new whistles yet to be seen

November 28, 2013 by

In the states there is a saying — He cut off his nose to spite his face. Perhaps it is international ?

wikipedia says — 'is an expersssion used to describe a needlessly self destructive over reaction to a problem. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face is a warning against acting out of pique or  persuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger…

apparently it dates back for centuries…

Cambridge says 'to cause problems for yourself by trying to punish someone else.

The Phrase Finder says ' disadvantage yourself in order to do harm to an adversary.

Perhaps an example ?? Say that a neighbor was in the 'habbit' of sharing candy with me and my friends on a regular basis. My neighbor would bargain at the candy store for the best prices and I decided to take umbrage to that. So one day I decided that I didn't like this bargaining and told all my friends about it. Now the neighbor stopped giving out that candy. I showed him didn't I ?? I fixed that !!!

No more candy for your friends. ———–Wait a minute !! ———-No more candy for me either !!!

That is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

 

Filed Under: Collecting

collectors

November 24, 2013 by

Had a friend who started collecting fingernail clippers. He found that there were a lot of interesting and OLD unique designs, In fact a rather untouched area of collecting, which made them pretty cheap by most standards.

Enthusiastically he would send pictures and invite me to join in the hunt.
However thinking about it made me hesitate. Why you ask ?? —– muddy waters !!!

I could foresee what could happen…

First, there would be the fun and excitement of sharing what we found with each other. Of course there are so many that we would never bump heads at all at that time.

BUT as the hobby and depth of knowledge increased, up would pop up these compound and unusually shaped nail clippers- almost engineered approaches to cutting fingernails.

And there were very interesting and engaging types of metals, manufacturers and ornamentation !!

So it goes that various ways to obtain these nail clippers would become more difficult. One of the friends had a tremendous amount of money and bought voraciously, while the other who had less money, had to look in very obscure circles and dodge straight up confrontations.

Feelings became strained and the simple nail clipper had become a divisive wall now. No longer were they friends or did they share anything. Everything had taken second place to finding the rarest and most valuable nail clipper !!!

You see, I had seen it happen before with the simple and lowly whistle….

Filed Under: Collecting

antique whistles for sale

November 17, 2013 by

Why sell antique whistles ?? In fact, why ask ?? Well, for one thing you will never make money !!!

So what is the motivation ?? Advertising !!! Constantly the number one comment on a sale display is ” I never knew there were so many whistles !! ” Then we tell ’em, that we only collect metal. There are bone, ivory, wood, plastic…..

Then there is safety. Clearly half of what we sell are whistles under 20 dollars each. Junkers. Some we ‘donate’ to the kids. But who buys the utility ones ?? >>> Boaters, Kayakers, hunters, walkers, cyclers, hikers, late might shoppers. No money there for sure, but what a way to teach people about whistles !!!

Oh sure there are a very few real collectors and it is a struggle to find whistles for them. Mostly they ‘graduate’ to finding them on their own. So why bother ??

1) gets us away for a weekend three times a year ( well, two this next year )
2) Great conversations for THREE days about our favorite subject !!!
3) TEACHES whistles —- same as our website !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4) helps us to rotate out for further research. So some sell at cost or just above.

However there is food, travel, booth expenses, parking expenses, loss time off work….

It all takes funds, work and to be honest we have never even come close to breaking even. Perhaps the -tax write off- is the best deal going for a hobby so obscure.

So why not try it ?? Go to a flea market or antique sale and set up a table or booth and try to sell off some of your whistles ?? Sound absurd ?? Too much work ?? Yes, it is a sacrifice to an extent. But it is worth it !!! Get those whistles out there !!! In the process you will have a ball meeting new friends personally, finding and collecting and learning about YOUR favorite subject !!!!

Funny, some would claim that we profit off selling whistles !!!! BIG DOLLARS !!!– ought to try it sometime and see 🙂

Filed Under: Buying & Selling

Protected: whistle wars on eBay

November 16, 2013 by

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

change is good

November 16, 2013 by

the website has changed again !!! finally highlighting some whistles to sell !!! We usually don’t try very hard to sell off the web unless someone really wants a whistle or two. But the shows always do well.
Why ??
Because ironically most people buy whistles on how they feel !!! Yep, they feel the weight or smoooooothness or the chain looks great. But BLOW it ??? That usually comes last if at all…who knew ??
So only the most avid and savvy collectors buy off the website. However the interesting thing is that 2/3 of the visitors look at the for sale section.
Why ??
Perhaps to price their own whistle to sell them ?? Too bad cause the prices are set high on purpose. Only a serious enquiry gets a REAL price 🙂
OR to check their own purchase — if they got a good deal ??
OR just plain trolling for whistles and that is great too.

