Whistles

Recently I started collecting old army/police ‘general service whistles’ – the kind that you’d hear in old black & white British movies or that were used by officers in the First World War. Back between 1880 – 1930 there were many manufacturers, based in Birmingham, who produced these whistles for all kinds of users – officers in all of the armed forces, police officers, firemen, prison officers, night watchmen, railway station masters & guards … you name it, if they needed to get attention they would have had one of these whistles!

The following pages show a few photos of them, divided up by manufacturer.