On Thursday nights during the summer months, the sounds of the Naperville Municipal Band can be heard in Central Park. The Naperville Municipal Band was chartered by the State of Illinois in 1928 but had its roots in both the Naperville Brass Band of 1859 and the Naperville Light Guard Band organized in 1867. But it’s not just the band making music in Naperville.
Theodore M. Koeder, one of the signers of the 1928 state charter was a music teacher, trumpet player and horn manufacturer. His shop was located on the southeast corner of the alley and School Street between Columbia and Julian Streets. The small building resembles a concrete block garage. Koeder custom-made and repaired trumpets, cornets, alto horns, trombones and mellophones for more than 50 years. David Anderson wrote, “I remember as a child watching Mr. Koeder repair my father’s trumpets in his shop. . . He custom crafted the bells and tubing off a giant belt lathe, which hung from the ceiling. Awesome!”
Jacob “Jack” Zumer, an Austrian immigrant built a home and “factory”on Radcliff Road where he made drums and drum heads. Zumer made toy drums 7 inches wide to large professional drums 70 inches wide. In 1948, Zumer, his wife Katherine and one other employee, Bob Komanski, made up the whole of his company which was one of only three in the United States that made drums. Zumer said his drums were, “the best by all tests” thanks to his secret formula that he used to cure the goat, calf and slunk hides he bought from the Chicago meat processors. He used the goat hides to make toy drums and the calf hides to make bass drums, banjos, and kettle drums. The slunk hides were used to make snare drums.
There are Koeder horns in the collection at Naper Settlement, but we are looking for Zumer drums. Let’s keep making the music!
