QUESTION:

What is the difference between multi-chamber whistles and multi-tube whistles ??

Well, that subject came up recently looking into my whistle books. You know what ?? I had them confused !!

YAH, I have been calling whistles with more than one chamber inside as just regular whistles like police and general service whistles. The confusing part is that they still are until ….. there are 3 or more chambers. I suppose….

On the other hand a whistle with more than one tube is a multi-tubed whistle not multi-chambered of course.

SOOOOOOOO…. do I reclassify all my multi-chambers as multi-tubes ??? ——- nah!!!

Why not ??? Because of that problem with the fact that ALL tube shaped whistles for over a hundred years have more than one chamber inside.
So rather than split the subject ( good pun huh ? ) we will call all multi-tube whistles multi-chambers ( as they technically are anyway ) and call all tube shaped whistles with one, two or more internal chambers — as they are. ( i.e.police, general service, tube shaped )

got that ?? …. I am not sure I do…..

Who is making DeCourcy whistles now ?? I dunno.

I can tell you this though, he would die all over again to see what his name is being put on. Cheap and poor imitations–in fact not even imitations !! More like putting the Goodyear name on a doughnut.

Then there are all those ‘genuine’ Auld round whistles with Britannia and other ships names that have sunk a million years ago ( OK a hundred ) and are JUST NOW SURFACING !!!! Wow !!! Museum whistles from the Titanic—

OR they could just be trying to capitalize off another quality whistle maker — but wait, they aren’t that poorly made are they??

Now I am torn…

question — When is a Dowler whistle NOT a Dowler whistle ??

Answer — when  it is a DeCcourcy ( or Hudson for that matter ).

HOW DOES THAT WORK ?? I don’t understand !!!

That’s why buying books is so important to the whistle collector/seller !!!! That’s right, you can’t get everything you need off ‘the net’. You have to sift through those pages of books and know the back ground on the writers and their history too. Good news my friends, there are only three books to get.

For example, Dowler abandoned manufacturing whistles after 1904 and SUBCONTRACTED  their whistles out to Hudson and DeCourcy —-  ( read about it and look at the pictures ) —-  see page 57 of Collecting Police Whistles (1998 ) by Martyn Gilchrist and Simon Topman

Here is a DeCourcy with its patented top ring and Dowler’s name on it !!!

So it turns out that Hudson did the same thing. However it is only in the book that you learn that Dowler lent out their tools and punches, so that everything looked the same. Ironically that makes any Dowler manufactured whistles from that era rare 🙂 Odd huh ??

What about whistles that do not have distinctive patented characteristics like this DeCourcy top ring, what else is there to look for ?? How do I tell if it is a genuine Dowler whistle then and not what would be sorta like a knock-off 🙂 ? — in reality how do I get what I paid for ?? OR how do I sell the genuine article — if I say it is a Dowler whistle ?? After all all three manufacturers put Dowler’s name on their whistles ??

This original information about who made what,  was put together from the records at Hudson’s that Simon Topman made available and helped Martyn Gilchrist collate when he was preparing the book. This book is jammed pack with original research information !!!!! AND it is OUT OF PRINT.

The more you know….well the more you know….

consonance and dissonance —- are they opposing ??

sound can be amplifying, cancelling, proactive, reactive.

Hollow sounding, crying, piercing, shrill, provoking, startling, shocking….

One window, two windows, three windows, four windows…chambers can match, they can be of different lengths – all of which alters the finished sound.

The amount of air blown and intensity can raise or lower the pitch, in other words manipulating each and every whistle sound.

And why is dissonance so unsettleing ??? What deeper emotional string does dissonance tug on ???

For Pete's sake…..isn't it just a whistle ???

How do I date my whistle ?? Good question 🙂

Start with — how old does it look ??

Then, what does it say on it ?? Can you research that first ??

Who made it ( you can date their company )

Look at the parts inside.

What was it used for ( a certain ear ? )

OR

Send pix to the whistle gallery — its free      🙂

Let's get something straight. The pea inside your whistle does not make it whistle, well the sound of a whistle anyway.

