All,
I do American Civil War reenacting and am looking to learn the penny whistle, but I need an authentic one for the time period. Does anyone have any ideas which type of whistles were more prevelant during the CW? Or were I can find a website, source to get an authentic on purchased or made?
Thanks,
Paul 
I donāt know what whistles were prevalent, but what about a Clarke original (natural)?
I used to be with a CW reenactment unit (Duryeaās Fifth Zouave Regiment), but didnāt have a whistle with me. I was told that brass and wood should be ok; definitely no plastics and not aluminum. Probably the simpler the better. You should be able to do a search on CW reenactments that will at least give you contacts to confirm, as Iām not really sure.
Regards,
Philo
Oh manā¦ there was just a lovely one on EBayā¦ pricy, mind you, but loverly
Iāve looked around the web several times for any information about the whistle in civil war music or in minstrel show music of the same era. I havenāt been able to find much. The 2nd South Carolina String Band played in the movie Gods and Generals. I would write them and ask what they know about whistles in that era.
http://www.civilwarband.com/index.shtml
Another site shows a band from the movie. You canāt see the whistles very well but they look shiny and likely metal. If so they are like Clarkes or that type of whistle. But who knows if thatās authentic or not.
http://www.hauntedfieldmusic.com/HFNews.html
I have read a fair amount of material on the minstrel music of that era, particularly the banjo music, but I have never come across any reference to a whistle being played.
Steve
We go through this here every few months.
So far, and some of us are rather good amateur ACW historians, no one has ever been able to show a single picture or literature reference that supports OFFICIAL use of pennywhistles during the ACW. Brass bands, sure. Fifes and drums, of course. But no whistles.
That said, it is generally accepted that pennywhistles of the Clarke type probably existed in the US at that time. Logically, then, thereās no reason to believe that a few of them didnāt occasionally show up in camp. Music was much more universal then. Many soldiers who werenāt officially musicians brought along fiddles, squeezeboxes, etc. so why not whistles.
Of course, the authenticity Nazis vary from one reenactment to the next. I donāt imagine youād have any problem if you took an unpainted Clarke to tootle in camp. The gold diamonds are out, Iād think.
If you want to use it in a more official role, i.e. to portray an official bandsman or musician, perhaps itād be a better idea to learn to play the fife.
I just checked through Music in the Civil War by Stephen Currie and found neither reference to nor pic of a whistle. However, there was the fife and I was told by my fellow soldiers that although whistles were not notably used in marching bands or officially, there were generally some played around camp fires.
Philo
My youngest brought me a whistle made in Colonial Williamsburg that was supposed to be historically true and Benjamin Franklin played one made in the US. It was essentially the Clarke origional design but in plain tin and with wooden plug and nails holding in the plug. I would assume that ones available during the U.S. Civil War would have changed very little in design.
Ye olde Cooperman.
Check this out:
Hi, Paul,
I do ACW reenacting too, and I like to play my unpainted tin Clarke original at events. It has āClarkeā and ā1847ā embossed in it. I figure that makes it authentic enough. I know some other reenactor/whistlers who use unmarked tin whistles with wooden fipples.
The nice thing is, a Clarke is less than 10 dollars, and it wonāt be difficult to replace if you happen to damage it.
madfifer9
Iāve never been to an Civil War re-enactment. What role do bands such as the 2nd South Carolina String Band play in these events. That kind of band wouldnāt have been a marching band obviously. Did they have any official status at all during the civil war? In the movie Gods and Generals the string band put on a minstrel show for some southerners includint generals. I had always had the impression that the bands with banjos, fiddles and such were just soldiers who had somehow managed to sneak their instruments along.
Steve
Intriguingly Hohneresque-looking ātin penny whistleā there. What is it?
And note how, for all the emphasis on authenticity, the site owners couldnāt quite bring themselves to use the politically incorrect term āJewās harpā!
And talking of politically uncorrect, Iāve just noticed the moniker of the member who created the thread. Aiiiieee!
Ditto, Roger. I find it very disconcerting. Maybe I could change my nick to Nanohonkie.
Oh yes, pretty horrible. I have one, will exchange for a busman or other nice wooden whistle.
For the record, iāve never been convinced that whistles were used in the First American Civil War either. But re-enactments are a little like ren-faires, itās for the fun of it, right? So go for it.
By the way, Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard is a great little book that weaves together music and FACW reenactments.
g
Ye olde junque! I bought one several years ago and it was most definitely a waste of money.
~Larry