History
The Ludwig Drum Company was established in 1909 by William F. & Theobald Ludwig, sons of a German immigrant to the United States. [2] William Jr. had been a professional drummer, playing with circuses and touring vaudeville shows, along with the occasional skating-rink gig. Since this work was irregular, he and his brother, Theobald, opened a drum shop in Chicago; they called it Ludwig & Ludwig. [3] The company started with a concept for the design and manufacture of a functional bass drum pedal. [4]
The company added new products to its catalog, such as snare drums and timpani, in 1916. In 1917, Ludwig signed a deal to build rope-tensioned snare drums to support World War I. Theobald Ludwig died in 1918, and William continued on his own. [4] [3]
In the late 1920s, the company was sold to the C. G. Conn instrument company. William Ludwig stayed on to run the company for Conn (which also owned the Leedy Manufacturing Company at this time). Eventually, William Ludwig decided to leave Conn and start a new company of his own. He was unable to use the Ludwig name since that trademark now belonged to Conn who continued to market Ludwig & Ludwig drums.
From about 1921 to 1931, Ludwig made banjos, such as the
Big Chief Banjo (1930), displayed at the
American Banjo Museum.
[5] The Big Chief banjo was highly decorated, with gold plating, engraving, and decorative inlayed wood patterns.
In 1937, William purchased a factory building and established the WFL Drum Company, naming it after his own initials. Whilst the firm continued to produce drums on a modest scale throughout the Second World War, William remained determined to transform the business into a major manufacturer once hostilities had ceased. At the time, WFL was a direct competitor to Ludwig & Ludwig. Following the merger of their two drum brands to form Leedy & Ludwig in the early 1950s, the parent company, Conn, eventually decided to withdraw from the drum market entirely. This presented an opportunity in 1955 for William and his son, Bill Jr, to buy back the Ludwig trademark. Over the ensuing years, the company’s products transitioned from the WFL name back to the original Ludwig brand.
Despite initial success, Ludwig's global breakthrough would occur February 9, 1964, when The Beatles made their historic American TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. [6] [7] The Ludwig logo, displayed on the front of Ringo Starr's bass drum, could be seen by the television audience of about seventy-three million people. [8] [3] [7] As it happens, Starr chose that brand upon joining the band simply because he liked the oyster pearl black color of the drum kit he chose.
[Ringo Starr] put our name on the front of his bass drum head ... [because] he was so proud that he had an imported drum set from America, especially from a famous company like Ludwig, that at the time of purchase he insisted on having the Ludwig name painted on the front of the head!
— William Ludwig's grandson [3]
The publicity resulted in Ludwig's sales doubling quickly to $13 million, which prompted production to increase to around-the-clock production as the company became the foremost drum manufacturer in North America for twenty years. [9]
Ludwig acquired the Musser Mallet Company, a manufacturer of xylophones, marimbas and vibraphones, in 1965. [2] Ludwig was a strong presence in the marching drum market. During the 1970s, Ludwig's "Challenger" line of snare drums offered sophisticated tuning and strong build quality. Ludwig drums were used by many leading drum and bugle corps.
On 4 November 1981, William F Ludwig II sold the business to the Selmer Company (now Conn-Selmer). Selmer closed the Damen Avenue factory in the ensuing years and moved the drum production business to Monroe, North Carolina, in 1984. [2] [3] [10] In 2002, Ludwig merged with Conn-Selmer, becoming a brand of Conn-Selmer, Inc. [11]
The Musser manufacturing facility remained in La Grange, Illinois, until 2013, and was then moved to Elkhart, Indiana. [12]
