Whistle Categories > Asylum Whistles
Where did Asylum whistles originate?
Asylum whistles are almost all marketed by J. Hudson ( Acme ) of the UK. They are invariably stamped in conjunction with Metropolitan on the whistle, which has become almost synonymous with police whistle which it is not. On the other hand there is a confusing exception being an combination whistle by Dowler of a patented whistle that is actually stamped with constabulary, Hiatt’s Patent but yet is in reality an asylum whistle. Both of these companies were based in the UK. No other sources of asylum whistles are known.
How are Asylum whistles identified?
Each whistle must have a stamp on it identifying its asylum, hospital or mental hospital that it is issued for. This can come from the factory this way or be stamped at the facility from their own purchased tool. This makes it difficult to trace back to records of whistles sold by manufacturers such as Hudson, because an order of generic whistles may have come in and then they stamped them afterwards. With the exception of the combination of an escargot barrel and a beaufort ( conical ) whistle all others are tube shaped. Some have Porteous tops, some have regular top caps.
Why were they made?
Staff inside and out of the facilities, needed a way to call for assistance when things broke out when handling patients. The older asylums were dank, cold facilities with many accounts of prison lie circumstances. Little hope was held out and unrest could easily occur as well as conflagrations.
With the incorporated tooth grip design, they could be almost hands free when needed. Pictures exist of multiple whistles on key rings. In a large facility the whistle could carry a considerable distance, while other forms of communication and emergency notification had not existed yet.
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