1800's John Stratton & Son Military Bass Drum

19th Century John Stratton & Son Military Bass Drum

eBay seller horncollector ( 1517), item no. 270625732996, asking $995, described as:

I recently picked up this Bass, but unfortunatly will now have to sell it due to hard financial times.

This "Bird's Eye" maple Stratton bass drum is in excellent condition and ready to be played. It was restored by Cooperman in 2002 and has new Goat skins and rope. The original Stratton label can be seen by peering through the vent hole. This drum measures 28 1/2" high and is 14 1/2" wide. This drum was made between 1889-1895 while John Stratton was in business with his son. It can easily be used with any reenactment band depicting anything from the 1840's California Gold rush era, the Civil War through to the Indian Wars.

Also, see http://www.horncollector.com/Other%20Instruments/Drum/drums.htm.

Note: the Cooperman label lists the repairs/restorations made in 2002. Included is "Ashton Tack Design". The editor will investigate whether that means that the tack design was added in 2002.

Search this blog (upper left) for other Stratton drums and historical information.

Civil War Drum William Kilbourn with Paper Label

Civil War Drum William Kilbourn with Paper Label

eBay seller donald5606 ( 153), item no. 270627793972, sold for $51.00, Sep. 3, 2010, described as:

"UP FOR AUCTION IS THIS RARE WILLIAM KILBOURN DRUM MADE BETWEEN 1858 TO 1869 I BELIEVE IT IS A SNARE DRUM.IT HAS A PAPER LABEL INSIDE. IT IS ABOUT 16 INCHES ACROSS AND ABOUT 7 1/4 INCHES THICK OR HIGH. WE JUST BOUGHT THIS AT AN AUCTION SOMEBODY WROTE INSIDE THE DRUM WITH CHALK OR SOMETHING " $50.00 WE OBTAINED FROM A MAN WHO CLAIMED WAS GEN CUSTARDS DRUMMER BOY ". WE ARE NOT MAKING NO SUCH CLAIMS. BUT JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THERE."

See also, "Field Drums: Civil War Era Drum by William Kilbourn w/ Label", this blog, Dec. 17, 2009 (including for this better label):

When It Comes to Faux

Faux (pronounced /ˈfoʊ/, like "foe") is a French word for false or fake. And that's what this is.

eBay seller maxwellstuxedo ( 1236) just sold item no. 290468616826 for $113.49 and it's about as faux as they come. Not that it's any kind of fraud. The faux nature was fully disclosed. It's a faux drum built by Noble & Cooley and sold under the "Old Drum Shop, Granville, Massachusetts" label.  (I confirmed the relationship between Old Drum Shop and Noble & Cooley today in a telephone conversation with Jay Jones, president of Noble & Cooley).  The item is described as "antique furniture" (well, maybe not really antique, but, well, faux antique). Old Drum Shop drum-like tables and other drum-like items (waste paper baskets, ice buckets, etc.) are readily found on the Internet and can be ordered directly from Noble & Cooley in Granville, Massachusetts.

Ordinarily we wouldn't mention this kind of item in this blog except that here we think that there might be a danger of confusion with the real thing (i.e., a real Civil War drum, which this item certainly is not nor is it intended to be).  In this case the table looks surprising close to the real deal, at least in the photos.

The Old Drum Shop, Granville, Massachusetts
Photo: eBay item no. 400083174207 (postcard)

The Old Drum Shop is the name of the retail store on premises at Noble & Cooley's manufacturing plant in Granville, Massachusetts.  It appears to have derived from the drum factory started by Silas Noble and James P. Cooley in 1854.  (Jay Jones, with whom I spoke today, is the great-great-great grandson of James P. Cooley.)

The drum-like table is described as follows:

A wood drum table made in the 1950s-60s to look like a civil war drum. It has a great look and has some nice details like the rope and the leather straps. The top of this has some faux marble contact paper that actually looks good. You could just peel it off and has just the wood underneath with a bit of cleaning. It is very heavy, well made, and sturdy. It measures 25 inches tall and 20 inches wide.

For more information on Noble & Cooley, please see:

Field Drums: Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation, this blog, August 4, 2009.

Field Drums: Scoping a Civil War Artifact, this blog, October 20, 2009.

