Hi all,
As a lot of you already know, I like the rare, quirky vintage snare drums
and this one fits that category. In the late 1990s I would go to the NAMM
Show in Anaheim, CA. I would also make three other stops; Disneyland, The
Professional Drum Shop and the Hollywood Guitar Center. Hollywood GC had a
few cool vintage snare drums that I would always see and this Leedy & Ludwig
Autographs Of The Stars snare always caught my eye. On one of my visits to
the Hollywood GC I decided to buy this drum.
This was early into my vintage snare drum collecting so I had my newly acquired vintage drum friend John
Aldridge on the phone (no Face Time yet) as I took the drum apart and
described it to him. The obvious questions had to do with the shell and the
AOTS wrap. Collectors who know this finish know it as the Leedy Autographs
Of The Stars wrap (1940-41). One of the questions was how did this Leedy
wrap from 1940-41 end up on a 1951 Leedy & Ludwig snare drum? The possible
answers are: 1. A left over shell from the late 1930s-40s. 2. Left over AOTS
wrap from 1940-41.
The white interior has a 5109 date stamp which is
different from the larger Leedy date stamps of the 1930s-40s. So John and I
came to the conclusion that this was left over AOTS wrap that made its way
to the Leedy & Ludwig factory. The badge is clean and the grommet is tight
and untouched so that sealed the deal for me. The nickel plated hardware was
all there and correct. I added some Leedy & Ludwig calf heads and a nice set
of Leedy & Ludwig snares so there you have it... 1951 LEEDY & LUDWIG 5 x 14
AUTOGRAPHS OF THE STARS BROADWAY STANDARD
I've also added a photo of my 1941 Leedy 6.5 x 14 Autographs Of The Stars
Broadway Parallel and (as of this writing) the only Leedy Autographs Of The
Stars snare drum in WMP.
Enjoy.