Lot of Drumsticks

[33rdaladrummer]

I don't know how they came up with the 1790-1840 range, but it's highly likely that these sticks date to the Civil War or pre-war. I wish I could get the measurements of some of these. It's always hard to date drumsticks. People claim skinny post-war drumsticks to be from the war just because they happen to be made from rosewood or ebony, but when you have a collection this large, what are the odds that most of them are post-war?



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A CANVAS-COVERED WOODEN TRUNK FULL OF DRUMSTICKS, STRAPS AND ROPES, CIRCA 1790-1840

MEASUREMENTS

height 10in. by length 24in. 25.4cm. by 61cm.

DESCRIPTION

the iron-handled trunk filled with sixteen plain, four turned and six leather-covered wood drumsticks, some for bass and some for snare drums, a drummer's strap and assorted drum ropes. The trunk with the remains of old wall- and newspaper linings. Approximately 30 pieces.

[Bagman]

Re: Lot of Drumsticks

Will,

That is quite a hoard. And the story behind the stash is probably just as interesting. Probably gathered up by the wife of some drummer to keep him away from GAR reunions, living history presentations, and re-enactments. It's been known to happen..........

Have you checked your gear lately?

Jeff Christman
Liberty Hall Fifes & Drums

[joewhitney]

Re: Lot of Drumsticks

Guthman collected anything and everything relating to American militaria for many decades (I really wanted to attend that auction!), from many different sources. I don't think most of it had any provenance, and therefore their exact date of origin is unknown, especially items like drumsticks that didn't significantly change over time (there were no '61 and '63 model Springfield drumsticks, for example).

So I don't think we can really know when these were made. It's actually more likely that most were made later than earlier, as the older items are, the more rare they are, especially things that people like to pick up and beat against hard surfaces and can break.

In fact even if someone guarantees drumsticks or anything else "belonged to" a Civil War drummer (something like "passed down from my great-great grandfather" is typical), that doesn't mean he didn't pick them up long after the war (they don't mention that part, if they would even know).

So when it comes to drumsticks, if I see a set with an original drum, and a photo of the drummer who carried them wearing the drum and holding what look to be pretty much the same sticks, then those are probably Civil War. There are a few sets of those around, but they're very rare indeed. Wish someone had the sticks from that slave-drummer photo!

All that being said, there are quite a few photos of Civil War drummers with drumsticks, and going by them, I'd say some of these sticks appear very similar to some of those.

Joe Whitney
2nd SC String Band
Liberty Hall Drum & Fife Corps

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: Lot of Drumsticks

And many of those ebay "Civil War" drumsticks look like the ones in these postwar catalogs:



One is John C. Haynes 1883/1884. The other is Royce 1907.

It's impossible to know for sure how old sticks are, even with provenance, but there are tell tale signs, like sticks being slightly mismatched.

Here are two pairs of "originals" I own. Ignore the two repros in the photos. They are clearly "handmade," but I suppose it is just as likely that some amateur was making them in 1930 as in 1830. So you can go round and round in circles.