Chiff and Fipple Forums

I just bought a Calura whistle with good paint and it clearly says "made in USA". I thought these types were all German made. Does anyone on the forum know when and where the company started production stateside?

Perhaps, at some point, they farmed out production for the US market to a company already making similar whistles in the US. Or perhaps they got out of Germany in timely fashion before the war (or even tried a restart in the US after).




FWIW, the Caluras I have (seen) say 'Made in Germany' (which makes sense, they were all bought in Europe, latest one brought back by my wife from a trip to the Netherlands where she found it in a charity shop for a Euro).




A few on (German) ebay at the moment

The "All American Fife" was made in the US (all the ones I have or have seen are so marked). I've read they were made by the F. Gretsch Co of Brooklyn, a known manufacturer of musical instruments during the early 20th century.

Don't happen to have a (painted) Calura right handy to compare with. As far as I know, they were made in Germany and are marked with hammer and anvil trademark.

Don't happen to have a (painted) Calura right handy to compare with.

My first thought was they could have had the makers, for example, of the All American thingie do a line of whistles for them but the (German made) Caluras are quite different from the AAF. The two Caluras in the photo above are, by the way, very similar to eachother but are not identical. Like the AAF one of them has the holes numbered, for example.

Perhaps a comparison of the US and German made Caluras would be interesting, just to see if they are in any way different or not.

I wouldn't rule out other reasons for selling items marked 'USA made' rather than 'German made' but at this stage that's all speculation ofcourse.

Mr.Gumby wrote:

Don't happen to have a (painted) Calura right handy to compare with.

My first thought was they could have had the makers, for example, of the All American thingie do a line of whistles for them but the (German made) Caluras are quite different from the AAF. The two Caluras in the photo above are, by the way, very similar to eachother but are not identical. Like the AAF one of them has the holes numbered, for example.

Perhaps a comparison of the US and German made Caluras would be interesting, just to see if they are in any way different or not.

I wouldn't rule out other reasons for selling items marked 'USA made' rather than 'German made' but at this stage that's all speculation ofcourse.

Interesting observations, per the differences in design and build. When I approached my friend, who is a tinsmith, he pointed out that the German-made whistles have a seam that would require specialized machinery, specifically, some type of small grooving machine. By comparison, the Clarke whistles were made with a type of tube-former, commonly used for making tin gutters. This is why Clarkes have the 'L' shaped tab running front to back on the inside of the whistle (which also serves to add some rigidity). The German whistles also have some detailed creasing at the fipple-end, squaring off the windway and ramp. This is all to say that at first glance, the All American fife looks more like a Clarke to me, however I have never held one for examination.

The two Caluras in the picture above are, at first glance, different from eachother in that respect, one has a seam more like the All American Fife. A neat double layer fold-over while the other one looks more like the old Clarke I have here, from the outside anyway (but lacks the bit standing up on the inside that Clarkes have).

Here you go, apologies for the quality of the pic, on the table beside the keyboard, lit by the light on the table, a bit harsh. You'll get the idea, hopefully, left it a bit larger for detail:

Top to bottom: All American Fife, Calura, Calura and Clarke.




Note the two Caluras on (German ) ebay I linked above have the simple seam, not the 'fold-over' : here