So there you have it. We will be doing bi-monthly special sales now and every two months 10 more will go on special, but the previous ten will be removed 🙁 — toooo late !!!

Remember, the more you buy the more fantastic SPOTLIGHTS we will be able to do, so your money goes to a special cause !!!!

Filed Under: Website

skeleton whistles

November 6, 2013 by

one of my favorite whistles is the skeleton whistle ?? Who named it that ?? Dunno… probably some silversmith, as they seem to be the oldest skeletons one finds. I mean silver and all….

One one big frustration is that they are soooooo small !!! Usually look like maybe they would be a simple fob or a tiny toy or maybe just a small decoration.

Perhaps originally designed for tiny womens fingers.

Then, after giving it much thought ( much too much no doubt ) It dawns on me…Oh, I get it !!! how would it work if it was very large ??

You see, to make it work one has to close the sides with ones fingers, as there are ordinarily no sides ( ergo skeleon, as it only has the main body )

And if it was bigger, say the equal to the larger size escargots , then one would have to have rather large fingers huh ?? You to know, to close the deal.

Guess that sels it. There are no large skeleton whistles… or are there ??

Filed Under: Uncategorized

selling whistles

November 5, 2013 by

don't ya just love the auction format ??

Just place a whistle on eBay for instance. Then to sell it go to a website that hip shoots its postings with guesses and assumptions mixed with realy good whistles and other pretty good research.

 Lastly list your item with a wishful guess like —- possibly by Ward. Now it doesn't matter if Ward even made that whistle or stamp cause the word 'possible' has been inserted. You can further protect yourself by saying in the bi-lines that " I am no expert "

Makes selling soooo much easier. Always list it as very rare too. That's always a good selling point don't ya think ???

Periodically I write to the sellers to see what they say for their research—as they many times point out they did internet research. Problem with that is that they don't understand sometimes what is being said on wikipedia !!!!  Worse yet, it was written to promote something else by being tagged or a cited source ——- to drive people to another site.

All in all just muddies up the waters with misinformation. The result ?? People buy for the wrong reasons and then get burned out and don't have any fun. So they quit collecting whistles.

Do your homework….caveat emptor…..
 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Greed

November 1, 2013 by

How many whistles does one need ??

Some think that they can't be satisfied unless they have every one of them.

How about you ??

What if you could afford to pay any amount, would things change in your collecting ??

Are whistles the focus or is it all about ego ??

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

antique whistle show

October 27, 2013 by

The whistles are flying back and forth in Portland !! Hundreds have moved in and out. — How is that ?? The friends are bringing in whistles to give us now !!! Yup, a few have decided to give us ones they have 'graduated' past and we pass them on to the young ones who can't afford even the least expensive ones — works great !! We have a dog whistle to place and several escargots now   🙂

Then there are the collectors who know their stuff and only buy the best and rarest. Like a Schwarz German military WW11, a Ward slider circa 1890, a spherical Ward cycling whistle circa 1890, a nickle silver Liverpool with liver bird DeCourcy polioce whistle, a Barrall police circa 1890 …. Perhaps the Porteous 4 tube wind instrument from 1845 will go today ????? A buyer of very good taste has been eyeing it !!!!!!

Many first time buyers looking for safety whistles, presents and memories.

Beyond that those who want a genuine police whistle from England named after robert Peel called a Bobbie whistle and find a nicklesilver Metro with police numbers on them. We brought in about 60 whistles for that last show and there are about 20 left now.

A few are starting collections, buying either random cross sectional whistles or focusing on escargots or the like.

— and of course whistle books are essential for learning  — of which we have sets of three we have been selling for a show special price !!!

Yuchy outside this time of year, but warm and fun inside !!! Noisy too, testing out those sirens, sliders, and train whistles — several sound effect whistles from the 1920s too.

We'll look for you !!!! LAST day !!!

The only booth in the world dedicated to just whistles !!! All metal, no tin     🙂

( we will be away in March, so nothing till July after this weekend )

 

Filed Under: Buying & Selling

portland whistle show

October 25, 2013 by

This is it !! The weekend sale of antique whistles !!!

Hundreds of rare, old, vintage whistles — metal only, no tin 🙂

Three days of whistle sharing, books for sale and best of all ?? Hand picking your whistles right there. Feel the wieght. Blow the whistle.

No buyers regret !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Portland Expo Center – Friday – Saturday – Sunday …

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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