Northup Drums Museum has over 100 snare drums on display that span over 100 years from the major American drum companies, Ludwig, Slingerland, Leedy, Gretsch, Rogers and others. The snare drum is an essential part of the drumkit and a very personal choice for a drummer. Some of the most coveted and collectible snare drums are the engraved Black Beauties from the 1920-30’s from Ludwig, Slingerland, and Leedy. In 1923 Ludwig introduced the DeLuxe Snare Drum, it had a hand engraved gun metal finish. This was the first of the engraved Black Beauty snare drums. Ludwig made hundreds, maybe even thousands of these drums in (about) a 10-year time period. In 1928 Slingerland got into the drum business, releasing their first catalog featuring the Artist Model snare drum called “The Black Beauty.” Yes, Slingerland was the first to coin that phrase, yet in the 1930 catalog the drum had already […]