This is a spectacular thread! Thanks!

I love these old sound effects and have stumbled upon a few myself, usually in dusty suitcases buried in school bandrooms. They were of course essential in the golden age of radio, but I read that they were also utilized in the pit of movie theaters to add sound effects to silent films, usually accompanied by an old upright piano.

In looking at the picture of the "holders", it strikes me that the one on the far left was for mounting a Chinese tom. Those toms had rings just the right size to fit over the top part of that mount, but not clear the bottom. Then the shell of the drum would keep it somewhat level. Damn. Could that be how they did it. I'm going to try it. In all the years those toms have been here I have never thought about how they mounted them.

A true Chinese tom holder needs a bottom support for the body of the drum in order to keep it up & level. The holders & support can be adjusted for the size of the ring & depth of the tom.

(pics of a Tom holder. The 2nd photo is a home made holder for a ??)

A learning experience here. Thank you! The only way that kind of mount works is with a nut and bolt arrangement. The other "tom" I have has that.

The painted artwork one doesn't. It only has a ring.Excited

Here are close ups of the two toms. One having only a ring, the other a nut and bolt arrangement.