Prior to the Swing era, the tom tom had been evolving very slowly. The earliest tom toms to be used with a drum set were very primitive, imported from China by American drum companies in the early 1920’s. These old relics had pig skin heads which were permanently attached and could not be tuned. Sometimes referred to as “Chee Foo” toms toms, they were offered in various sizes, usually ranging from ten inches in diameter to fifteen inches. The heads were usually painted with colorful Asian motifs like dragons, birds, and flowers and could be attached to large bass drums with metal holders. These drums were used mainly as part of a drummer’s collection of “special effects”, along with cymbals, bells, temple blocks, whistles and bird calls.

In 1922, the Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Company was unknowingly way ahead of their time, when the company produced the very first drum set with two fully tunable tom toms, mounted on top of the bass drum. Called the “Jazz Combination”, the two mounted toms resembled small concert toms. Like modern day double tom outfits, The Jazz Combination set-up was way ahead of its time. The ad in Ludwig’s 1922 catalog claims that the new drums will “put pep in a dance orchestra. Add variety. They want new stuff. Give it to ‘em. Keep your date book full- Get the big money”. Apparently, most drummers did not believe the hype. What could have been the first modern day “double tom” outfit ultimately failed to catch on and the Jazz Combination drum set was soon discontinued.

As the 1920’s came to a close, the tom tom was gaining in popularity and more variations were introduced. Around 1928, Leedy offered the “Giant Chee Foo” tom toms which were somewhat “barrel” shaped with permanently attached heads. These double headed drums were available in 9x13, 12x14 and 16x16 and sat in tripod stands. However, they could not be tuned and like all Chinese toms, they were susceptible to humidity conditions, which was a big problem for drummers at that time. The Giant Chee Foo toms were also offered by Ludwig & Ludwig soon after.

The year 1930 saw Leedy’s introduction of the first American made tom toms which were advertised as being “superior in every detail to the ordinary Chinese models”. Unlike the earlier Chee Foo drums, these cylindrical instruments were made from laminated, three-ply wood construction with heavy reinforcing rings. Special tripod stands held the drums in place. Thick close-grained Steer hide was used which produced a better tone and held up to weather conditions much better than “Oriental pigskin”. These new tom toms could be ordered in various pearl and sparkle finishes. They were later called, “Chinatype Tom Toms”.

The following year, full size tom toms that could actually be tuned were offered for the first time by both Leedy and Ludwig & Ludwig (both companies were now owned by the C.G. Conn Company). These “Full Dress” drums were offered in what would become industry standard sizes. The drums were made in sizes 9x13, 12x14 and 16x16, with batter heads that were permanently attached to wooden hoops. Tympani style T-rods and threaded lugs attached to the drum shells, enabling tensioning of the top heads only. The resonant heads, which were permanently tacked to the shells, were made from thick pig skin which held tension quite well but could not be adjusted. This was to be the answer to the drummer’s age-old problem of humidity affecting tensioning of the batter heads. The 1933 Leedy catalog proclaims, “Now it’s your turn to laugh at Old Man Weather!” In retrospect, it seems obvious that building a tom tom with fully tunable top and bottom heads was necessary for many reasons. But one must remember that America was in the middle of a great depression. Drum companies were slow to make changes and the expense of designing and producing a whole new line of instruments was a financial risk. But one company was willing to take that risk.

Around 1935-36, certain events would help to launch the Slingerland Banjo and Drum Company into the future. As the tom tom was becoming more and more important to modern music, famous Swing drummer, Gene Krupa had been experimenting with a new sound which involved louder, more aggressive playing, often featuring the tom toms. By now, most drum companies, including Slingerland, were offering tom toms with tunable top heads. But in order to project his new sound, he needed drums that had fully functional heads that could be properly tuned. With the hugely popular Krupa as their star endorser, Slingerland engineers collaborated with the drummer to produce the world’s first modern separate tension tom toms. In 1936, The Slingerland Banjo and Drum Company proudly introduced “The Radio King Separate Tension, Tunable Tom-Toms”. These new drums were quite futuristic in appearance and design, with their dual rows of art deco-styled tension casings, twin “Harold R. Todd” internal tone controls, bright chrome plated hoops and flashy pearl finishes. The drums were constructed of three plies of mahogany and poplar with very thick maple reinforcing rings. At first, only standard sizes were available but 5x8, 6.5x10, and 7x11 sizes were added. These new Radio King tom toms proved extremely popular and the company was churning out four and five piece drum sets in record numbers.

