Leedy was highly successful in the early twentieth century,[1] and was at one point the largest manufacturer of drums and other percussion instruments in the world.

[5] Leedy took a liking to the instrument, later joining the 15th Regimental Drum Corps as a teenager and the Fostoria town band and orchestra as a young adult.

After taking the job as a trap set player for the English Hotel and Opera House, Leedy settled in Indianapolis.

Starting in 1895, Leedy and his roommate, Sam Cooley (a clarinetist for the English Hotel and Opera House orchestra), sold drums out of their apartment.

In 1897, and with only fifty dollars between the duo, they bought a room in the basement of the old Indianapolis Cyclorama Building and formally established themselves as the Leedy-Cooley Manufacturing Company.

Wanamaker was successful as a designer, having worked as an engineer and business owner in the Cyclorama Building (where he met Leedy) prior to joining the company.

During his tenure, he helped Leedy develop and patent an early snare drum strainer that allowed the wires to be moved away from the bottom head as a single unit.

[13] The next year, in 1903, the Cyclorama Building was demolished, and Leedy built his first factory at the corner of Palmer Street and Barth Avenue.

[18][19] Another important addition to the Leedy staff was Cecil H. Strupe, who was brought on as chief engineer, replacing Jefferies who was instead relegated to the foreman of the machine shop.

[27] The failure of the Knob Tension line, combined with other financial difficulties and a desire to expand into the production of electric organs, led to C. G. Conn selling its drum divisions in 1955.

[30] Slingerland started producing drums under the Leedy name shortly after purchase, marketing the brand to dealers as the budget option.

[33] Before his death, U. G. Leedy founded the General Products Corporation in 1930 as a way to take care of employees during the Great Depression that did not wish to move to Elkhart.

However, the brand was discontinued in 1946 after C. G. Conn was found stamping lower quality UFIP cymbals with the logo which led to Zildjian threatening to sue.

In 1921, Winterhoff perfected the design by instead inserting circular discs into the resonators that could be spun by means of an electric-powered motor and a drive belt.

Originally dubbed "vibratone bells", George Way later gave it its name, "vibraphone", and began to market it in small batches between 1924 and 1929.

[48] Due to this rising popularity and Leedy's neglect to patent the instrument, Deagan began to sell their own version under the name "vibraharp" beginning in 1927.

[51] Leedy enlisted the help of Mike Pingitore, banjoist for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, to create six different models in 1926.

[52][53] The idea of getting into the string instrument market was a source of friction between George Way (who opposed it) and Cecil Strupe (who spearheaded the investment).

Way later argued in letters to C. G. Conn president Carl D. Greenleaf that it was the fault of the failed banjo line that Leedy ended up selling the company.

[55] Another was the "octa-marimba" or "octarimba", a variation upon the marimba, that had two adjacent bars tuned one octave apart, with corresponding resonator sizes, for every note.

[59] To find cows that were large enough, Leedy worked with Kingan & Company, a local butchery, who provided two cattle, each weighing over 2,000 pounds (910 kg).