In my relentless pursuit of vintage drums, I came across an interesting Ebay listing: “Early 1900's Vintage Ludwig Drums, Black Beauty Snare, Zildjian, Zenjian Cymbals”.  While the pictures weren’t very sharp, I could definitely see a 1920s-1930s engraved Ludwig Black Beauty in what appeared to be the original case.  There were four cymbals, a bass drum and clearly a bunch of assorted hardware, all in De Luxe finish.  Normally, I just collect snare drums but in this instance, I decided to make an exception.  So I pulled the trigger.