Now, you might think that I am being a jerk, but seriously, do you really understand at all what makes a whistle whistle ?? It comes up a LOT……

For most of you it is a no brainer. It is all about the window and the angle of the air passing through. But regularly one gets a remark that there is no pea —- so the whistle may or may not work !!!

Sorta like saying that the car may not run, cause there ain't any raaaaaadio.

Or maybe my guitar may not work, because there are not strings — now wait, that actually MAKES SENSE !!!!

Now, there could have been a pea, or cork ball or wooden ball — even a little stone — BUT ALL DO THE SAME thing !!!!

What's that you ask ?? …… TRILL….. Yup, that's it !! The long unanswered secret to those little balls inside those whistles. —- little trillers all this time and we thought they were much more involved and needed.

Nah, you see you don't even need them to have the whistle work.

Just trilless without them…

who made my beaufort whistle  ??

Field Parker ??

Fields??

R.B.Potter

J. Reid

Priest

Shaw brothers

There's more !!! All listed above are distributors !!!! Not makers ??????? NO….

What's the diff ?? GOOD QUESTION !!!

Ever buy a T-Shirt and advertise the person or image stamped on the shirt ?? Rock group, place or event ??

Well, hardware, gun companies, and others stamped their name on whistles and sold them through their shops. There were even distributors that sold their whistles to police forces which had the police force on the whistle , but alllllllllllso their own name stamped on the whistle too.

So, beyond the stamped company name —— is still the mystery of whooooooo made your beaufort whistle !!!

Outside the box there are a LOT of whistles that come and go that get little attention. What do we mean by that ?? Good question.  A better question might be — where are the whistles ??

The big three get all the attention don't they ??

UK
USA
France

Why is that ?? Well, three books written in the UK — reason number one
Lots of whistles made in the USA back to mid 1900s
Very creative whistles were made in France back to the same time if not longer.

So a direct answer would be that the whistles are mainly there.

HOWEVER not ALL the whistles are there !!!

India has tons of whistles, if not mostly cheaply made.
China has a tremendous amount of whistles to be seen yet.
Argentina has been slow lately but has terrific whistles ( although many come from France and Germany !! )
Eastern European countries are starting to release some interseing ones now
Germany has fantastic whistles, but alas, many have been melted down 🙁

keep trolling and fish where the others don't go or look —  and your collection will really widen out !!!!

recently we received a few questions that perhaps you have been thinking about ??

"is there such a thing as a "retail" price for 'antique' whistles" ??

Great question Bob. However retail is quite subjective.…you asked several  questions though, and they are ones that never go away and even haunt you after your purchase. It is the battle of all collectors. Let’s deal with retail today.  In the end it is almost always price first to deal with.

Price  –  if one can afford it
Price  — if one feels that it is so important whistle that they reach for it anyway
Price  —  if one forgoes others to meet an overall personal budget
Price  — if it is an investment

I repeat,  retail is subjective. If it goes to an auction house like Christie’s or such it can go quite high, but does that set the retail price?? Hardly. If it sells off my website it will have a higher price on average because of my costs and expertise identifying the whistle, maker, etc. Also I have my costs involved maintaining the site. At an antique booth or boot sale in the UK one finds better prices.

Perhaps a seller on eBay or other on line auctions knows the rarity and won’t budge. For example a TANK acquired recently, established what I would call retail – for now anyway.

As always, SUPPLY  and  DEMAND  is always a huge factor !!!! Most people have little interest in whistles. But now move into an arena with a small cirle of collectors and the playing field has changed !!!!

I think that perhaps you are wondering if there is a relative value and the answer would be yes, ( with provisos ) I will try to give you a relative scale I find has developed over the years I have been trading within.

Common – up to 50 dollars
Scarce  —– up to 150 dollars
Rare ——– up to 300 dollars
V.Rare –—  up to 700 dollars
?? ———-  higher

So one needs to decide where the whistle falls and then the other factors set in that we will address next visit.

Still uneasy ?? Welcome to my world….