TERMS:
WHISTOLOGY: The study of whistles, their history, functions, variations, manufacturers, dating, quality, sources, provenance and rarity.
For the Whistle Gallery website the bulk of the articles will be metal whistles. Facilitating the navigating of your research, access and use of our site, we hope to achieve a format of SPOTLIGHT construction you can access for a reliable worldwide data base.
This construction will allow us to revise and update the articles periodically. We can add photos as we receive whistles or pictures of whistles that need to be included to ‘round out’ and fill in the articles. We can also edit articles when more accurate information is unearthed due to unknown whistles. Perhaps a catalog can be included or an advertisement. This has proven to be superior to printed literature ( albeit non profit ) and we are left with a flexible and living resource.
WHISTORY: The background behind the families, the business(es), The geography and employees.
This will include the back ground of the manufacturers themselves as well as family and businesses records — as available on line. It may include information provided by other collectors, institutions, websites etc.
Gathering family back ground is important because in tracing family lines there sometimes can be confusion with similar names. The family trees in Ancestry and other sites can be recorded wrong ( and many times are ). Family research and trees are sometimes very thorough, sometimes not. Sometimes names are confused when a son has the same name and takes over the business.
Business records and addresses may be of use to other researchers ( and collectors ) such as cycling, antique gun collectors, police, military and the like. Addresses may reveal the dating of different whistles from the same manufacturer when they made the same models over a period of years. Also there may be relatives involved, coworkers came and went. So timelines are essential and constructed under this section. Businesses were taken over by other businesses.
We have paid for researchers’ time that could access public, private, university libraries or other data storage sites, due to the difficulty of time and expense traveling there. It is integrated under this section and noted in the bibliography.
We are integrating geographical maps now to see any relevance or patterns of growth or even misunderstandings.
WHISTLE ARCHEOLOGY:
Here we breakdown the whistles themselves into models, types, stampings known to exist, sizes, and uses. This will also include condition, materials and parts.
Advertisements and catalogs are presented here. They too can create a timeline.
PHOTOS : The actual whistles that are obtained and stored at the Whistle Gallery reference collection are organized and highlighted here – typified by our signal blue background photos. All the whistles for the articles are organized in the reference collection and available at all times.
When we cannot obtain a whistle due to rarity, timing, or cost we may choose other pictures which will have different backgrounds ( until they can be replaced when these whistles are obtained ) If they are posted by permission, we will include that under the photos. If we have not received permission, but need to include the picture for study purposes and cannot contact the owner we will present the picture and ask for permission publicly underneath . Copyrights will always be recognized. Whenever a guest article is sent in we will try to adhere closely to this same process.
Each section is also set up for addendums until the time that a revision can be done.
REFERENCE COLLECTION:
It is only possible to be accurate in the Whistology process when the actual whistles are here to be studied. Due to the need to see inside and study the manufacturing process that is many times like leaving a fingerprint, can the different characteristics be determined. That being the case, we strive to build the actual collection like a large filing system. Competition can be difficult and it can draw out the process, so that at times pictures have to suffice. We make every effort to gather and display for everyone as much as possible. However time and expenses will not allow but only a certain amount of whistles to be accrued.
That being said it will be an ongoing process, a living growing data base. Suggestions are always welcome and invited.
– TWG
Posted May 28, 2018
