Bosun Whistles Used By Sailors

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Also known as Boatswain's whistles or boatswain's pipe, used for commands by using various specific signal codes for various commands at sea vessels ,  this whistles can be used to play any tune within one octave range,
using the right hand fingers to control the pitch, this method is passed on and used by old time sailors
I should propably make a video to explain the method of how it is done and practiced by old time sailors.
In general you hold the right hand around the ball with thumb held under ball and fingers above,
making a fist , and open by raising one finger at a time to produce each pitch, one may start by practicing
part of a simple major or Minor scale. (C D E F G or C D Eb F G ).
The sound that is produced is reminiscent of flute or more of actual lip whistling sound but can be much louder.
Bosun whistles made of silver usually have a superior sound quality ,
since many were made for tourists as Marine Memorabila and are still made, one should be aware that many have a very poor sound quality .




Bosun whistle .1896 by  E&E Emmanuel, patent 7673, sterling silver England.



1907 George Unite, Birmingham , Bosun's whistle.




Royal navy whistle , Note this one was designed without a Keel ( The understrenthening plate)
It has a barrel shape ball , sound chamber, used by British makers.



Short style bosun whistle that general type of short bosuns was used and made for French Railway conductors,
Known also as Swiss or French Railway Bosun.
A simmilar design  that had no Keel  and looks a bit like an escargot whistle and with a flat ball shape for sound chamber was used and advertised by various makers for a short period C.mid 1880's to 1900, late Victorian period, for bicyclers.
The one above apears in the German Zimmermann catalog of 1900, . ( See german whistle manufacturers here and more details in an earlier entry



Early 16, 17th Century samples at the BRitish Museum show Bosun whistles
using fancy wire understrentshing instead of keel,
this one is unidentified.
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French design made by Badouin , Toulon .

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Rare 19th cent. Bosun pipe and whistle combinatition , Nickel plated brass and horn mouth piece ,
It has a small smoking pipe compartment propably made  for smoking opium or other drug.


Whistle museum, Notes by Avner Strauss, All rights reserved 2010 , no part of this webpage should be used without the explicit permission of the owner. Straussltd.

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Escargot Whistles are a  term that came from England, even tho the word escargot is a french word for snail, the origin of this type of  whistles is very vague but propably somewhere around the 1860s.
Only in rescent years the term became a standart with collectors while before it had various names for; drum whistle,
referee whistle and more.

While one can find massive numbers of collectors and organisations, societies of collectors for almost any small collectible, from bottuns to bells to anything one can imagine there are so very few whistle collectors (Estimate is few hundreds and famong these a very few dozens of 'long time or large collectots, propably because for years people were not aware of the existence of so many and of how many usages they had in old times.
For many years whistles were very hard to find in the pre-internet times one had to go and look for these in flea markets and even there at times little was found, antique shops rarely held whistles,  and they tied to a geographical "birth" place , that is to say polish whistles could be found only in poland and chinese whistles only in china, it is still very much so with whistles but the internet and especially Ebay changed this things and unvieled many unknown whistles and vast numbers of variations and variety, so while whistles are still tied to their geographic origin collectors can find whistles from different countries. 
Ebay is a subject within itsef and little is usually written about it but one can find very rare whistles there , even there, there are
 'hidden corners' and by looking in different countries, using different key words,  and by searching in 'content and title' one can still find whistles
 that are rare or never seen before, it is amazing to see that new whistles can be found there everyday,
and even old time collectors and ebay watchers discover new whistles there on a weekly bassis.

