Of course the top of a whistle is just one thing.

Now as you move down measure the length of the body only

Record

take a picture of the STAMP and pay close attenton to the lettering…..

—– everything that it says, size of the font, the direction of the words, the position compared to the windows, curved words….

Record.

Now the windows. The height on the tube, their size, their shapes ( many times each window is different from the opposite window) . If the window is crooked. How skinny.

The diameter of the body.

Reecord.

What's left ???

so, step by step — I know it is mudane but let's trudge thru…

A tube shaped whistle comes in from the posta office..

1) unpackage and look for damage — amazing what gets thru from those well angled pictures….

2) Clean outside with a brass wire brush

3) Clean inside using dental tools, tweezers, etc to get the dirt out and any LARGE balls of lint !!!!

4) Measure the length and width

5) compare to others — carefully as it is easy to overlook inportant details of inside manufacturing. Try to identify manufacturer. Dates etc

6) record everything.

7) take pictures ( plural )

8) cut and crop pictures

9) put in appropriate files for easy retrieval

10) Store whistle itself

Whew , rest. —If you are really into whistles like us we do this in groups and when time is allowable. Typical day off right ??

wow, what a week of recovery from the whistle booth at the antique show. Lots of talk about rare, old, antique whistles.
Then back to work 🙁 — you know, the 9-5 type …
But it is just a hobby right ?? Back to the real world.
In the mean time there is always whistle research. It is now the 13th and polishing a special SPOTLIGHT for posting on the 20th in just one week. Been working on this one for 5-10 years.
How does an article come together for a SPOTLIGHT you may ask ?? Good question !!
First one has to get the whistles, that usually takes many yeeeeeears.
Then, like the average collector, we can’t afford to travel that much, so we depend on the internet for clippings, articles, postings and other collectors research, not to say CATALOGs. This may take yeeeeears to collect too.
Then further, there are comparison whistles to find, catalog and take pictures of them all. Cut crop and clean lint off of….Oh, and all the files to organize.
Lastly the article outline, developing articles and more picture taking, picking and placements.
LAST, lastly proof read.
Wow, what’s more several articles have to be going at the same time as information rolls in, is unearthed or other details are revealed and updated.
All in all, takes two to four years or MORE to put together…

And you thought that they were just thrown on the web 🙂

So when you send money and whistles to us it makes it all worth it ??? — In all of our dreams !!!!! Ha !!!!

On the other hand reading the articles and then pushing that ‘like’ button on Facebook IS kinda rewarding….One can hope….

what are antique whistle tools ??

interesting question huh ??

They aren't antiques !!!

Tools of the trade though. Small ones at that too 🙂

Flashlights, magnifying glasses, piks, trays, brushes wow — who knew ??

what works best and what is a waste of time and money ??

interesting thoughts — what do you think ?? What has worked for you ???

hmmmm….

So excited had to tell someone. Really made a break through on research. Been trailing information for several years and finally landed on what I was looking for.

Should really help in a terrific SPOTLIGHT in the future.

But still, gotta add a few more researched facts to round it out.

Really could use a few more pictures too.

Perhaps a catalog.

Well, maybe in a year or so it will be ready.

Gotta plan ahead for each article ya know….

I guess I let the cat out of the bag too soon….. Wait it is still in the bag isn't it ??.

Last word on books,

Of course one of the most popular subjects of research is Police whistles — and so that is PERFECT that the theme and highlight of CPWs is not only that, but really unlocks the subject of METROPOLITAN  police issues from start to present. Now where can you get info like that on the web ???

Original stuff and seems so even today.

It is so much easier to understand this concept of police whistles after understanding the Metros huh ?? Cause then it is only a step away to understand OTHER police whistles.

After that it is so much easier to understand NON police issues.

Eventually one may grow to the point of the second of MG's books on whistles of different shapes and uses.Of course plastic is another subject altogether.

Now should we move on to sirens ????

Hmnmmmm…….

More on books ??

Names and divisions were created by the author so that you can communicate with other collectors and know what each one is talking about. You know, instead of saying that longish, stubby, fat, oval whistle…..  know which one I am talking about ?? of course not, but now you can.

Yup, Martin Gilchrist named them ( in CPWs and MWs ) and this provides some reference for us newbies 🙂

So of course there are chapters on whole subjects, like rounds, or GSWs.We follow the same names more or less on the website.

Then there are terrific parts illustrations to dissect.

And of course you can transport the books with you and guess what ?? The battery doesn't need recharging !!!

More ?????

Yup…..

another thing the whistle books are great for ?? They are copyrighted so there is information that is only in them.

For example — UK makers names indexed. in CPWs ( a few USA )

History in each maker that is original and copyrighted research.

Lists of information in CPWs like patents that have been accessed from Hudsons files and is also copyrighted.

Especially nice is the lising that is quite large of STAMPS that different makers used in the back of CPWs. A very nice research tool.

Years of makers business that has been researched out by the author.

Each whistle book has its info, but especially researched through Hudsons is CPWs.

More ??

OK……..

The most versatile thing about books is that they are very visual. One can scan them fast. Not only that you can look at two pages side by side and flip pages quickly yet still see all the pages. Mechanically a book works better than a website.

Now, as for information they are tied really. Both deliver.

You can write in your books too, highlighting however you like. You can write notes. Even insert things into the pages. Make it into a notebook for study and reference.

I have my books tabbed too for quick reference.

Oh, sure there are a lot of things that you can do with your computer which is great. But books have their own place.

It would help if there was a library of books on antique whistles, but alas there are only three ( well four if you count Dundas – mostly plastic whistles ) well done books. In fact really only two that are real deep.

All out of print, so getting therm is a little important before they are difficult to even obtain.

Anything else books are good for ??

Hmmmm….