Welcome to VDF! That's a nice piece, and very interesting!

I'm sorry that I can't offer any assistance in the way of identification.

Very well made. Why would you say this might be a prototype? This drum was not unusual for the time period (late 1800 to 1920). The hex head bolts holding the lugs on, looks European (German?) I have two of this type made by Duplex, in various stages of restoration. A fun drum to play. Clean and polish it up, get a new head and play it!

Thanks for info.. Try as I might I can't find a picture of another top head snare..

I wonder if it can be more closely dated due to the top snare? Any opinions??

My closest guess would be Noble and Cooley from back in their mid-19th century toymaking days.

Ya got me curious.

I'm guessing that since there's no bottom head and the snares below the top that it was designed to be less expensive, thus the thoughts about it meant to be a toy.

All the german ones I've seen still had 2 heads with snares on the bottom.

It could also be a turn-of the-century catalog item from Sears and Roebuck.

If only Charlie Donnelly was still with us...

Cool drum! These things aren't all that unusual actually. They were easier to lug around between jobs and cheaper to buy. At least a half a dozen companies were making single headed snare drums around the 1910s. The dark oak finish on this one looks similar to some of the York drums (Grand Rapids, MI) I've seen though I suspect some of they're instruments may have been built by either Lyon & Healy out of Chicago. Could Duplex of St. Louis or Wilson Drum Co (Chicago) also be behind this one? Any of those would make sense seeing as this one is coming from an estate sale in the Midwest.

Pics of my single headed snare drum attached! I suspect mine is an Oliver Ditson.

-Lee

I own a 1910 Oliver Ditson brass piccolo 14x4 and it turns out that their drums were made for them by Nokes/Nicholai in Boston, Mass. Nokes/Nicholai made drums and slapped on tags for a dozen other outfits that marketed them.

If you have an Oliver Ditson... it's a Nokes/Nicholai!

John

great info guys... I'm learning a lot. I'm hoping when I receive the drum I might find markings of where a tag might have been... Size and shape may tell a tale, but the hardware doesn't look remarkable.. Thanks again

Any of the drums you guys have, do they have hex bolts? The hex bolt was not commonly used on musical instruments, slot head screws mostly. Square head screws were invented in 1908, Phillips heads in 1936, Slot head was in the late 1800's. Seeing the hex bolt made me think of German engineering right away.

PS: if you see the remains of a diamond shaped tag or label on the inside, it might be a Duplex.

Hi Purdie!

Yes, Nokes & Nicolai did make some drums for Ditson, but all Ditsons are not N&N! There's been some confusion about that since I put that N&N article in NSMD a few years ago. (And using the picture of the rebuilt all-metal drum was a bad idea but it was all I had at the time...) But with any makers who are that old and obscure, the details are fuzzy at best. I'll PM with more so as not to completely hijack this post!

-Lee