Old time collectors who had collected whistles for over 30 years had the pleasure of finding  very rare whistles before their value was known or any research material was available, that is slowly changing. and the last 15 years shed much light on collecting whistles . ( Obviously the books by M. Gilchrist that all collectors are familiar with were the major contribution )
The first magazine that was dedicated to whistles was "Whistle Notes"  by Jim Fithch of the U.S.A.and that was 1995 , it lived shortly ( 4 issues ) propably because there were so few collectors. Hopfully with time I will bring few scans of that was run by collectors with lovely spirit.
( Researching early escargots is a favorite subject for me and the recollection of the magazine comes to mind because I just recalledl seeing a large whistle that resembled a wood escargot whistle there, never saw another one. )

Rare items are always a great joy and delight for a collector when found and researching their origins and finding these are some what like modern archeology .
There are many rare whistles; ones there are very few of known, ones we know of only one copy to exsist and ones that are so rare that we know exsist by patent or by catalogue picture but a sample was not yet found.
So if you read this you may be encoiraged to look :-)).
Upon working on an article about escargot whistles in Britain in Victorian times, I came across this whistle , thought to bring the picture and all that  was a forward.

while finding rare whistles discovering  a new  whistle is seldom, finding one of what we collectors refer to as a  professional happend even less. to find one with a new construction is a reason for celebtation :-).

So here is one, one  with a screw side, so far I had encountered Round Pea Whistles that the top screw off in order to replace the pea these are very scarce as well ( mostly made by Stevens & Sons England' Victorian times ) and brings to mind another subject which I plan to deal with the PEA in the whistle and it's history. a subject  overlooked in the past.
( I remember discovering the first one and how exited I was..it felt a little like a small boy finding a gold coin ) 
At first I thought this may be made to replace pea as well , reexamination it seems this one has acompartment that seperate from whistle, note the placement of the window on the beak and not on the 'drum' . so it is propably a combination whistle shaped as an escargot whistle.
There is only one known, it resides with a great old time french collector and friend which I take the opportunity to thank and dedicate this article to , Jacky,.shabat shalom :-)

French made Escargot whistle with screw side. nickel plated brass. Note
                                                    

 Side view of the whistle and screw side apart.

     


Whistle museum , Article by A. Strauss all rights reserved 2010 , no part of this webpage is to be used without the explicit permission of the owner.

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Beaufort Whistles. Cased Type. By A Strauss ( At Work )

 * Beaufort whistles are whistles with a conical shape that are devided to various types some have a single  window and a single tone other types have two windows and I shall discuss Beaufort's whistles types in the future.
 The cased type is a small one that has a sheath so I call it cased beaufort type.
I will bring samples and add pictures and explanations with time , the construction of the whistle itself is quite tricky tho it looks simple at first glance. It has quite a few parts and I shall discuss it's construction later as well.

In general there are two types of whistles type A that has no mouth piece
and type B with tappered mouthpiece
reminiscent of some round pea whistles,


*The Cased Beaufort type was actually a part of the english tradition and uniform in the days of the great british empire,
 see history in it's glorious days when it ruled the world c. 1815 to 1914 .
The whistle was used later as well up to WW II. by British Police officers in the various clonies and dominions protectorates and mandates. 
*
I do not know the origin but my guess is That the term Beaufort in relation to whistles propably comes from the Duke of Beaufort and military history,  originally a name of a French city. It was first  used by gaurds and policemen and my guess is that  is that it goes back to the late 18th century.though I have not yet checked any whistle of this type dating so far back. ( still hope to :-))
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Beaufort_(England)


* Because it was part of the uniform and was worn with a special belt and badges for different forces in the different colonies and dominions, there are hundreds of variations, as a rule of thumb. the smaller the force or colony the rarer the whistle,


 * The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates* (Scroll down for Palesine police), and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power.( Wikipedia)  

* The whistles were either atached to belt by two screws but some had a brooch for wearing without a belt, I should later add a photo.

The whistles were traditionally made of silver, sterling silver, as most of the ones you may see here, but after 1908 one sees more brass with nickel plate, german silver ones and other other variations, (See samuel Brothers sample of 1915)
. 
(It was some discussion in a website and blogs about Birmingham history that turned my attention to how little is known about these whistles, one of the bloggers reffered to a picture of one here in an earlier entry.)



A Classic Cased Beaufort whistle and badge 1899  Jennes & Co. Birmuingham,
Rifle Brigade,  Chain and whistle and Badge aremade of Sterling silver . fully hall marked.




