At http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=912714224
Is this just an old Clarke, or something else ?
To me it looks like a Cooperman.
Or a Shaw.
I don’t think it’s a Shaw, the mouthpiece doesn’t look right.
Might be a Clarke without the black coating, I’ve never seen a Cooperman.
I’d think the book is more interesting than the whistle, certainly worth $4.
The windway is long like a Cooperman and unlike a Clarke. Also the tinplate is more the shade of that used by Cooperman.
Like I said, couldn’t possibly be a Shaw. 
“Vintage”, my Aunt Minnie’s patoot!
'Tis nought but a Cooperman - that’s even the pamphlet that comes in the bag with them. Cheap, breathy conical whistle sold mostly at historical site gift shops for about five buckss and sales tax - i.e. a lot less than what this one would cost once shipping is added.
On 2002-10-15 09:00, Chuck_Clark wrote:
“Vintage”, my Aunt Minnie’s patoot!
Well Chuck, depending on your age I imagine your Aunt Minnie’s patoot probably is vintage 
It clearly wasn’t a Clarke, though. One look at the very flat fipple eliminates the Clarkes.
Speaking of Clarke’s. Last week I pulled my self-tweaked Clarke out for a toot and was kind of shocked – it sounded almost as pure as a couple of my high-end whistles and was actually better in tune with itself than several of them. Other than the first-octave E being a bit high it was actually quite well intonated across both octaves. The bell note was also very close to being right on pitch according to my electronic tuner – of course, that is going to vary quite a bit with temperature.
I hadn’t played it in a couple of years but I distinctly recall that I was not ecstatic over the sound or intonation the last time I’d played it. It wasn’t bad, and was certainly improved over its out-of-the box condition, but wasn’t as good as my high-dollar whistles.
So, either tin and painted wood (one of the things I did when I tweaked it was seal the fipple block) improves with age just sitting in a drawer; or technique, and improvements thereto, make a lot more difference in the quality of sound then one might expect.
I.e. a really good whistle might make learning easier, but once you’ve progressed a bit you can get good sound out of any old cheap thing. I’ve seen that over and over on guitar, but just never really thought it would apply to something as simple as a fipple flute!
John
Defintely a Cooperman! I own two Shaws AND a Cooperman (it was a moment of curiosity, what can I say?).
It’s not a Shaw and definitely a Cooperman. Besides, the booklet matches the one that came with the Cooperman.
Not worth anything musically, but pretty to look at.
Well, I say it looks an aweful like my Cooperman also, But now I feel slighted, all I got with mine was a little pamphlet that has about 5 tunes in it! I paid about $4 for mine at a Civil War site in VA. Most of them don’t play well but I get mine out occasionally just for fun and if you can get past the idea of the nasty block of rough wood fipple, I can get a few rather nice sounding tunes out of mine.
On 2002-10-15 09:00, Chuck_Clark wrote:
“Vintage”, my Aunt Minnie’s patoot!'Tis nought but a Cooperman - that’s even the pamphlet that comes in the bag with them. Cheap, breathy conical whistle sold mostly at historical site gift shops for about five buckss and sales tax - i.e. a lot less than what this one would cost once shipping is added.
Cooperman $3:95 see-:
http://colo1.midtnn.net/Catalog/catpg29c.htm
I did not see your Aunt Minnie’s patoot there but lots of whistles.