I'm curious ..over what?
I recall reading Slingerland won his company in a card game in 1920's, but why didthese 3 feud later on (other than competition)?
Bill Ludwig Jr and Bud Slingerland Jr. were rivals and there was personal bad blood between them,till they split the difference and went 50/50 and bought Leedy-Ludwig from The Conn corp.
Ludwig bought the right to use his own name and all the patents( Ludwig was at the time WFL not Ludwig) and Slingerland got the Leedy side of the house.This is when Ludwig became the Ludwig drum company.Till then they were Ludwig& Ludwig,Leedy & Ludwig and WFL(Willian F Ludwig drum company)
Slingerland(Bud Sr.) won a mail order fanchize for ukulele lessons in that riverboat cardgame,not the Slingerland Banjo and drum company.Slingerland sold drum and banjo heads and guitars BEFORE they sold drums.
Ludwig and Slingerland were both Chicago companys at the time and early on,fought over calf and splunk hides from the Chicago stock yards for drum heads,which they both sold.
Gretsch sued Slingerland in 1935 over the use of the name "broadcaster" which was used first by Gretsch.In 35 Slingerland introduced the "Broadcaster" snare drum.
Gretsch won the suit ,so in 36,Slingerland stopped production of the Broadcaster and introduced the Radio King,which was the same drum except,the stick chopper rims now were engraved "Slingerland Radio King,and not Broadcaster>
Ludwig stole the name Black Beauty from Slingerland who first used the black beauty NOB finish in the 20's on their brass shelled Artist model.The Ludwig De Luxe and Black Beauty are almost a nut for bolt steal of the finish,hardware and design.
Rogers feuded with Wallberg and Auge over hardware requirements,as W&A made hardware for everyone.They even made the first year or two swiv-o-matic hardware,till Rogers took over that duty shortly.
They all fueded and fought over a share of the pie,and copied each others designs.
Look at the Luddy P-83 and the Slingerland Rapid strainer.The're almost identical.Same exact design.You can even bolt a P-83 on the a Slingy and vice versa.Look at the Slingerland 3 way strainer,which they ALL used at one time.
At the time,drum companys were owned by the family namesake till the early 60's ,so personal pride was at stake.It's not like todays corporate model.
Think Hatfields and McCoys with drums and without guns.
They also fought over distributorship of Zildjian A and K cymbals as well as Paiste.
Zildjian had to sue Gretsch to use their own Name and sell K Zildjian cymbals which were still made in Constantinope/Istanbul at the time.
The eventual winner was Ludwig.Gretsch,Rogers and Slingerland sold out in the 60's so they were't a family run bisiness anymore.
Ludwig also completey dominated drum sales in the mid 60's to around the late 70's
The history of the business is replete with infighting.Employes leaving one drum company for another Like Cecil Strupe leaving Ludwig for his arch rival U.G.Leedy.
See what I mean.Sorry,I didn't mean to hijack the thread Andy,but it's somewhat related to drum company break ups,finance and politics.
Steve B