Hi all,
While I am in between purchases I thought that I would write about another snare drum that I purchased before I started to write articles. This snare drum can been seen on pages 18 & 19 in my book: VINTAGE SNARE DRUMS THE CUROTTO COLLECTION VOL. I
This drum was on EBay about 13-15 years ago. It was an early morning (1 am) ending auction so I waited up for it and sniped it right at the end. The drum was found in a closet at the Long Island Grotto #44 Masonic Lodge in Brooklyn, New York. There was a name pin that came with the drum so I googled Walter T. Morris, Long Island Grotto #44 and made some phone calls but no one was interested in helping me with the history of Walter T. Morris so I’m just reporting what I have in front of me. This drum looks virtually unused but I suspect that this drum was used in some type of ceremony or used in marching as there was a matching “L” hook that enabled Mr. Morris or any other drummer to use a shoulder strap sling for marching. Man I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during those Masonic Lodge ceremonies and meeting.
This DeLuxe is definitely the cleanest example of any of my Black Beauties, some are close but this one is the real deal. Noted Black Beauty expert John Aldridge told me that he believes my drum is the best example of a mint/near-mint 1920s DeLuxe (Black Beauty) that he has ever seen.
As always, I welcome your thoughts and related stories.
Enjoy!