Hindle & Heely - UK Vintage Drums Reference
Badge timeline, grouped into five main eras by company. Start and end dates are unique to badges but give or take a year, any changes broadly line up with changes in music styles and manufacturing techniques.
See individual pages for specific dates.
See individual pages for specific dates.
20's Veteran - The Jazz Era 1919-29
Popular music, drumming and the drum industry were in their infancy and the main companies hadn't fully formed. Shells were single ply, hoops single flanged with clips, and generic tube lugs and throw-offs were typical, all nickel plated. Finishes were paint or varnish. Samuel Barnett made John Grey drums and Dallas switched from Premier to A F Matthews in 1925. Hawkes & Son started the Ajax brand in 1927, and Rose Morris outsources manufacturing to James Cowlin then Furzer & Cutts.
Pre-War - The Swing Era 1930-39
The main manufacturers began to crystallise in the mid-thirties. Laminated wood was used for shells, clips disappeared and Art Deco style, self-aligning lugs were designed in-house to distinguish brands. Double-flanged hoops appeared briefly but were soon succeeded by die-cast. Upper snares were typical along with parallel mechanisms. Boosey merged with Hawkes in 1930, Rose Morris bought the John Grey business in 1933 and moved production in-house, and Dallas launched their own Carlton brand drums in 1935. Gene Krupa invents the drum kit as we know it with double-headed mounted and floor standing tom-toms and in 1938 plays the first drum solo in 'Sing, Sing, Sing'. Chrome plating is invented and becomes the new standard.
Post-War - The Crooners 1947-56/7
Manufacturers began to return to their core activities. Destruction meant new premises and machinery and new lugs and badges appeared. Smaller sizes were offered as entertainment moved to smaller venues with drummers travelling more to play.
Rock & Pop 1957-66/7
The 'Group Explosion' happened in 1957 as 'popular beat combos' gained ground over orchestras and big bands. The teenager was invented and they all wanted to be in a group, thanks to Rock & Roll. Manufacturers revised their offerings to appear less old-fashioned and introduced budget lines. A second hit came in 1964 after the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and by then, high-quality, orchestral domestic kits looked very dated compared with American drums with single-ended lugs, triple-flanged hoops and modern sizes. Carlton dropped dated labels 'King' and 'Prince' and launched Gigster and President and Boosey & Hawkes imported the Rogers formula under license. Plastic heads replaced calf skins in 1958.
Finale - 1967/9-75
The manufacturers had tried to keep up with Pop music and American drums by re-presenting and 'cheapening' what they already had. Finally they re-tooled and offered drums that looked and sounded American with new lug designs, sizes, finishes, badges and brands but it was too late. By this time even the great American companies were under threat from imported Japanese kits.