Before long, other drum companies like W.F.L. (William F. Ludwig), Leedy, Gretsch, and Ludwig & Ludwig were attempting to catch up with Slingerland’s new innovative products and by late 1937 they too, were offering separate tension, fully tunable tom toms. Over the next four years, new sizes and finishes would be added and lug designs would change but the new trend in tom toms had taken hold. In 1940, Leedy was the first company to attach adjustable straight metal legs to the sides of their larger toms, replacing the old style tripod stands. Oddly, Ludwig & Ludwig, Slingerland, and others did not follow suit until about 1946-47.

America’s entrance into World War Two in 1941, slowed drum production to a crawl. Due to government imposed metal restrictions in 1942, musical instruments had to be built using very few metal parts and this era gave birth to some interesting drums. In compliance with the new manufacturing laws, tom toms were made with wooden lugs and hoops such as the Slingerland “Rolling Bombers”, Leedy Dreadnoughts, Ludwig & Ludwig “Victory” drums, Gretsch “Defenders” and W.F.L.’s internally tensioned “Victorious” drums. Towards the end of the war in late 1944, drum production resumed but on a limited basis. Materials were still in short supply, so drum companies were slow to introduce new products, relying on pre-war designs and existing older stock.

One of the W.F.L. Drum Company’s most important contributions to tom tom development was the triple flange metal hoop. First appearing on snare drums in 1937, the new W.F.L. hoops were quite different from straight, single or double flange hoops in use at the time. The outwardly flared third flange reduced wear and tear on drum sticks, while giving their drums a unique appearance. The company did not install triple flange hoops on their tom toms until about 1949, but the practical, lighter weight design was copied by other companies over the years and is still standard on most tom toms today. In 1955, Slingerland began producing their own version of the triple flange hoop with their futuristic looking Sound King hoops. The rounded top flange of their brass hoops was inwardly turned, offering similar drum stick protection.

Other than some hardware improvements, the 1950’s saw very little innovation in the way tom toms were made; they were still constructed mainly of multiple plies of wood, with brass hoops and separate tension lugs. Different lug and hoop designs offered each company some individuality but the real advancements came in the form of tom tom mounting systems. In 1958, The Rogers Drum Company designed the new “Swiv-O-Matic” tom tom holder, which was a big departure from the old-fashioned rail mount holders that had been in use since the forties. The holder was based on a ball and socket design that could position the tom tom in virtually any position. This was the most advanced tom holder design at that time, while those of others were stuck in the past. It took nearly a decade for Slingerland to abandon their old rail mounting system for a new ball and socket design. Possibly inspired by Rogers’ Swiv-O-Matic mounting system, Slingerland’s new holder was called, the “Set-O-Matic”. Although heavier in weight and less adjustable than the Rogers holder, the Set-O-Matic worked quite well and gave Slingerland drums a distinctive look.

Tom toms manufactured by the Gretsch Drum Company were somewhat different in design than those of their competition. In the late 1930’s, the company’s “Gladstone” line featured separate tension toms constructed with three ply shells with reinforcing rings. After World War Two, the Brooklyn, New York company began building their shells without reinforcing rings, which no other company was doing. Gretsch’s drum shells were “cross laminated” giving the relatively thin maple and shells extra strength and eliminating the need for the rings. Gretsch tom toms from the 1950’s and 1960’s are highly prized by Jazz drummers for their unique sound qualities, especially in sizes 14x14 and 8x12.

