Henry B. Savage & Sons Drum

Blond field snare drum measuring 14-3/4 in. (diam.) by 12 in. (height) made by/for Henry B. Savage & Sons, Musical Instruments, 166 Hanover Street, Boston, Mass.  Both heads are intact.  Consumables (leathers, snares, ropes, etc. and possibly the head), would need to be replaced to make it a player but it's a looker right now.

Drum sling (leather needs repair) looks very much like the around-the-neck style of the Civil War.  Rope is definitely not original.  Hooks are unique.  Snare strainer appears to be original.  Whoever re-roped this drum last placed the leathers (ears, tugs) upside down.

Snares are red linen wire-wound, not gut, believed to be ca. 1920 (see http://blog.bostondrumbuilders.com/2012/05/snare-wires-from-yesteryear.html).

From the collection of Ellis R. Mirsky.

U.S. Military Academy "Hellcats" at the 2012 USARD Convention

U.S. Military Academy "Hellcats" at the 2012 USARD Convention 

Published to YouTube on Apr 26, 2012 byJoseph Gillotti at the U.S.A.R.D. convention, 2012.

The U.S Army "Old Guard" at USARD 2012

The U.S Army "Old Guard" at USARD 2012

Published to YouTube on Apr 27, 2012 byJoseph Gillotti at the U.S.A.R.D. convention, 2012.

Jim Smith at the 2012 U.S.A.R.D. Convention - Historical Sound of the Snare Drum

Jim Smith explains the sound of the field drum as might have been heard in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Published to YouTube on Apr 25, 2012 byJoseph Gillotti at the U.S.A.R.D. convention, 2012.

Ludwig Drum Catalogs

See the wonderful collection of Ludwig Snare Drums Catalogs (1911-1998) online at http://www.vintagedrumguide.com/ludwig_snare_drum_catalog_pages.html.

WWII Classics: Drums without Metal

WWII Classics: Drums without Metal

See article by Chet Falzerano online at http://www.drummagazine.com/gear/post/w.w.ii-classics-drums-without-metal/ (originally published in the February/March 2000 issue of DRUM! magazine).

 Credit: NMM 3011.  Parade drum by WFL Drum Co., Chicago, ca. 1942. Views of the mahogany shell, the metal screw strainer in a wood brace, and the drum's patented Strupe internal tension. This drum model was developed when restrictions on the use of metal in the manufacture of musical instruments were created at the beginning of World War II. Drum manufacturers were forbidden to build instruments with more than 10% of the total mass of the instrument being made with metal. The implementation of this unique wood tensioning device allowed the WFL Drum Company to stay within that narrow limit. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/WWIIdrum.html.

Historic Collectible: Civil War Drums

See article by Chet Falzerano online at http://www.drummagazine.com/gear/post/historic-collectible-civil-war-drums/ (Originally published in the March/April 2000 issue of DRUM! magazine).

Credit: 1862 Wm. S. Tompkins field snare drum, no. 22, from collection of Ellis R. Mirsky.