A picture of four officers from the  cameronian rifle brigade ( Scotish Rifles) with full dress , note all the belts and whistles ,
Picture is c. late 1880's , early 1890's.found with a cameronian sphinx whistle in an old drawer.
I think that an entusiastic researcher can track their names in the British military archives.
The person pictured at the top in this photo  is of Lt. Colonel L. Combe, my camera did not catch the part with his name.
 It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of two other regiments:

• 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot    ">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26th_(Cameronian)_Regiment_of_Foot (1688- 1881)
• 90th Perthshire Light Infantry  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90th_Regiment_of_Foot_(Perthshire_Volunteers)

The cased Cameronian Beaufort whistle and badge that came with that picture. The badge has a Dragon and Sphinxs. 
Dragon fot the 1840- 42 China war.
Sphinxs for the battle in Egypt, Alexandria 1802. 

                       

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Another sample of a Cameronian rifle brigade Sphinx whistle with guilded case.
                    


A victorian second lieutenants full dress 1rst Surrey riffles Front .


                        

1859 George Unite, Birmingham, Hallmarked silver, Cased Beaufort whistle, 

                     


Cased Beaufort whistle, Bent & Parker Birmingham 1863, Hallmarked silver.
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1917 Canadian 3rd riffle brigade.


By Hobson & Sons London .


Samuel & Bros. Outfitters, London C. 1915
                           
Royal Irish
Constabulary.


Samuel Brothers 1915 Cased Beaufort whistle in a heavy Cast Brass Case.


Samuel Brothers, Outfitters London, stamp on a very different cased beaufort.




Royal Irish Constabulary badge and whistle 1908 made by  William Devenfort , Birmingham.
scroll down to see picture of whistle and case apart.
This whistle is  not  a part of our collection.
one of the most expensive whistles sold. If I recall it was 3000 GBP but my memory is not as good as use to be :-)




A magnificent work, Royal Irish Constabulary, by William Devnfert, Birmingham 1908 ,
whistle beside case, note it is the A  type whistle . simmilar to the more  common none cased beaufort whistle.
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== The whistle and its construction &  Type B beaufort  whistle.==


Note the typical spring that holds the whistle in case spring has to be pressed in order to pull the whistle out,
This is a close look at the back ofB Type ,  more common with Cased Beaufort whistles , note tappered mouthpiece,
this one is by Joseph Jennes & Co. of Birmingham 1854
                 
Few of the whistle parts , showing its construction. note the rail that the spring not pictured on left,, goes through ,
 in many whistles the spring, that is made of steel, is broken or missing. ,
on the right   Partly assembled with spring attached to  fipple.                                                                                                                                                                                   
        

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*    Palestine Police

1920 - 1947


For detailed history of the Palestine Police and photos see here
There is a saying in the Palestine Police Old Comrades Association :-

"There is no promotion after Jerusalem."
Ceck their website

Palestine Police Cross belt Badges and Cased Beaufort whistle Details: 

Badge



whistle

The smaller badge, on the pauch



The Lion


A Jewish officer belonging to the Jewish self defence forces ( Starting 1936)  'Notrim' in Palestine wearing a cross belt in Palestine.
Notrim in Hebrew  translates into Guards.  they were special Policemen in Mandatory Palestine,  there were also a Palestinian Arab
Force using these British belts and whistles at the time, The one pictured here was found by a policeman in Rammalla. (West Bank)
For more about the Notrim see Wikipedia  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notrim
"
On 6 August 1940 Anthony Eden, the British Secretary of War, informed Parliament that the Cabinet had decided to recruit Arab and Jewish units as battalions of the Royal East Kent Regiment (the "Buffs"). At a luncheon with Chaim Weizmann on 3 September, Winston Churchill approved the large-scale recruitment of Jewish forces in Palestine and the training of their officers. A further 10,000 men (no more that 3,000 from Palestine) were to be recruited to Jewish units in the British Army for training in the United Kingdom.^"


Thanks for visting us, You may like to check older entries, we keep improving older entries.


To Be Cont,

Whistle Museum,  Cased Beaufort whistles By Avner Strauss, All rights reserved, 2010, no part of this webpage should be used or copied without the explicit permission of the owner.

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Early Bell Type  Whistles 
Avner Strauss

General History, samples, connstruction, patents & more.

