Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

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Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by Average Whistler »

Does anyone recognize this 'vintage' whistle I picked up? I don't know the maker, and wondering if it is genuine, or a knock-off that a snake-oil salesman swindled me out of $20 for. He also threw in the snake oil for free.

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Thank you,
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Re: Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Pretty standard type of whistle of the period.

You may want to try the img links this way:



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Re: Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by busterbill »

If this is an antique it might be good to check for lead solder. You can pick up kits at a hardware store that have little swabs that turn color if there is lead.
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Re: Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

busterbill wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 4:31 pm If this is an antique it might be good to check for lead solder. You can pick up kits at a hardware store that have little swabs that turn color if there is lead.

You really don't need a test: you can work on the assumption whistles of that type and vintage all had lead plugs. The odd one has it covered but lead plugs were the standard at that point In time.

Here's a quick handful of them, on the left three nickelsilver Generations, 2 Ds and a C that have some covering applied and a bunch of little Fs that are clearly exposed lead grey.

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Re: Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by AngelicBeaver »

Is there information out there about the history of the Generation whistles and how they went from that old style to the modern plastic head versions? Their website implies they didn't really start until the 60s. Clearly, the Generation whistle is much older than that, but I was having trouble finding better sources.
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Re: Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by ecadre »

AngelicBeaver wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 1:23 pm Is there information out there about the history of the Generation whistles and how they went from that old style to the modern plastic head versions? Their website implies they didn't really start until the 60s. Clearly, the Generation whistle is much older than that, but I was having trouble finding better sources.
There was a thread on this subject a while ago. Sadly there does not seem to be any further info forthcoming from Generation Music (itself a buyout from Barnes and Mullins a few years ago).

The 1968 date they give for the creation of the Generation whistle is clearly a nonsense, even for the "modern" plastic topped whistles. It's easy to find photographs of the Dubliners with Ciarán Bourke holding a plastic topped Generation whistle from before 1968, and from before 1966 when they claim "Generation Music" started. There's also photograph taken by Brian Shuel in 1967 at Keele Folk Festival of Packie Burn clearly playing a plastic topped Generation whistle, and certainly there will be other photographs if you look.

It only takes one piece of contrary evidence to disprove a theory. I commented at the time that most companies seem eager to cast their origins back as far as possible in time, often with dubious evidence. This is the only case that I've seen where a company seems to be denying a whole era of history.

Reading between the lines, and this is simply my own supposition, I think that the dates given are something to do with moving production from London to Oswestry along with a possible change of ownership. Though that doesn't seem to clear up all the loose ends in a history that the current generation at the company must have some inkling of, but as I say, seem to be in denial over.

So, yes, it's all a bit weird.
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Re: Does anyone recognize this vintage whistle?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

ecadre wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 3:14 pm It's easy to find photographs of the Dubliners with Ciarán Bourke holding a plastic topped Generation whistle from before 1968, and from before 1966 when they claim "Generation Music" started.
I picked up this one recently, as part of a batch of, arguably more interesting, EPs. It's from 1965

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But there are photos going back well into the 1950s of plastic topped Generations being played. And we have the whistles that pre-date the brand's given start date by many decades. At this point the subject has been exhausted and will go over the same ground covered in the past, unless someone can bring something really new to the table.
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