I wonder how old slider whistles can get to be ?? I have seen them dating half way back into the 1800s. They seem pretty rustic too back then. Must be the diaphragm or what ever keeps the air from getting by or they would be much older. Can't be toooo much older, but I always have hope 🙂 

However the sound is interesting isn't it ?? In fact it isn't a whistle at all, but it does make a whistling sound, just variable. Apparently that is why they are more of a musical instrument than a 'whistle' per se.

Regardless, fun to say the least. Long too. Hard to put in the whistle case or whatever you store them in. But there are some that I just can't pass up and thereby is the dilemma ( def. — a choice between equally undesireable alternatives ) What do I do ??

I say we collect 'em !!!

Gotta be selective though. No new ones. Unfortunately, there are some nice ones in the 1920s, kinda new,  from different makers, but ….. argh !!! —– too bulky and well, you know, I am a purist at heart…… I'm torn….

That's the problem with this hobby. There are so many directions to go with I have to constantly patrol myself and throw out vectors to the direction I keep telling myself I want to go.

What to do, what to do…. know the feeling ???

whoda thunk ??? Yep, snails can have tongues !!! Just look up inside the mouthpiece of an escargot whistle and you will see it. Are you looking ?? OK then. Now you see a small plate that fits inside on the bottom side and curves down into the round air chamber. Know why that is there ?? Seems extra doesn't it ?? Well it is extra and for good reason.

It keeps the ball from jamming in there and helps to sustain that trilling noise when blown. But that isn't the reason we REALLY are gald for it is it ?? NOoooooo…. it is because they are all ( the tongues ) made so differently 🙂 And THAT helps identify manufacturers.

Oh, I know often we still don't know who made a particular whistle in the USA — because records are so difficult to unearth. But at least now you can group them into the same makers right ?? Half way there, sorta.

Just peek at the front of the whistle and say awwwww. Now compare and classify — good job !!! You are becoming an expert at a highly neglected area of whistle collecting —– the escargot. Swiftly becoming our favorite catagory:-)

When the British burned Washington in the War of 1812, the building that housed the Patent Office and General Post Office was the sole survivor. (That's where Congress had to meet during re-building.http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1932.htm

first fire—-

On the morning of December 15, 1836, the Patent Office, then located at the Blodgett's Hotel in Washington, D.C., was consumed by fire. Among the lost patent-related materials were an estimated 7,000 models and 9,000 drawings of pending and patented inventions. Also destroyed in the flames were the file histories of thousands of patents and pending applications; these losses were considered the most serious because without supporting documentation, a patent was not valid and an application could not be prosecuted.

In the 46 years prior to the fire, the United States government had issued about 10,000 patents. Congress acted to restore those records that could be reconstructed from private files and reproduce models, which were deemed the most valuable and interesting. Patents whose records were not restored were cancelled. There were a total of 2,845 patents restored.

second fire—–

About 11 o'clock on the morning of Monday, September 24, 1877, employees in the building discovered that dense clouds of smoke were issuing from the skylights of the building. Firemen were summoned immediately, but there was some delay in getting water to the fire because the fire was 80 feet above the street, and 20 feet above the water pressure in the hydrants.The major loss was of the drawings and the corresponding models for 31 older patents, leaving only the specifications from which to restore the patent. No patents were totally lost in the fire of 1877.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–It turns out that patents have been churned out continuously since July 31, 1790, when someone named Samuel Hopkins was granted the very first U.S. patent. It was issued for his “improvement in the making of Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new apparatus and process.” Potash, as you may know, has been used for centuries in the production of soap, glass, and fertilizer.

Hopkins’ patent, by the way, was not listed in the official records as #1, because until 1836, patents were listed by names and dates. A renumbering process began that year, because a fire in the patent office destroyed most of the records ——————————————- Ever do patent searches for whistles ???

Do you carry a whistle ?? I do. WHY you might ask ?? ( if not,  then I will ask it for us all 🙂

Safety of course, but also communication. Whistles do both don't they ?? And they are simulataneously both at once !! You can call everyone to you and at the same time repel someone too close to you. Pretty nifty huh ?? Of course it HAS TO BE HANDY !!! Won't do any good buried in a purse will it ??

We sell a LOT of cheap whistles just for — walkers, hikers, boaters, hunters, late nite shoppers…. they carry a long ways and they have a piercing level that does not get beat down by traffic, the waves or gunfire ( that's why the military used them ) or yelling schoolyards or playgrounds ??? Every teacher should have one or more. Even being used in industrial envirements again over the sound of all the machinery. On the jobsite the crane operators use them to warn of rising loads.