I put forward few pictures and will add text in the next few days.

These type of whistles were made from early 19th century, unknown date, to C. 1870
after larger models of steam whistles principle using a bell.
Most samples found were made by Stevens & Son (Estab.1920s ), of London and Glasgow,
some may had been made Hudson  and makers in  France but no stamped ones by this makers were found.
All these whistles are  rare and samples I viewed all vary in mouthpieces and other details.


85 mm by Stevens & Son,  Brass with turned ivory mouthpiece               


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These whistles were made with a Bubble top knop,  loop top , Acron top, all are  rare.
This sample is 75 mm.
            


 A French made one with horn mouthpiece also 75 mm.
                                                    

Same as above with parts screwed apart





An early small one 66 mm, more of a tubular shape , tubular bell top
                                   
This one may had been made by Hudson in the very late 1860's or 1870's but it is simmilar to the Stevens,
it is seen in their 1970 Aniversary booklet.
   
                                                     

A Small bell by Stevens

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The inner cast brass part of a large stevens showing the vent holes, there are 4 , and above the vents the disk shape plate that serves as a diaphragm.

                                                                      
Stevens 85mm taken apart, It is constructed of 5 parts, 4 parts and a mouth piece, note the lower wide ring has an inner thread to fit on the main inner part, the ring is slightly larger than the diaphragm plate and leaves a space for the air stream outlet the space between the ring and the bell serves as the the window in regular whistles while the bell bottomn serves to cut the air stream wave to make the whistle sound.
              

All this whistles emmit  a single note,  pitch is ussualy high E the larger one has a slightly lower pitch, and can produce two pitches a half step apart, when blowing more gently it produces the lower pitch. 
All these are made so one has to use full power to blow.
It is no wonder these whistles were not popular and taken over by other types that were much louder , easier to work cheaper to make
and last longer.

== Stamps ==
Very few of these rare whistles have body stamps such as 'Stevens West London', and 'Stevens & Son Southwark'
as mentioned in gilchrist's book 'More Whistles'Pg. 73
I imagine there are more to be found.
 

In 1861 A  Patent Bell whistle. Alarm whistle of a simmilar principle but with a handle was registered with the U.S. Patent office 
by  Lamb  Oct. 8 , 1861  Pat. # 33437
I shall bring a drawing of the patent , no samples were seen.

To Be Cont.
Whistle Museum Article by A. Strauss, all rights reserved, no part of this web page or pictures shall be used without the explicit permission of the owner.

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American Police whistles Timeline History , Patents, Samples, Cylinederical Two notes whistles GSW's Bobby whistles,
A. Strauss

While another articles with 60 photos here dealt with American esccargot shaped referee type whistles , this one is dedicated to the other pop[ular shape , cylenderical two notes whistle also known and reffered to as a Bobby whistle, policemanw's whisttle GSW,- Genreral Service Whistle, etc.
English police whistles of that type were well  documented and reserched ,
very  little if at all was written about american whistles of that type.

I will concentrate on U.S.A. made whistles, but whistles imported mostly from Great Britain & Germany France and Japan were also used some to a large extent but this is a subject for another article.

The article is long dew and I have a lot of material to cover and add but I decided to start with this humble begining and progress slowly. hope you do come back with time, to follow.

I shall start with the bean's two note whistle and then a short preview of single note whistles used by American policemen
and back to two notes cylinderical whistles patents and samples.

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Here is Bean's Patent , Police whistle from the 1880's see another article here.
Two parallel windows, and a stop hole.
Patent # 248,694  Oct. 25 1881 considered the 1rst American two note clenderical whistle. 
I first discovered it's traces in 1995 and then actually found few.
                 
 The Bean's police whistle was the first one to use two notes cylinderical whistle , it never did become a commonly used whistle and single note whistles kept thebeing the majority .
while in England the GSW became very much the standart for police forces it never happaned in the U.S.A
and all kinds and types of whistles were used.

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The next  samples are of
 American single note whistles used in the 19th century by American policemen .