Field Drums: Nobel & Cooley Civil War Drum, this blog, December 23, 2008.

Field Drums: Civil War Eagle Bass Drum (attrib. 7th Wisconsin Iron Brigade), this blog, May 31, 2008.

Civil War Artillery Drum (said to be Horstmann)

eBay seller epk ( 696) has posted item no. 260658604117 (New York) with a starting bid of $10,500. The drum appears to be quite a collector's item and described as follows:

"ONE OF ONLY TWO OR POSSIBLY THREE KNOWN EXAMPLES OF A CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY REGIMENTAL DRUM, UNCUT IN ORIGINAL CONDITION. THIS DRUM IS INSCRIBED "W.P.THORNTON" ON THE EAGLES BREAST SHIELD. BOTH HEADS ARE INTACT AND ON THE TOP DRUM HEAD IS ALSO WRITTEN "WILLIAM P. THORNTON, BATH MAINE". THERE IS ALSO SOME ADDITIONAL PERIOD PENCIL WRITING WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE OUT. WILLIAM P. THORNTON WAS BORN IN BATH MAINE IN 1848 AND IS LISTED IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY DOCUMENTS. I COULD NOT FIND HIS NAME IN THE MAINE REGIMENTAL ROSTER BUT HE MAY HAVE BEEN NOT LISTED BECAUSE OF HIS AGE AT THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR. THE FIRST MAINE HEAVY ARTILLERY IS KNOWN AS HAVING THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CASUALTIES OF ANY REGIMENT IN THE UNION ARMY. THE DRUM IS AUTHENTIC AND RARE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS UNCUT CONDITION. NO SIMILAR EXAMPLE IS SHOWN IN CABA'S DRUM BOOK OR ANY OTHER ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF CIVIL WAR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. THERE MAY BE SOME MINOR RETOUCHING OF THE PAINT BUT IT IS OTHERWISE ALL ORIGINAL AND GUARANTEED."

Pristine Moeller Drum Donated to Mt. Kisco Fire Department

Jim Ellis of The Cooperman Company mentioned yesterday that he was informed by Bill Stewart of The Mount Kisco Fire Department Ancient Fife & Drum Corps (the "Ancients") of the recent donation by a Florida woman of an original Moeller drum.

"The Ancients are fortunate and very proud to own the largest known complete set of Moeller Drums, consisting of nine snare and three bass. The drums were handcrafted by Gus Moeller specifically for the Ancients, and no two Indian figures are alike. The drums were delivered to the Ancients between 1950-1953 and were recently refurbished in 1990." (http://www.fifedrum.org/mtkisco/)

The donated drum is said to be 16"x16" and to be called the Yorktown model (based on the description inside the drum believed to have been handwritten by Gus Moeller). That would be somewhat smaller than the Grand Republic drum used by the Ancients. The donor is believed to have taken lessons from Moeller 60 years ago and to have kept the drum in good storage conditions since that time. Ellis reports that the drum's high gloss finish and signature Moeller painted eagle design are in pristine condition.

Ellis also reported receipt from Stewart of a set of new photos of the Ancients' Moeller drums which we hope to receive and publish on this blog as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the photos in "The Moeller Drums of the Mount Kisco Fire Department Ancient Fife & Drum Corps" will have to suffice.

Cooperman Company's reproduction of a Moeller "Eagle" drum sports an eagle design based on Moeller's eagle.

USMA Hellcats Drummers play "Shades of Grey"

Shades of Grey

The USMA Hellcat drummers play "Shades of Grey" by G. Cuccia (performed in Fall 2008).

USMA Hellcats Drumline Has a Website

FIELD MUSIC GROUP ANNOUNCES WEB RESOURCE

The rudimental drummers from The Hellcats recently created an educational resource:  “DrumCats.” The site enables users to download sheet music while watching the DrumCats perform specific rudimental classics. In addition, the resource will eventually include a number of rudiments, exercises, and solos! Watch the DrumCats.

And it will be packed with great stuff:

Rudimental Exercises

(coming)

Rudimental Classics with downloadable sheet music and streaming video performances:

- Crazy Army

- Three Camps

(more to come)

Hybrid/Exercises

(coming)

Solos

(coming)