I haven’t really posted much on here since last March. I shared this on DFO forum but not here. Last March our house caught fire. Something caused our furnace to ignite. Luckily my oldest son that was home at the time got out safely! As some here may know my collecting passion is George Way drums from 1957-61. Camco took over in 1961 and I collect those as well but my main focus has been George Way that led to a collection consisting of 3 kits, 11 snare drums & a few singles including an ultra rare 14x14 floor tom in faded gold sparkle. The pride of my collection has been my 1959 22/12/16/ 5.5x14 in sparkling green!
Although the fire fighters arrived within 5 mins of the call and had it out within 20 minutes, the fire spread quick and raced down through the hallway where I stored most of my drums.
The fire pretty much eliminated my George Way collection!
My 20/12 in sparkling blue survived but the rewrapped snare and 15” floor did not. Of the snares my 5.5x14 in black lacquer and 5.5x 14 in Aqua Sparkle survived. The black lacquer is toast and will need to be repainted.
A 16x16 in silver sparkle also survived. The 22/16 and 5.5x14 green sparkle drums survived but the wrap didn’t on the bass drum and the snare has some serious burns and bubbles right by the badge. And my 22” BDP bass drum survived. All others are gone!
Since March I reached out to a collector in Seattle and worked a deal to purchase his 1958 GW 22/12/16/5.5x14 in BDP as well as a second snare he had in BDP to replace the BDP kit I lost. I also purchased the 5.5x14 6 lug drum back from my friend that I sold it to to no with the 20/12 I have. I then realized my spare Camco Oaklawn 16x16 in blue sparkle was almost a perfect match so unless I find a GW floor in blue sparkle , it is now my transition kit !
I lost 4 complete kits and 11 snare drums plus all my drum and band photos I had scattered around the wall in my music room. But in the end my family is safe and the house is getting rebuilt! Thank gawd for insurance as we were well insured for our losses.
Looking forward to a brighter year! Happy New Year to all my sisters & brothers on here!