For me, I want one that is sturdy, yet has some history to it. Not just a cheap junker. So I picked a Pringle whistle circa 1950 from the UK. Light weight and a screamer as most escargots are. In fact a good call will rattle your eardrums if you really let loose. It is pure nickle silver so it polishes up nicely and still looks antique. The design is very light weight, yet very strong. Hand made at that !!! The top is not a knop but a thick wire tranversing the top with a slight bend for the ring to attach and then on to my keychain.

We recommend escargot whistles. They carry farther than the tube shaped ones. No boater should be on the water without one on their key chain. All vests should have a small one. All hunters and hikers should have one ( and GPS of course ) Well, you get the picture, however it is a sound thing now isn't it ??

I keep bumping into a few overlapping ideas or concepts and thought we might look a little closer 🙂 

hallmarks, makers marks and trademarks and patents, so here goes some unravelling….

Registered trademarks are personal cloices of some sort of image design ( symmbol ) or name etc. that the manufacturer makes and some how puts on their product.(  For metal it was stamped, back in the day. ) Be it a  product, a sign, a metal item — whatever. The point being they registered it with an authority and people recognized it.as theirs, hopefully a catchy symbol or name.

Makers marks  are in all reality whatever amounts to what a trademark does. Pretty much the same thing. However Ii is used in the hallmark scheme. Small and in line with the other marks.

Patents refer to the design characteristics or the actual invention. No symbols at all involved here. Even plants can be patented !!!

Lastly we come to Hallmarks. Now here we have some history. Also some rules. Different countries, different rules too.

First consider that when precious metals are used ( let's use silver for our discussion ) There needs to be some aggreement by all that what is said is silver — is actually silver right !!! And the proper purity.  Probably not good to have the fella selling it verify it too !!! Kind of a conflict of interests. However perhaps they are a reputable silversmith or company and then they could. The hallmark amounts to his reputation, repeat sales and his location. Kind of a signed guarantee on each item.

Second there needs to be some agreed upon or accepted marking scheme that tells who made it, dates, regions and basically a traveling pedigree that goes along with the item — say a whistle for instance 🙂

How do we apply this info, which is brief to say the least, to whistles ??  One thing is that for nickle plated brass, brass, copper, steel, pewter, brittania, tin and what amounts to all other non-precious metals you won't find hallmarks. Although you might find makers marks or symbols, names — even registered at times. Simple enough I suppose.

Now we rarely see gold whistles, but do see silver ones a lot. ( Newer ones have the .925 stamp of purity is all ) Although sketchy on teethers rattles and such, many silver whistles come with hallmarks and this is terrific when it comes to identifying the makers and dating them. Albeit they will usually be silversmiths and not specifically whistle manufacturers. To be sure sometimes makers like Hudson did specifically make silver hallmarked models.

So, there you have it. Or at least a chunk of it…. check out the hallmark link for fun in our new Links section. Perhaps we can add some more countries soon.

where in the world did the Fleur de Lis come from anyway ?? I see it all the time associated with scout whistles. Stamped right up front and whyyyyyy ?????

The fact that this symbol dates way back into antiquity is not really helping me on this hunt, but is interesting anyway. Again I ask — what does an iris flower have to do with scouting ?? Especially BOY scouts !!!! Not sounding like a very 'manly' direction huh ?? ( I know myself, cause I get picked on all the time for all my  plants I like to grow — bamboo, maples, tillandsias, cacti, cycads, fuscias,  well you get the picture…oh and lichens, love those rock lichens, yeah and liverworts too.) 

Seems it is more related to compasses than French coat of arms or shields or whatever else seemingly more pertinent on the world scene —– that  it was actually semi adopted for. You know, big stuff >> city emblems, countrie emblems etc.

Yup, compasses — whoda thunk ??? It was used to mark north on the compass. Well sorta. Seems it was added just above the pattern in the compass. So in a general sense, it  is a north indicator or more accurately an up pointer. Positive, almost heavenly 🙂 …. Whatever.

Baden Powell liked it doing that I guess and decided to make that a symbol he could get into for the scouts 'movement' and a directional modifier. Yah, just boils down to a pointy iris hit the spot he was looking for.

So on to the badges and on to the whistles —-  used around the world. You can see them on French scout whistles, American, British, Chinese, and on and on. >>>>>> It is ubiquitous now.

