Does anyone have any info from this co. It appears to be late 19th century to very early 20th century. It has a 14x3 1/2 maple snare with wood hoops. It has 10 claws with one sided thumb rods (no lug boxes) The bass is 14x22 and seems to be birds eye maple.
any thoughts????
dan
Since the paper label on the inside says made for Oliver Ditson Co. Then this would have been an early private label.
Oliver Ditson could have been a music store or distributor and had drums made with their name.
So more then likely there will not be much drum related history about Oliver Ditson.
This was a common practice for early drum makers.
The question then is which large drum maker of the time made the drums?
Well, maybe more detailed pictures would help answer that question.
David
Hi David,
I found a Piccolo snare like the one you described at a yard sale and bought it for 3 dollars. It was painted black and had sparkles thrown in. When I removed the paint I discovered a brass plate that read, "SPECIAL (illegible) Oliver Ditson Drum Company Boston NEW YORK illegible 06) Oliver Ditson was mostly a Publishing co. That opened in 1856 and was located at 277 Washington St in Boston. From What I understand they made drums for other company's such as Dixie Drums. My snare is a 3 x 14 Maple and had 11 rods on it. They were sold in 3 x 14 ,4 x 14 , 3 x 15, 3 x 16, and 4 x 16 configurations. They came w/ your choice of 8,10, 14, or 16 Skeleton Pattern Thumb screw rods and had choice of either "waterprood for wire snares" Full Length Snare Strainer t-rods w/ a claw that gripped the opposite head. They were marketed as an "inexpensive alternative for the professinal band or orchestral drummer" Hope that helps.
mike
Actually,I had it backwards ...... other drum companies made drums for Oliver Ditson and they put their label on them.