Aside from developments in tom holders and gradually sharper, more precise bearing edges, the tom toms of the sixties differed little from those produced in the previous two decades. Concealing that fact was the multitude of colorful and exciting pearl finishes that were available. Drum company product catalogs were typically released every two or three years, showing the latest choices. In hopes of enticing drummers to buy their latest offerings, drum manufacturers presented new and often unique pearl, sparkle, and painted finishes, as others were discontinued,

When Rock and Roll music began to dominate the airwaves in the late sixties and early seventies, larger and louder drums were in demand to compete with the amplified music. As a result, single headed “concert toms” or “melodic toms” were designed to provide extra volume and attack. In 1972, the Ludwig Drum Company launched their “Octa-Plus” outfit which featured an array of graduated single headed tom toms, ranging in size from six inches to sixteen inches in diameter. These melodic tom toms were quite popular with many notable drummers and can be heard on numerous recordings. During the 1970’s, new shell materials came into use by companies like Pearl, who offered tom toms constructed of fiberglass or wood/fiberglass combinations. The legendary studio drummer, Hal Blaine played a custom-made fiberglass version of the Octa-Plus, known as the “Monster Kit” on many songs like Paul Revere and the Raiders’ 1969 hit, “Indian Reservation” with its long, drawn out triplet tom tom fills. Other notable drummers like Carmine Appice, Keith Moon, Karen Carpenter, Kenney Jones and Nigel Ollson all played the multiple concert tom set-ups during that era. Several drum companies such as Zickos, Fibes, and Ludwig, began experimenting with clear acrylic or plexi-glass shells in the sixties and early seventies, with Ludwig’s “Vistalite” models being the most popular. These clear plastic drums were produced in a variety of colors and were available in both single and double head varieties. Stainless steel was also used as a shell material, most notably by Ludwig.

The 1970’s spawned some bizarre tom tom designs, like North Drums’ fiberglass horn-shaped tom toms, which were designed to perform differently than conventional tom designs. North claimed these odd looking, single headed drums projected like horn-loaded speakers, producing increased, volume, separation and depth of tone. A typical North tom had a batter head dimension of ten inches and a bottom or “bell” measurement of fifteen inches.

The concert tom craze continued into the 1980’s, with an even wider variety of sizes and shell compositions but by the 1990’s, the concert tom was on its way out. Drum design was changing and the new “power toms” which challenged existing industry size standards were also gaining popularity. Most American, European and Japanese drum manufacturers began producing “Power” tom toms with smaller diameter-to-depth ratios. Sizes such as 10x11, 12x13, and 13x14 would become standard but traditional sizes were still being offered.

Drum making had come a long way from the 1920’s. More than ever, modern companies were devoted to designing and building precision-made instruments, with special attention to details, like perfect bearing edges, computer-designed hardware, and flawless finishes, and nearly limitless options. The nineties was dominated by Japanese and European drum companies such as Tama, Yamaha, Premier and Sonor, who were taking drum manufacturing to new heights. One American drum company who was meeting the import challenge was the California based company, Drum Workshop or D.W. Like their foreign counterparts, D.W. emphasized precision building and exacting standards. D.W.’s tom toms come in a large variety of sizes and shell compositions with a staggering array of custom finishes. Their beautifully hand-crafted drums were extremely popular in the early 1990’s and continue to maintain strong support among drummers throughout the world. The mid 1990’s would also see an explosion in “boutique” drums, with smaller private drum builders flooding the market with drums in exotic shell compositions and custom finishes. While many fell by the wayside, some like Ayotte, G.M.S., and Craviotto have enjoyed great success.

By the late 1990’s drum designs, especially tom toms, had come full circle. Traditional sizes and designs of the 1950’s and 1960’s were regaining popularity and drum companies like Ludwig and Slingerland were again adding 8x12, 9x13, 14x14, and 16x16 toms with vintage style finishes to their repertoire. The nostalgia driven movement towards “old school” drums inspired Slingerland to produce their “Legends Signature” series which featured drums similar to those played by Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, with tom toms in 9x13 and 16x16 sizes.

The Twenty-First Century has seen even more interest in the “vintage” style tom tom sound and around 2005, the Ludwig company introduced their “Legacy” series, featuring classic three ply shells. Currently, the company is offering these three ply kits as well as classic acrylic Vistalites and Stainless Steel drums in traditional 1960’s-1970’s tom tom sizes. In a return to their roots, the Gretsch Drum Company has recently designed the “Brooklyn” series, which is a throwback to their thin six ply toms with no reinforcing rings and silver painted interiors of the 1960’s. The modern drummers’ interest in the vintage look and sound is more popular today than ever.