There is a strong claim made by one Lloyd Valentine Williams that the globally adored but once loathed steel frying pan was actually conceived in Curepe and not in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad. Williams also claims that it was he, during his childhood, who invented the famous instrument as a toy for him and his impoverished siblings to play.
The people of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as all over the planet, have long heard and become accustomed to the fact that the frying pan is an invention from Port of Spain that came through the ‘music’ of garbage cans or the ‘ music’ played on cans of paint, milk and putty. This story line claims that a shriller during the ‘Carnival’ of 1935 forced string bandleader Alexander Forde of Alexander’s Ragtime Band to summon the band members of him by hitting a trash can multiple times. His actions, the story goes, not only had the desired effect of regrouping the band members and bringing them home, but inadvertently gave rise to the ‘garbage can musical craze’ that ‘flooded ‘ the streets the following year. Lloyd Valentine Williams, who was born in Woodford Street, Curepe in 1934, refutes this notion as complete and utter nonsense. ‘Why,’ said Williams, ‘would a string band equipped with set instruments use trash cans for music?’ But there’s also more to this story about the famous string band of yesteryear. The Alexander Ragtime Band is known to have taken its name from an American film of the same name, but that film was not released until 1938, three years after the bandleader’s legendary actions on the streets of Port of Spain.
Another claim to the invention of the steel pan was made by George Goddard, who claimed in his book that a Laventille man named Fred Corbin was, in 1937, the first to touch tin pans on the hills overlooking downtown Puerto Rico. Spain. These, of course, were containers used for paint, milk, putty or other basic products and not actual musical instruments with notes tuned by the heat of the fire. These could not have been anywhere near what is now known as the steel pan because the city’s longstanding ordinance against setting fires was still intact. “Any hint of smoke,” according to Williams, “would have warranted a visit from the fire brigade and police.” Therefore, this eliminated any kind of genuine tuning in Port of Spain. He claims that both units were one and the same when he was a child.
I won’t consider the Winston ‘Spree’ Simon story, which is as bogus as it sounds, but during my own research into the origin of the instrument, all I found were short fragmentary accounts here or mythical vignettes passed down in 10 different ways there; nothing concrete, substantially, or consistently coherent was or is available. Over time many of these stories grew into facts and have been the basis of books, documentaries, speeches and anecdotes. It was only when I came in contact with the experiences of Lloyd Valentine Williams that I inhaled the scent of the truth about the invention of the only musical instrument of the 20th century. After all, something must come from somewhere; There must be a beginning and it surely wasn’t with garbage cans and paint cans which are ridiculous.
According to Mr. Williams, ping-pong, as it was then called, began with his wish for a squirrel. When his sister told him that one would easily fall unconscious from the guava tree where they regularly frolicked if they repeatedly struck a can with a piece of wood, the young Williams accepted the challenge. Unable to find a can, Williams found a galvanized basin and hit it furiously with a piece of guava branch that produced nothing; no squirrel fell. The only things he accomplished were dents in the sink and an indulgent scolding from his mother, who was told by his mischievous sister that the tasks required of him were neglected.
But that was when Williams’ stepfather, a cruel man who worked at the Public Works department shop in Laventille, began bringing home 25-gallon cut-up steel drums to use as feeders to feed the greedy pigs of the town. family, that the first steel pan or what was then known as ping-pong began to take shape. Williams told me that he had always been fascinated by sounds of all kinds and claimed that the sound emanating from his mother’s sewing machine was the first that captivated him. This later led him to play or bang on old pieces of iron from railway tracks, the metal barrow wheel, and the old dawn cracker drum, among other things. Williams also made it clear that although he was never a musician, he was always drawn to sound.
He claims that after denting his ‘squirrel basin’, he took a piece of coal and scored four points on the
Sorry piece of galvanized and started playing with it like a toy. The 25-gallon pig feeder, according to Williams, was even more attractive as a toy; ‘after all,’ she said, ‘we as poor children did not have the china doll or toy soldier to play with, we had to make our toys out of the dung heap in our backyards.’ As with the dented sink, he scored four points based on the wheelbarrow wheel segments with a lump of coal and grooved them with a piece of an old hammer and the edge of a worn bicycle pedal. This crude ‘instrument’ which he claims was actually the first ping-pong/pan. The first time it was ‘played,’ Williams said, was on Christmas morning in 1940. He claims existing iron bands in town would get together around Christmas time and play music in people’s homes and were intrigued when they saw his little steel toy. An iron gang leader and bike repairman named Clebert, but better known as ‘Shanghai’, was the first to adopt his little ping-pong table for iron gangs to use. Williams claims that Clebert then modified his ping-pong by heating it (or tuning it) into an instrument worthy of being played alongside iron pieces at Christmas. He also states that at this time it was never used during masquerade or carnival; that party had had its own musical instruments for a long time. The fire ordinance that affected Port of Spain had little effect on Curepe, Williams said, as almost all areas outside the city were unofficially considered “country.” This is very believable because even today many Port of Spain residents refer to most places, even built-up areas outside of the city, as ‘country’. It may sound a bit strange, but this is something I have personally experienced.
