well; things are a little different now. there is a great sense of pride attached to local production but sometimes with the pendulum swinging too far the other way and local endorsements being based on nationalism. Ayotte , was/is the only Canadian drum maker that really obtained universal availability..... fine drums but I don't feel any different about them because they are from B.C. and Canadian. They might as well be from Iceland., given that I am 3,000 mi. from either. We are encouraged to think in terms of local , as being national. There is a move afoot in Ontario , to legislate local food ,on a provincewide basis----beginning at the Quebec border and ending at the Manitoba border ...and upper New York state? absolutely, not local, even if as I do, you live 40 miles away. In fact ; what we all relate to, is the bond we have, based on our common resources, governed primarily by watersheds, not political borders ; that's what drives and has driven us forward, in a caring and community minded way. When a country is unified by a common concern for resource protection, determined by a common watershed, then we will be less likely to squander our future. North America is an absurd continent, in terms of it's political divisions. It in fact should be about 7 or 8 countries, divided by heights of land and the attendant watersheds thus created. An example would be that the Great Lakes basin inclusive of Michigan, most of Wisconsin about 1/2 of Ontario and NewYork and sections of Minnesota,Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania are intricately bound by the Great Lakes and would work as a country unto itself, instead of the artificial hodgepodge that now exists. It's called Bioregionalism and it relates to drums more than you might think, given that the forest reserves of a bioregion are part of what determines it's uniqueness. I really can't stomach reading that some tarted up drums from Taiwan or whereever are strutted around because they are from Canadian Rock Maple , or Norwegian Birch. Who cares. There should be giant bubble gum machines somewhere to sell such ape**** from. They'd come in an oversized eggshaped two piece plastic luridly coloured case too. Drum companies are derailed now, as they step all over each other for market share. This little pancake drum , represents part of what is great about truly vintage drums because the ****her you go back , the more bioregional , they become. It is made from European Beech, a wood that is indigenous to the area it was made. The logs were probably sawn at the factory or very nearby. The wrap was made in Speyer, not very far away and it's original heads ,probably came from Russelsheim; also not very far away. three cents worth, I guess.