Bass Drum, from the Fillmore Citrus Association Mexican Band: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This 29-inch bass drum was used by the Fillmore Citrus Association Mexican Band, which performed during the 1920’s and 1930’s and led by conductor, Manuel Lucero. The band primarily played throughout Ventura County, California and is known to have performed waltzes, polkas, tangos, and foxtrots, but also familiar Mexican numbers in parades, concerts, birthday parties, and other community celebrations such as July Fourth and Dieciséis de Septiembre celebrations.

The band was sponsored by The Fillmore Growers Association, an agricultural association that lobbied for the citrus industry, help set prices, set wages, manage labor housing programs, and organize public activities like fairs. Across Southern California, citrus growers installed company housing in order to recruit and maintain workers with families. As a result, large barrios or colonias of Mexican and Mexican American families formed in and around citrus farming areas of southern California. Leisure activities like sports teams and musical performances were sponsored, and at times controlled, by these associations as a way to help Americanize the foreign workers.

This type of “banda” or “orcesta” played a musical style similar to the brass bands of the eastern U.S. This interest in this type of music and the creation of these bands were formed, in part, to help create an American identity but the band members and colonias celebrating Mexican holidays and playing Mexican music, firmly kept a hold of their Mexican traditions and culture.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca 1920 - 1940
• maker: Ludwig Drum Company
• Object Name: drum
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: steel (overall material)
• Physical Description: paint (overall material)
• Physical Description: leather (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 18 in x 29 in; 45.72 cm x 73.66 cm
• used: United States: California, Fillmore
• ID Number: 2018.0213.01
• accession number: 2018.0213
• catalog number: 2018.0213.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Mary Lou Valdes
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.