As a kid growing up in the 60’s and 70’s there were many of great parts of American culture that made being a kid so much fun, especially at Christmas time, we had the big department stores of the old days. I lived in the “big city” of Minneapolis so we had all the major department stores: Sears, JC Penney, Montgomery Ward, and Woolworth’s.
Department stores were great for the entire family, sometimes kids got a whole floor of fun stuff just for them, (after riding up and down the escalators or elevators a few times). Woolworth’s was one of the big dogs of the era, right up there with Sears and Penneys, and they like the rest, sold musical instruments.
Many of the department stores had brand names they owned apart from their own name, Sears had Silvertone and Penneys had Penncrest. These brands would be used on everything from drums to guitars to radios to cameras and so on. Woolworth’s brand was Audition, which was used primarily on electronics and musical instruments but it even extended to a record label!
Woolworth’s did sell drums for many years, but unlike the other big department stores, they were not a catalog company by which we could document what and when they sold drums. So all we have are the drums themselves to tell the story.
My Audition snare drum is a late 60’s standard Star made drum with 6 Slingerland style lugs, Zoomatic style strainer, standard tone control, 6-ply Luan shell (without re-rings), round bearing edges, triple flange hoops, and a Gold Sparkle Pearl finish (AKA: “Orange Sparkle”). As a typical student model I bet it got much love and attention from its original owner, hopefully driving the family and neighbors a little crazy!
I was able to find three different badges for Audition drums. The earliest appears to be the oval badge which was pretty rare and found on Hoshino (K) made drums from their sticksaver era. The next is the silver badge which is similar to the aluminum rectangle Star badge from the mid to late 60’s. The last badge is my favorite logo of the bunch, it has the old school microphone as a background to the “A”. This badge appears to also be exclusive to Star manufactured drums.
Maybe I’m alone in this, but there is something cool about owning things share a brand name with my old drum! (And yes they all work.)
To all you drummers out there, maybe try to make this Christmas season like it was when you were a kid, and if you didn’t have such a great time as a kid, make the season like it should have been for you back then. And if you aren’t hitting the stores with family, maybe go on a virtual adventure through the internet with them. Then finally cap it all off by being a little silly, make a little noise, play a lot of music, and laugh with your family and friends. If we do it right the next generation will be nostalgic for these days.
Merry Christmas my drumming friends! Have a safe and happy New Year! Marc