  A sample of an early  single note round pea whistle made by Bridgeport Gun & Implements Co, B.G.I to
1881 Patent  S. Leet 1881 Bullet BGI  Patent No 250083 Used for policeman.

                                        
B.G.I . Large single note Tube whistle 1880's L;  5" 1/8



1878 Patent by JohnChristmann, Washington Columbia ,
Patent drawintg for a police whistle. no sample was found yet. 

1861 Burke whistle, San Fransisco police presentation whistle made of gold with diamond eyes.


1873 Brighton, New York . Policemanws single note round pea cast peweter whistle with metal label,
the whistle itself appears on various catalogs of the era.
Few entries will be dedicated to round pea whistles in the near future.

1884 Farnham's Patent for policeman whistle

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 == Two Notes Cylindecal Whistles ==

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1900, Burt Patent Drawing, No. 1,002,493
                           

1911 Hatch, Patent No. 649,576, drawing


                               

1914 J J O'Reiley Patent # 1,094,006 to joseph  O’Reilly for a police man’s whistle.
Patent Drawing

                                 

The Chief (Loop missing ) Pat APR. 21, 1914

 

                                          

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The Stuff Call , unidetified maker , note the unique D shaped loop hole.

                                                                 


A Police and Army whistle made by Horstmann Philadelphia. early 1900 . an article about that maker is in the oven somewhere.
                                              





1915 Numbered police whistle by B & R
Erie R.R
New York Police on other side


                   

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B & R Police or Fire whistle.



                                                                                                              

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Carmody's Patent, Faurot, filled 1918 grunted 1921 see full article  here

                                                  


A Faurot "Police & Military" whistle, note Patent pending, so it is one made 1918 to 1921.
                                            

Next is a faurot whistle stamped "Police Sergeants Banquet 1920 "

  
Here is one with a metal label : "City of New York Police No. 2500 Patrolman "
                                                            

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Hatch, No. 649,576, 1911



                                                                          






Boy Scouts two notes tubular whistles may deserve special attention in another chapter but Unibody whistles,
were made by J. Hudson and company England and by U.S.A. Makers .(If I recall as I write it's Waterbury Manuf. Co. & B & R but will recheck)
Here is a catalog exerpt from 1923 , Folsom Catalog, both whistles are very simmilar and of the same size, the imported one is more then double the price.
                                           

1923 S. W. REESE & CO CATALOG, POLICE & FIRE DEPT BADGES,
NIckel Silver GSW & Municipal Police N.Y , Theswe were made in Germany but simmilar stamps appear on U.S.A. made whistles as well.
                    






Nick Harris detective agency produced a whistle with windows at different height simmilar to the Coney & Co. earlier  British patent.

                     



1893 columbia fair trade American Policeman , with badge and whistle. 
I had seen various whistles attached to the original badge , so I still find it hard to decide which one was the originalll one supplied with the badge. I shall bring pictures of the whistles.
                                                            

Under Construction to be cont.

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List of Body stamps on American two notes cylinderical , tubular whistles.
The list is of whistles found used and sold in the U.S.A some were made by makers outside the U.S.A.

== Body Stamps on Cylinderical Two notes Whistles ==

(At work, partial list to be improved, readers are welcome to add comments and info
I will add notes relating to each later, I left aside many stamps on whistles made by Hudson & Co, for now  )  


Durkee New York
Alex Taylor & Co. New York
N.S.Meyer New York
N.S. Meyer Inc. New York
Brooklin Eagle Police Whistle ( German style US Made )
Romo
C.D.R
Municipal Police Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.
Made in U.S.A. (German style )
White Plains Police 1925
Municipal Police N.Y. U.S.A
Municipal Police N.Y.-U.S.A.
Municipal Police N.Y. U.S.A. / GERMAN SILVER (on other side)
Regulation Police
Regulation Police U.S.A.
B & R
Fire or Police ( B & R)
Made3 in the U.S.A. ( on cap of a unibody)
Nickel Silver "Metropolitan" C.D.R. N.Y.
Sgt. Preston
B & R City Police & Fire Whistle ( 6 lines )
City Police & Fire Whistle (5 Lines)
B & R with Boy scouts embelm
Girl Scout with/ Eagle Logo (other side) by B & R
Metropolitan Fire & Police Whistle ( B & R )
 Compliments of the New York Evening Telegraph ( 1927, Maker B & R ) 
The Boy Scouts of America ( Stamped along body ) (Be Pepared & Eagle Embelm on other side) 
Nick Hariss
ARKAY
Horstmann Phila.
A. G. Spalding & Bros.
The Chief Pat. Apr.21, 1914 ( along body)
The Pat. Staff Call
Police & Military Fauro Pat. Pending
Police Sergents Banquet 1920
The Chief  Pat APR. 21, 1914