Coulda been a mountain, or a geyser, or a giant rock like down in Austraslia……… Nope, a flower….

wanna know how to really save on whistles ??? Buy a poster !!! Then you will have a whole collection to look at and spend a fraction !!! Annnnnd  you can save pictures from the net all the time and they are free too !!! A whistle collector of fine pictures of whistles.

Ours took two years to get the lighting right !!! We used a skylight for over head day light. Then we used BOUNCE lighting and finalled it with direct lighting. Full spectrummmmm of course 🙂

Why all the trouble ?? Because when you put a dark whistle with age old patina next to a gold whistle that never tarnishes and next to THAT you put a nickle silver whistle that is slightly shiney….well the lighting becomes a nightmare to photograph !!

Add to that the shelves with little hooks hanging whistles under them and there you have very difficult shading issues.

You can see part of the poster on the home page of the website. The full one can be framed. We display it at the antique shows we sell at and nobody buys them — why you ask ?? Because it is soooo real looking that customers think that it is a real display of whistles !!! Very good renditon I must say. 30 dollars delivered anywhere in the states and 35 dollars anywhere else !!!

Just think, never have to spend another penny on a whistle and yet have a world class collection !!!! Shipped right away in a protective tube. Then all you have to do is frame it the way you want.

I would say that we were tooting our own horn, but that would just be innapropriate for our website don't ya think  ???

…if a picture is worth a thousand words then I must have billions of words about whistles stored away !!! Now just think about that for a minute ( cause that's all I am writing for anyway )

That means when you are researching you can research your own treasure troves !!!

BUT you gotta save those pictures huh ?? Copy and paste—SAVE AS…. But more than that, what to do with them, where to put those pix ???

FILES of course. Just need to get ooooooorganized is all 🙂

So create some files and name them like beaufort and escargot etc. If you are OCD then you might create sub files inside those files. And if you are CDO ( same thing but alphabatized of course ) even more sub files.

The main thing would be to be able to find them again or they won't be much of an aid to your research.

well, yes and no,  is the answer for today's heading. They don't have to be  !!!!

yes, if it is popular, no if it is obscure and out of the limelight. Some are high profile and some literally nobody cares about. The ironic thing is that some times these are fantastic whistles !!! —- NO REALLY !!!

Connoiseur — a person with special knowledge or appreciation of a field, esp in the arts. So with just the tiniest bit of appreciation for varieties of rare whistles, you can be eclectic enough to be choosy and scoop up some real prizes — for cheap !!!. Aaaaaaand that makes you a connoiser of rare and fine whistles.

However it is a lonely road my friend. After all, who do you talk to about your latest find ?? Obscure whistles in an obscure field of whistle collecting !!!

Here's the thing though…would you rather be collecting something that EVERYONE wanted and find a couple things to share after spending half your life searching for those once in a life time ( or twice ) bargains ?? OR would feel like you hit the jackpot because hardly anyone notices something of real value ?? And you are finding LOTS !!!!!

Well, you might say if nobody notices them, then there is no value and I'm crazy for thinking so. Wishful thinking. Whistles are just trinkits. Toys. Baubels…..

Works for me….just keep thinking that way     🙂

time for a pilgrimage again. One more try in California for a whistle sale. Last time we bombed. After spending two days driving ( ten hours each way ) and doing it in a weekend, we netted a grand total of 300 dollars !!!

Not the way to make a living is it ?? Not even worth it for a hobby I might add. However it might be worth it for another reason….. Ground floor… starts at the bottom.

You see that starting from nothing has its drawbacks,— but ya gotta start there on a new hobby. Such a wonderful new hobby has to catch on and a little slow at first is acceptable losses one might surmise.

And that affects our growing collections too. Just might have to kiss a few toads before you get to the prince or princes, when buying whistles. Yeah, nobody likes to waste money, but there is a definite learning curve !!!

As one's taste improves, there is the inevitable culling and rotating out. Some for cheapness that irritates you, some just because you are getting your sea legs and your taste changes.

Looking back on my records I see that in the last 5 years whistles have across the board DOUBLED in prices.

That's a pretty good investment if you consider that this happened right through the recession !!!

NOW perhaps only making 300 dollars is not soooo bad AND is great advertising AND a profit to boot !! In fact we are thinking of going to Denver now for another antique ( and whistle ) show !!! Why not see where these little whistles will take us ??

interesting that in just two days of having a counter on the site we have had over 300 hits …..hmmmmmm….is that a whistle I heeeeeeear……