Something I don’t know and am curious
about. Who manufactured the first
PLASTIC fipple head for whistles and when
was it introduced. I’m guessing
Generation but when? Anybody out
there know…
Kelhorn Mike
I have heard some reference to whistles made of celluloid and early plastics. I have one photograph in a book here of an early all plastic whistle that was probably manufactured somewhere in the continental europe.
Dale had said that he wants to do a history of Generation ( http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?topic=4011&forum=1 ) when, and if, they’ll respond to his inquieries about it. Perhaps that would at least be a step in the direction of knowing the history of plastic mothpiece whistles.
They say that plastic recorders came into use during the WWII efforts to conserve materials. I would suspect that some plastic whistles may have also been made at that time. The article, “Recorder: Instrument of Torture or Instrument of Music” reports that “a ‘Fitzroy’ recorder with a bakelite head and wooden body was available in the UK in 1939.”
More to the point of what pertains to the whistle is the following sentence in the same article, “It is of note that at the time [1950’s] Ravizé tried to introduce into Paris schools the pipeau, a six-holed celluloid or metal flageolet, as did van de Velde in Tours.” It is of note that the word pipeau is used in French to mean the tin whistle.
Anyway, they say that the plastic-mouthpiece tinwhistles went into production in the 1950’s.
I hope you’re able to find more information on this. I find it an interesting topic.
So, how did Generation know how to make them so traditional sounding when they had nothing to compare their sound to? Did the players in the '50’s say, “Wow, (or Begorrah! or whathaveyou) what a traditional sounding instrument!” Or, did they say, “Hmmm, doesn’t sound much like a Clarke to me.” 
Tony
I’m not sure when Generation started making their plastic-mouthpiece whistles, but they had a long history of making all-metal whistles prior to that. I assume the comparison would have been between the old Generations and the new. They caught on.