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Whistle Museum, Avner Strauss article American Police Whistles. Cylinderical two notes whistles. All right reserved 2009, no part of this webpage is to be used without the explicit permission from the owner.

Galton Whistle   A.Strauss

Galton whistle, very high frequency sound waves, above the limit of human hearing, were generated by the English scientist Francis Galton in 1876,  ( See biography )*
Whistles for checking audibility became known as Galton's whistle and made by various companies from 1888 to 1930's.
With the aid of that whistle it was proved that dogs, cats and other animals, can hear sound that the human ear can not hear.
 
Although whistles were used for dog's training hundreds of years a dog calls or shepeherds whistles the more elaborate whistles that can be tuned to a certain frequency were based on the knowledge and research that followed the use of Galton's whistles.
So, some refer to dog whistle also known as silent whistle as Galton's whistle but for
disambiguity , this are not dog whistles but rather sientific instruments
The frequency range of a dog whistle is largely out of the range of human hearing.
Typically, a dog whistle is within the range of 16 to 22 kHz
with simply the frequencies on the floor heading down 20 kHz audible to the human ear.
Some dog whistles see other entries here  have adjustable sliders for active change of the frequency produced.

Many Galton whistles have or rather, had,  a rubber ball that is sqeezed to make air ....
All these are rare to find and much rarer to find one with the original rubber ball,
most got hardened and crumbled years ago .
 
The genaral name of Galton whistles is given to many whistles of various shapes and makers,
Here are some of the manufacturers of this type of whistle I was able to track ;

Cambridge Scientific Instruments Company
C H Stoelting Chicago
Hawksley & Sons
Edelman Munchen , Germany
Max Kohll A.G. Chemnitz
James Queen, Philadelphia

Other companies that made medical and scientific equipment .

== Samples & Models ==


F Galton devised this whistle in order to investigate the upper limit of audible sound in humans. It is constructed from a brass tube which has an internal diameter of approximately 2 millimetres. The whistle was operated by passing a jet of gas through an orifice into a resonating cavity. By moving a plunger, the size of this cavity could be changed, enabling the pitch of the sound made by the whistle to be altered from the audible up into the ultrasonic range. Galton was able to determine that the normal upper limit of human hearing was about 18kHz.

        
Hawksley & Sons London , Victorian, Ivory and brass, Mouth blown can be tuned
        



Drawing  from Koenig, Rudolph. 1889. Catalogue des Appareils dAcoustique construits par Rudolph Koenig

                                             


1898 and onward type
           

more Four samples of variations
           
more A percision scientific Made by Edelmann, Munchen, Germany early 20th Cent.
          


Edelman Munchen , Germany with original rubber ball pump.
        

                      


Mouth blown types first by James Queen, Philadelphia and other by Max Kohl, Chemnitz.
                            

Unidentified maker plain brass.

                                    

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* Sir Francis Galton  -
 (16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), cousin of Sir Douglas Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath, anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician. He was knighted in 1909.was an important and prolific sientist and researcher in England
See wikipedia for more
His discovery of the inuadible frequencies that can be heard by animals and not by Human ears led to the ussage of galton whistles
in a precise manner,
Dog whistles that can be tuned to a certain frequencyp-riot to that various whistles as sheep dog whistles and mkany other t5ypes were known to be effective and used for calling dogs and training but it was only in the 1930's that tuneable pitch whistles were commercially introduced by companies like J Hudson & Sons and others ( See belgian earlier one) 

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==Further recommended readings & External links == 

1876 F. Galton designed a whistle for testing audibility it was made by the cambridge scientific instrument company
see an 1888 article by Shaw  From the The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland © 1888
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

EARLY AUDITORY STUDIES ACTIVITIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY LABORATORIES OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES Audrey B. Davis and Uta C. M.erzbach
http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/2430/2/SSHT-0031_Lo_res.pdf

Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894).

