Of course we are limiting our scope to old metal whistles when we ID old whistles
silver whistles are not under discussion either ( especially if they have hallmarks anyway )
Tin whistles we eschew.
What’s left for our discussion ?? Mostly old metal whistles.

Back to the hunt….here are some clues….

1) stamps ( yup we are looking at the stamps again, who may be just a distributor but now it works to our advantage )

The question is who manufactured that particular stamp ??? How would we know ??
records have to be kept. Lists compiled. Pictures help even more…

What kind of project are we talking about ?? Takes work initially but SOMEONE…..

So in detective work it isn’t a slam dunk like in basketball is it. At least not for us short guys !!!

So we have talked about false ID for a whistle because of a makers stamp that is a true maker, but not the most recent maker of that particular whistle. Confused ?? Of course, that’s why it is addicting.
Then you now add in ALL the ‘distributers’ who put their own name on the whistles they sell and that can be a LOT of names stamped on them whistles who NEVER made a whistle !!!
Ultimately you will get to figuring out simply — who made it — cause…. there isn’t ANY name on it !!!
Now what ?? — gotta find one that DOES have a name on it….

So the next thing to think about to get to the bottom of ‘who made my whistle’ is a major red herring..

Distributor stamps !!!

Say for example Winchester. Big name in the collecting world. No name in the whistle world !! WHY is that ?? — didn’t actually make whistles !!!!!

Then there is Spaulding, Horstmann, Aird, Dardevle, Wright and Ditson, and oh how the list progresses !! Maybe in the hundreds !!!

The point being ?? All distributors, not whistle makers.

So when you come across one with a stamp on it, doesn’t mean that they made it huh ??

Whistles many times are like T-shirts with advertising on them. Made somewhere sure, but doubtful at the brewery named on them or sports team 🙂

Easy way to start ?? Just google the name.

Of course identifying whistles is relative isn’t it ?? After all a bone or ivory whistle might be harder, or plastic or porcelain. We collect metal whistles and have enough pain just trying to ID them !!!

Another example of False ID ??

Dowler stamps. It appears that when Dowler sold out turn of last century they sub contracted to Hudson and DeCourcy to make whistles for them. Makes you wonder if they had someone else in too ??

Anyway, having a whistle with Dowler on it is not conclusive is it ??

Could be a Hudson, Dowler
Could be a DeCourcy, Dowler
Could be a Dowler, Dowler

Just sayin….

so it makes one think….were any whistles used in the civil war ?? Are reinactors using them today ??

The reason one wonders is that 1870 seems to be a threshold for whistles.

In the UK Yates put out a catalog of whistles in 1870, but before that ??? Well, Richard Porteous decades before – the Field Pipe, certainly for the military.

In the USA who made whistles prior to 1870 ??

True there is Banks and Brother ( Thadeus and Samual ) who invented the dual tube, thinwall. — 1864 ( right in the middle of the civil war time.

Perhaps another patent here or there.

However enough to supply the civil war ???

Perhaps wooden ones or horn or ???

Causes one to e-examine what was assumed. No other major whistle came on to the scene in the USA until 1881 when the BGI 601 bullet for hunters and the Bean police.

gotta look into this further huh ?? Your thoughts ??

been really busy putting things together for the spring show and wow it really is spring early !!! 60 degrees already !!!

But during this time it comes to mind…what is a Civil War whistle ??

Seems simple yeah, but is it ??

As soon as someone puts it in a book, it is so correct ??

Like the BGI pewter and even lead round whistles that are pictured and then repeatedly promulgated as Civil War whistles ???

The problem is that those whistles were made 13 years after the war ended in 1865 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmmmmm……..

patina is always an interesting subject, I guess because it is so subjective 🙂

Watching on eBay there has been a run of whistles by a seller lising them as 'superb' and they are all cleaned and shiney and polished up.

They also have been very slow to sell. — Why ???

Perhaps because in the antique business people want age. However in many antiques dents and scratches are acceptable. Whistles are more like old coins though, we want them old but not worn.

Oh well, want, want, want. In the end just not polished up. Polish off all that patina and mostly the whistle is ruined. The exception being if you have to repair it, then you pretty much have to start over and hope the patina catches up quickly 🙂

Favorites ??

nickel silver when it has that silver, but shightly yellowish and cloudy look.

Copper. dark brown but without any green corrosion ( verdigree might be acceptible)

brass, dark brown but dark golden is great too

silver, dark grey

chrome — none

nickle plated over brass–tough one. Not much of a patina, but I will take what I can get ???

Then there is wood, horn, hoof, etc. love that old oiled, darkened, look and feel after the color has changed hue from fresh and shiney to faded and old starting at about 100 years old !!!

even the word patina sounds better huh ??

Are your eyes as bad as mine ?? Or is it hard to see those small letters at times?? Or even inside the windows at the innards of your whistles ??

Then you probably need help ??

That is where magnification helps.

But what kind ?? There are a lot of types and some are a waste of money aren't they ??

Plastic is usually a far cry away as it scratches 🙁

And magnifying glasses that are on stands are great looking at but not through, the stands can get in the way of the glass or be at tough angles it seems.

I really like those large old metal ones that swing around and are attached to the table with a spring lifted arm. The doughnut shaped light under the hood is strong and right on the whistle —– hands free. Well at least free to hold the whistle 🙂

Then again one always needs a portable, hand held onewith or without a handle and even a couple of different shapes or types are great. The optical higher end capability is really needed for all those small things to see.

Those little ones on a stand seem to be more looks than function.

Lastly my favorite is the headset. Just a simple binocular type optic headset that is rather cheap turns out great !!

However one day I would like to step up to a double or triple magnification … you know, like the surgeons use in those TV shows and movies…..someday

here is another thought to help in 'thinking shrink'

You can't shrink what you don't have !!

So you have to have enough collected to cut your collection back….Der !!!

In other words a collection has to grow first. THEN look at what to weed out, refine or even change.

—- another quote from the computer world…."Simple designs often come after the project has been running for a while".

Gotta have not just whistles, but knowledge, then rational decisions can be made. Sure there may be a dollar loss, but that comes with the territory of education. Like paying for a class, only a LOT cheaper if thoughtful about what is purchased.

Yeah, you might kick yourself for taking a class you don't like, but who knows what will be learned after all ??

What would it mean that a collection is controlling the collector ??

Collects just to collect. Doesn't take the time to learn anything past the surface.

Collects and just moves to another, never e-examing what has been accomplished or taken in.

Will not set limits is a key.

Collecting comes before people.

That last one is a scary one to ponder……