Dear Folks,
I’ve just listed a nice little whistle on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3721031496
For those feeling cynical: no, I don’t often post on C&F, but my creds are pretty good as owner of the ITM](http://members.shaw.ca/dabooks/music%22%3EITM) Resources site, owner/moderator of the flutemakers emailing list on Yahoo, and occasional contributor of classified intelligence to Dale’s newsletter.
Feel free to email any questions to me at dabooks@shaw.ca
Best,
David
Note that this is a HIGH F. Those with large fingers need not apply…
In fact, this looks pretty bad. Nope, Nobody should bid on this. In fact, don’t even bother looking (or you might notice that I have already bid on it 
)
Good luck with the auction.
Ok Paul, get it–I’ll pass. Just tell us the whole story when you get it!
Now, who’s this “Trustme!!” eBay bulk auctioneer? It’s more of a nick for a used cars wheeler-dealer…
Superb instrument. The looks and stock (celluloid) give us a hint on the production date. I’d say twenties or thirties, though the double mention of the tone (both “Fa” and “F”) could make it post-WWII.
BTW, not only in this sopranino a “stinky cheese-land” production, buty it’s made of celluloid.
Quiz: guess what celluloid is made of?
I just won a bid on ebay last night. Green top gen, with three beginner books it looks like. Basically I paid what the whistle was worth and got the books for free. Now when I give away a whistle, I can give away an instructional book to go with it.
BTW, Atlas Celluloid sounds like a He-man actor from the 60’s. Sorta like Rip Torn or Bolt Upright.
Polly Esther’s hubby?
A semi-synthetic plastic composed of cellulose nitrate and camphor, first patented in 1869 by brothers John and Isaiah Hyatt in the United States. Particularly popular in the toy and doll industry in the 1920s and 1930s, it was later banned because of its high flammability.
Paul, no naked flames around that whistle if’n’when you win it! 
Great, you did your homework.
Now, what was the “celulose nitrate” taken from, hmm?
Cheese, my friend, cheese… 
Anyway, we already had a “bakelite” whistles maker (Burke–and his best IMHO), now here’s “celluloid”. What’s missing in precolumbian plastics?
Oh, right! Anyone with Ebonite whistles?
Alors! Fetchez la vache!
French mythology, I’m afraid.
Cellulose comes from plants. Casein comes from milk/cheese, and has been used for centuries to make adhesives.
Cellulose Nitrate
The very first came about when a scientist reacted cellulose, in the form of cotton, with nitric acid. The result was cellulose nitrate.
Often times, as soon as something is invented, the first thing we do is figure out a way to use it to kill people. Such is the case with cellulose nitrate. Cellulose nitrate, also called gun cotton, turned out to be a powerful explosive. It soon replaced common gunpowder as the explosive charge in the ammunition for rifles and artillery. It worked so well that in the First World War, we were capable of killing ten million people in only four short years.
In all fairness to cellulose nitrate, it was also used for peaceful purposes. You see, even back then, there was concern that Africa’s elephant herds were disappearing far too quickly, and a replacement needed to be found for ivory in billiard balls. Cellulose nitrate is also a thermoplastic, and was quickly used to make the balls for the world’s pool halls. The only problem was every once in awhile one of these would explode during the break.
Cellulose nitrate was also used to make an early polymer containing composite material, safety glass. This was a sandwich made of a sheet of cellulose nitrate in between two layers of glass. The sheet of cellulose nitrate held the glass together when it was broken. This was great for automobile windshields. The glass would still break, sure enough, but the broken pieces would stay stuck to the cellulose nitrate sheet instead of flying into the faces of the passengers of the car during an accident.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Correct: I did confuse with another Jurassic plastic–“Galalith”, which did compete with celuloid, and could look like it. See http://www.plastribution.co.uk/history1.htm
Well, anyone with Galalith whistles?
Hmm. I always wanted a whistle made outta hard cheese. Really.
Could be a whistle playing doctor with a sense of humour?
waitingame
I just downloaded the whistle font from David’s ITM resources site. Very nice! It came in handy for my son, who learned the tune he wants to play by ear but still wanted some notation so he’d remember it. Fun!
Carol
Carol et al,
Glad you find it useful! I’m a firm believer in music accessibility–both for those who don’t know staff notation and for those who can’t seem to remember the (about) 15,000 ITM tunes.
And just remember: it’s not a cheesy instrument (groan)!
David