GALTON, Inquiries into human faculty (1883) p. 375ff
Th. EDELMANN: Studien über Erzeugung sehr hoher Töne vermittelst der Galtonpfeife (Grenzpfeife); Ann. d. Phys., IV. Folge, 2 (1900) 469
Handbuch der Physik Bd. VIII - Akustik (1926)
Kap 13, Akustische Meßmethoden (F. Trendelenburg und E. Lübcke), S. 585
S. auch Kap. 5, S. 280
R. BUD, D.J. WARNER (eds.): Instruments of Science — An Historical Encyclopedia
(New York & London 1998) Article “Galton Whistle” by Allison M. Turtle


Thanks to
J.-F. Loude for some recommendations on further readings in a comment he made in another entry. 
-

To be Cont

Whistle Museum, Article by A. Strauss , All rights reserved, no part of this web page is to to be copied or used with out explicit permmision
 of the owner. Straussltd.

... << MORE >>

I will continue the article later /
Mean whiole I believe you may see here some whistles collectors meet and were unidentified.


... << MORE >>

A note to visitors, we had improved andf added items to the Whistle manufacturers category ; note the : 
American whistle manufacturers  and English manufacturers articles  , which we keep updating with new finds.

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Frank Mossberg Co. -Frank Mossberg was a notable inventor and businessman in Attleboro, Massachusetts,  He was born in Wermland, Sweden in 1858 , came to America in 1882 and after working as a draftsman for Brown & Sharpe for a few years, he began his first manufacturing business in 1889 as the Mossberg Manufacturing Company in Attleboro, Massachusetts. 

 

 

 

Adresses

1889 Attleboro Mass.
1902 Central Falls Rhode Island
1927 Providence Rhode Island

== History==

First dated whistle we find is the Develine in 1895 .Mossberg Wrench Company, was also founded in Attleboro, probably in the early 1890s. Mossberg Wrench might have been a subsidiary of Mossberg Manufacturing, although the exact relationship is not yet clear.The Mossberg companies were initially a maker of tools for the jeweler's trade, but by the early 1890s had begun producing several styles of adjustable bicycle wrenches, which were very popular tools at the time. Several patents for adjustable wrenches were issued to Mossberg in the 1890s, with assignments made to the Mossberg Wrench Company.

As a side note, although apparently operating as a subsidiary of the Frank Mossberg Company, the Mossberg Wrench Company continued to operate under its own name until at least 1915 or so. In July of 1902 the Mossberg Wrench Company moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to the Massachusetts Annual Statistics of Manufactures for 1902.
In 1909 the Frank Mossberg Company built a significant new factory in Attleboro, with $50,000 of funding provided by a local group of business investors. This factory project is noted in the August, 1909 issue of The Horseless Age on page 186 at the top center. The article describes the factory.

As a side note, although apparently operating as a subsidiary of the Frank Mossberg Company, the Mossberg Wrench Company continued to operate under its own name until at least 1915 or so. In July of 1902 the Mossberg Wrench Company moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to the Massachusetts for 1902.In 1909 the Frank Mossberg Company built a significant new factory in Attleboro, with $50,000 of funding provided by a local group of business investors. This factory project is noted in the August, 1909 issue of on at the top center. The article describes the factory

   More about the Company in the 1920's

 

 

