The Ludwig Drum Company was established in 1909
by William F. & Theobald Ludwig, sons of a German immigrant to
the United States.
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.
The company started with a concept for the design and manufacture of a
functional bass drum pedal.
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.
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. 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.
In 1937, William bought a factory building and started The WFL
Drum Company (his initials).
The company continued producing drums at a small scale for the duration of World
War II.
However William got back to the idea of making the company a large drum
manufacturer after the war ended.
WFL was a competitor with Ludwig and Ludwig.
Conn combined their two drum brands into one in the early 1950s, forming Leedy
& Ludwig, and then decided to quit the drum business altogether.
In 1955, William and his son Bill Jr. were able to buy the Ludwig trademark
back from Conn, and over the next few years their company and its products
transitioned from the WFL brand to being called "Ludwig"
again.