
extraordinaire human being in the Rogers Drums. Buddy Rich, who some believed was finest
sense, outstanding contributor to the world of music and those sincerely associated with it.”
In 1969, the business moved to Fullerton, California. A few Covington employees moved to
California along with the business.
Although good drums were made in California, there are those who believe the best drums were
made in Ohio during the Grossman and early CBS years.
The company had many problems in Southern California and operated in half a dozen locations.
The company closed in 1983. A few sets were made in 1999 in honor of the 150th anniversary.
Rogers drums are now considered collectibles. Collectors and lovers of the drum have set up a
website about the company at www.rogersdrums.com. Interested partied can also visit the Fort
Rowdy Museum at 101 Spring Street in Covington. The museum is open by appointment at
(937) 473-3488 or (937) 473-2322.