In 1927 The Apco Company of Providence R.I. was Linked with the local concern under the new name Apco-Mossberg Company.
The Frank Mossberg Company was an important early maker of wrenches, automotive tools, and especially interchangeable socket sets. In the years before 1920, Mossberg along with Walden-Worcester both defined and dominated the early market for socket sets, and their products laid the groundwork for the later development of interchangeable socket tools.
Here we are concverned with his whistle making aspects, it seems that his whistles were mostly made for bicycle riders but it may prove that he was making other models as well as with the Overmann Wheel Co. I had previously discussed.
During the 1920s the company continued to expand its automotive service tools line. In 1927 the company was reorganized as the APCO-Mossberg Company by merger with APCO (The Auto Parts Company) of Providence, Rhode Island. APCO was a maker of parts and specialty tools for the Model T Ford.
Sometime during the 1930s APCO-Mossberg decided to drop their general service tools, perhaps because of excess competition, and became instead a specialized maker of torque measurement products.
The APCO-Mossberg torque products remained in production for many years.

==Trade Mark ==

A search of the USPTO trademark records found only one trademark registered by Frank Mossberg, the M-Diamond logo.
The trademark was filed in 1907 and listed, the first use as November 1902

== Patents & Models==

*  Explosion Whistle for Motor Cars and Trucks 'The surest preventive of accidents '.....
*  S. Wardwell Patents for Mossberg Patent number: D24205, Patent number: 537792
Issue date: Apr 16, 1895 Design for a whistle case , By S w Wardwell and F Mossberg
See  pictures below.

== Whistles , Body Stamps & Models ==

* The Develine - a siren whistle with a unibody construction a pressed mouthpiece and a siren mechanism inside .
This type of bisycle siren whistle was actually made by other companies as well noteably B & R, Overmanwheel Co.
and others in europe as well.

 

It makes a wonderful high pitched siren sound. and was used for bicycle riders, as toy , and as a sound effect by drummers
and for silent movies.

I  had found that apparently    " The  Develine" has two different models differing in lengths mechanism  vents
and stamps , I asume there must be more stamp variations. and a model made between the early 1895 one ,(Patent pending)
and the post 1902 one with Central Fall R.I. adress stamp.

Now that you know, if you are a collector or happen to have or find the third type made 1895 to 1902 I assume exists,
kindly update me :-) 

Type I is the earlier one, 1895 ,  and is  stamped: "The Develine " Patent pending '  
Lenght: 55mm
                                                
and on other side:
Mossberg Wrench Co. Attleboro, Mass. U.S.A.
It has three vent with distinct shape 
                                           
                                                         


 The  patent   was  applied for, Filing date: Jan 17, 1895 patent
issued April 16 , so the whistle must had been made before.

see patent drawing here.

The other model 'Type II' [ must had been made post 1902 by adress] is shorter L; 2 Inch, 51 mm , has 3 OVAL windows and is stamped:
"Mossberg Wrench Co.
Central Falls R.I.
U.S .A."
And on the other as seen here;
" The Develine"
Trade Mark Registered
Patented April 16. 1895
Design Patented April 16. 1895.   
                                                           

The Develine whistle advertisment fron an 1896 Bicycle catalog .

                                                  

An 1910 Postcard by Northwestern Music Co. Saint Paul, Minnesota. 
Drums and Drumers' Supplies,                         A & B Sides.

                             

Postcard's Stamp side
                     

To be Cont.

All rights reserved , Whistle museum , Article by Avner Strauss,
No part of this web page should be used without the explicit permission of the owner.

 

Gorham Manfucturing Company, Gorham MFG. Co.  

 * SEE NOTE ( I had also updated list of American  and  british whistle manufacturers with links to history and samples)


== General History ==

Gorham silver was founded in Providence, Rhode Island 1831 by Jabez Gorham[, a master craftsman, in partnership with Henry L. Webster The firm's chief product was spoons of coin silver. The company also made thimbles, combs, jewelry, and other small items. In 1842, a tariff which effectively blocked the importation of silverware from outside the United States was passed, which aided the American silver industry. 
In 1847 Jabez retired and his son, John Gorham, succeeded him as head of the company.
John Gorham introduced mechanized production methods, . In 1852 Gorham toured many of Europe's silver workshops and manufacturers, speaking with individual specialists, including master craftsmen and toolmakers. He also sought out highly skilled foreign workmen to train his American workers. George Wilkinson, a premier designer and workshop manager, was hired from England.