Cooper’s Vintage Drums
~Ludwig & Ludwig~
1943 "VICTORY" Drum Set
DRUMS AND THE WAR EFFORT
In
June 1942, The United States had been at war with Japan (and later, Germany)
for over six months. With materials necessary to the war effort becoming
scarce, the U.S. Government issued the following order to manufacturers of
musical instruments:
General Limitation Order No. L-37
To Restrict the Production of Musical
Instruments
"Whereas, the
demands of national defense have created a shortage of materials used in the
manufacture of musical instruments, action has action has already been taken to
conserve the supply and direct the distribution of such materials to insure
deliveries for defense and essential civilian requirements; and the present
supply of these materials will be insufficient for defense and essential
civilian requirements unless the manufacture of musical instruments is
curtailed and the use of critical materials for such manufacture thereby
reduced."
General
Limitation Order L-37, stated that all producers of musical instruments must
limit the amount of critical materials (metal) to no more than ten percent of
the total weight.
This
order prompted drum manufacturers like Slingerland, Gretsch, Ludwig, Leedy,
W.F.L. and others to design and build unique instruments comprised of very few
metal parts. This resulted in some very unique and beautiful drums….
Slingerland
introduced the "Rolling Bomber" drums with rosewood and walnut lugs,
strainers, maple hoops, and other parts normally made from metal. Gretsch
offered the "Defender" line, with bullet shaped maple lugs and
tacked-on heads, while Ludwig & Ludwig produced the beautiful and elegant
"Victory" drum sets.
The
W.F.L. Drum Company incorporated a unique internal tensioning system (most
likely inspired by the Leedy and Strupe "Master Model" drums
of the 1930’s) constructed mostly of maple. The drums were tuned by turning
a series of tension rods from outside the drum. This caused wooden rings to be
pushed against the heads for tensioning. These unusual drums were known as the
"Victorious" line.
The
Leedy Drum Company did their part for the war effort by manufacturing the
"Dreadnought" drums. Similar to Ludwig & Ludwig’s
"Victory" drums, the Leedy "Dreadnoughts" utilized
hard wood lugs, trap rail holders and even foot pedals and stands!
