Upon closer inspection of the pic of the badge you supplied.....this drum had been painted over blue at some point in its life, then the paint was stripped off. You can see the blue outline of old paint around the badge. Someone most likely painted OVER the badge. This used to happen a lot, I just restored a marching snare like this, but mine is definitely 1920's due to the type of strainer used. Anyway, it is possible when they stripped the paint off, they also stripped the enamel off of the badge at the same time. The type of T-rods used are Leedy type, which definitely points to Conn-owned era Ludwig & Ludwig and the stamping you found inside definitely dates it to 1940.Now, remember out history here please....a 1940 Ludwig & Ludwig is not a WFL. Two seperate companies. WFL started in 1937 and was owned by the Ludwig family. Ludwig & Ludwig, which used to be owned by the Ludwig family was sold to Conn in 1929, and later repurchased by WFL and the Ludwig family in 1955. Your drum is not a WFL drum, it is a Conn-owned-era Ludwig & Ludwig. The badging is correct for the drum, except there should be a white enamel background to it. Ludwig & Ludwig as a brand lasted until 1950, then was known as Leedy & Ludwig from 1951-1955. After that when it was repurchased by the Ludwig family and the WFL drum company, all WFL drums and Ludwig & Ludwig drums were simply known as the Ludwig drum company.....Ok? flower
Excellent info! I did not understand the history, thanks for the lesson! I think you are right on with the date and the tubes.
I just openned up the image of my badge and the image of the early 20's badge and the white enamel badge all next to eachother to compare. None are a perfect match! The white enamel badge say's Chicago Illinois and mine does not. It looks like mine is one not listed on this site. I am not sure if the webmaster will want to look into this and post it.
One other note, the drum appears to have the original clear coat over the stain where the drumheads were so I don't think it was ever a painted drum, (you can see it on the pic where the hoops are off). I also looked very closely at the edge around the badge and it looks more like greenish powdery corrosion from the brass. The badge still could have been stripped at some point regerdless if the drum was or was not.
Do you have any idea what this could be worth? Even a ballpark figure? I don't think I will let it go, I think it will sound way too good but I would be curious to know what it might fetch.
Thanks again for all the help.