Williams said that it was the travelers on the train that passed through Curepe who began to spread awareness of the instrument after hearing the beautiful music it made. The first place outside of Curepe, he says, to use the steel pan was the southern city of Siparia, which used it during its La Divina Pastora festival. From there it was taken on excursions to the beaches and played every Christmas, but never for the masquerade or carnival which had been dominated by white Roman Catholics.
Williams claims that while Port-of-Spain had rhythm sections, tamboo bamboo, brass, and string bands, they knew nothing about ping-pong or pan. He said the first man to introduce the city to the new instrument was Mango Rose, owner of the Laventille club (bookmaker), Teddy Kingsale, who frequented Curepe and immediately took a liking to ping-pong. Williams said Kingsale brought a young man from Curepe named ‘Ratones’ to his club to play the instrument to the delight of onlookers, some of whom have probably never seen or heard the instrument played before. It was after World War II, Williams said, that the steel frying pan began to make waves and was included in the VE (Victory Over Europe) and VJ (Victory Over Japan) Day street parades of 1945. Williams said its popularity in Port -of-Spain lit up when a Calypsonian whose name he can’t remember sang a song that said “Port of Spain almost caught fire when the steel band crosses the dry river, Ziglee, Pops and Batasby playing a halftone tune, jung-bang -ka-jung-bank-ka-jung-bank-ka”. This song, according to Williams, clearly says that the steel band came from out of town and caused quite a stir coming in. Existing city bands were also unable to play a full tune due to the instruments they had at the time.
Port of Spain would later dominate and claim the steel pan as its own and a movement gradually developed in the city. But while Williams was an integral part of the developing steel band scene, he never became a pan player or musician. His vocation was mechanics and personal privations coupled with private ambition forced him to seek his daily bread. At the same time, innovators and players such as Ellie Mannette, Neville Jules and Winston ‘Spree’ Simon began to emerge as the 55-gallon oil drum was introduced and fine-tuned in Port of Spain, later released from the fire ordinance. And as Williams’ trials and tribulations increased, his expertise at the pig trough and the genius of ‘Shanghai’ were lost in the mist of new fantastical tales that began to spring up around town about the birth of the saucepan. . Williams said that he clearly remembers Neville Jules coming to Curepe to learn how to tune the cymbal.
Several names are mentioned today in connection with the steel pan and its origin; Lloyd Valentine Williams is not among them because, according to him, his life took a different turn and as mentioned before, he was never a musician; he just a lover of sound and rhythm. Without thinking, everyone who ventures into this subject makes the grave mistake of claiming that the steel skillet was invented by a ‘pan man’ or that it was invented in a ‘pan yard’ somewhere. But this could never be; there could not have been such things before the instrument was invented. And it was called ping-pong long before it was called a steel pan.
Space wouldn’t allow me to include everything Williams passed on, but there’s much more to learn about the fascinating experiences of a man who claims he was just trying to create a toy for himself and his siblings to play with on Christmas morning since birth. . the parents were too poor to buy store-made gadgets for them. However, Williams stands out above the rest when it comes to an authentic story surrounding the origin of the steel skillet. He has lived in the United States; he worked for General Motors; owner of his own homes, vehicles, and businesses; and even visited National Invention Services Inc, in New York in 1994. He also attempted to relay his version of events to the likes of George Goddard, Kim Johnson, Aldwyn Primus, Rocky McCullen, and JW Lynch, but was ignored or shut down. But why would such a man want to lie about an instrument whose origins are buried in myth and legend? And worse still is the ostensible desire of those at the helm to keep his genesis shrouded in mysterious and fantastic stories and flimsy pontifications like divine inspiration. As previously stated, all things must have an origin; they must come from somewhere, there is always a beginning. And no serious academic or intellectual would grant credibility to any ‘divine inspiration’.
Although Lloyd Valentine Williams claims to have invented the original table tennis/steel skillet, he always praises the innovation of well-known skillet exponents who contributed to the development of his little Christmas toy. Interested people can follow the link below to get the enlightening and educational experience in its entirety, as this article doesn’t count even half.