Spotlight > Whistle Categories > Round > 061
A remarkable ‘round’ whistle appeared on the scene and we would like to present it here for examination in our latest SPOTLIGHT.
It is truly unusual with an angled six sided top. Even more so, is the use of aluminum as a metal. The size is large for a round and so far it is mono typical. We hope the maker made more models.
Let’s look closer now…
It has a wooden pea and steel ring. Both of these points indicate some age, dating it to the early part of the 1900s.
It is very heavy for aluminum, being of one solid piece. Then the fipple is inserted and pinned from each side.
Aluminum is a common element and metal. However is does corrode or oxidize, but is still favorable to work with.
The ring is drilled front to back which is unusual. Also of note is the tooth grip. Tooth grips are more common to see in the UK and German whistles.
It appears to be part of the original stock piece and not attached afterwards creating extra work for the maker.
The hole is crudely drilled and off center indicating that it is hand made.
Each of the six sides to the top is different, which again would reflect handmade status.
Then the top is flattened off.
The most common metals used for whistles are brass, silver, tin, etc. To find such a well-made and handmade whistle at that, an aluminum whistle is very unusual and of worthy of note. One wonders who the manufacturer was and what other whistles if any that they produced.
Was it a truly monotypic whistle or designed for production ? Certainly no registered designs or patents have been found. It has not surfaced in any catalogs.
The pins are steel and after the fipple was inserted it itself was filed down, but left with rough file marks.
Lastly compare to a large escargot for size comparison.
A real treat was finding such a different whistle design. Ones like this continue to open our eyes to look outside the box and not to confine our thoughts as to how whistles should look.
-TWG
Posted August 5, 2016
