well, we are closing in on 100,000 page loads before our one year anniversary of the counter for our website !!!

We set up the counter November 19th last year and have increased readership every way since then.

Great write ins and enquiries. Lots of growth. We have seen some very rare whistles that we would have loved to get !!!!

Oh well… better to see them then not at all !!!!!!

Many articles have been posted. More to come.

What to do to celebrate ?? Something whistle related ??

If by the end of the month we hit 100,000 then how about if we post a special edition SPOTLIGHT —- ——an EXTRA special one ???? Sort of a thank you for coming back time and again.

What could that possibly be ??? >>>> A whistle that has not been seen before ????? Well sure, but that is what the special edition is all about right ??

So how about an even more rare and unknown whistle — something REALLY special ????

OK, it's a deal 🙂

a shot on the dark…

S.A.French was a supplier of milyary and police equipment prior to the 20th century. So it would seem that it would be a good shot when we came across a catalog dated 1887. — So we ordered it….

Yah, you would think that WOW!! I just found at least one whistle listed that would be revealing ?? NAH !!!!!!

Doesn't work that way at all. It's a shot in the dark really.

You see whatever was offerd at that time MAY be pictured OR be just listed. However other whistles that came later — even one year later are not to be found till you find THOSE catalogs !!! Argh !!!

So there goes another 15 dollars out the window. Why you ask ?? becaaaaaaause, all that was in that catalog was two BGI whistles and a Hudson Metropolitan from the UK.

Nothing about a rare and unusual escargot 🙂

Caveat emptor

What if ??

What if you come across a rarely seen, but newer whistle or even older one for that matter. What if it has some unusual manufacturing, even somewhat unique characteristics?

BUT it isn't old OR of the quality of your 'other' whistles, or it looks old and ratty ??

Would you pick it up ?? Or pass it up ?? ARE YOU A WHISTLE SNOB ??

I guess it all depends of how much of a student of whistlery you are huh ?? Cause you just may have a limited scope of what you study, right ???

I think they call those people PHDs      🙂

Anyway, to broaden ones field or scope one has to include the peripherals into their world. Really what depth does one have if limited in comparitive examples.

And there is the rub for so many of us….eclectic we say. Chooooosy. picky….we have staaaaaandards…

bottom line ?? some interesting clues may be slipping by…. And us researchers are ALL ABOUT CLUES.

For example, there is a very interesting escargot on eBay right now. Stamped Thomas E Wilson ( sporting goods ) with a V top and made of a brittle 'pot' metal. Been watching for a few weeks as it comes and goes. Listed, then relisted.

Lots of stuff there for the taking and cheeeeeeap… but no takers—-whyyyyyyy ??????

ugly…..

shame on us…..

Another interesting whistle went by this week with a stophole in it. It was a taxi call with split windows.

As if having two windows wasn't enough the maker ( Hudson ) decided to fit it with a stophole. You know what that is right ?? The little raised hole that fits into the side or front of the whistle so that you can vary the sound of the whistle.

WHY ??

Been mulling it over all day for some reason…. Morse code you think ???

Perhaps someone would be trying to get the taxi's attention by whistling a full sentence like– Hey there taxi guy, could you pull over to the curb and pick me up ???

Now that would take some quick blowing with dots and dashes and loud ones at that, considering there might be traffic noise and other people trying to get that taxi first just by old fashioned 'fingers in the mouth whistling' or even yelling, not even whistling at all !!!..

You see these stopholes a lot on round whistles, making them look like cyclops, their staring faces looking back at you when they are hanging in your displays. Perhaps people went around 'morseing' a lot 'back in the day' as you don't see them stopholeing much these days or hear them anyway…..

For sure those boyscouts were into signaling each other as their whistles OFTEN had them stopholes. Apparently the guys were more into it them then the gals. Don't see girlscout whistles but rarely with stopholes.

When did stophole come into their own ?? It would seem about circa 1900 ?? Perhaps a bit earlier. So by the turn of the century The whistle manufacturers were primed when the scouting movement arose about 1910.

Earliest stopholes ?? We have one by Dixon pretty early… Wonder what someone was doing stopholing back then ??

Named after an artist Samuel Morse in 1836, it would seem that even if it wasn't used at first for Morse code, it was for extra signalling of SOME SORT huh ?? Cause the whistle was already a signaling device….hmmmm….makes one wonder…..