Actually, you might want to consider the incorrect use of a word as an example of ‘disappointing quality’. That would make the use of the word correct.
Paradox … does not compute … head exploding …
I think that Boehm’s preferred configuration was silver body, wooden head joint. So silver would/should still be in period.
JD
… and still a tad pricey… at least, a tad more than a Clarke…
not aware of too many fife and drum outfits doing reenactments using Theobald’s pipes… there are, however, a lot of Model F’s, Cloos, F&P’s, Cooperman’s, Peelers, T.D. O’Connor’s… and the like…
be well,
jim
Jim,
Good points all. 
Boehm’s first design was made by Gerock & Wolf, London, in 1831. It was wooden with a conical bore.
The full Boehm mechanism flute, still of wood with a conical bore, was used by Boehm himself in a series of concerts in 1832 (Munich, Paris, London).
Only a small number of these flutes were sold, but by the late 1830s the Boehm flute (still made of wood with a conical bore) was beginning to catch on in Paris, and by the 1840s a few professionals in London were using them.
In 1847 Boehm introduced the cylindrical bore flute, which were made both of wood and of silver.
Now it is true that in flute matters the USA has tended to follow the French lead, but nevertheless I would guess that in 1860 there were very few Boehm flutes in the USA, and those in the hands of top orchestral players. It was a new, rare, expensive beast and not one to be seen in the hands of field musicians.
Besides, I’ve not seen a single Civil War period photograph showing a Boehm flute, but there are several showing wooden 8-key Simple System flutes being used by Civil War soldiers. (I’m not talking fifes, but flutes in D or Eb exactly as are used for Irish music.)
About bamboo whistles for Civil War reenactments, I would avoid that myself. Rolled tin Clarke-style whistles were widely sold at that time in the USA, but I’ve not seen evidence of bamboo whistles being widely sold and played then.
I suspect this is a case of the absence of evidence not being evidence of absence.
Reed flutes and whistles are often under the high culture radar (including photography, especially in the early days), unless the folk element attracts attention. They may be regarded as rustic toys. The situation in Greece is one modern example, where the pastoral floyera is almost invisible in the semi-commercial Greek “folk music” world. And yet it’s commonly made and played in rural communities.
I think it’s a reasonable surmise that most cultures that have access to reed / cane / bamboo have some sort of folk wind made of it. Which was the case in areas of the US. Particularly in the South. And particularly in African-American communities with precursor instruments in West African folk traditions. Certainly, you need only look at the African-American fife/whistle tradition represented by [u]Othar Turner[/u] to extrapolate back to the Civil War period. And I’m sure many African-Americans couldn’t afford the relatively expensive rolled tin whistle.
But yes … Whether soldiers on either side, black or white, actually played reed whistles in camp I don’t know for sure.
Interestingly, in reading up on the Flutina for another thread ([u]here[/u]), I read in Wiki that:
The opposite could well have been true for reed whistles. Representing low culture or rural backwardness, they may have been shunned in photography according to the same social aesthetic that favored flutinas.
An interesting hypothesis, anyway.
How times have changed. Does anyone nowadays consider holding an accordion to look “cultured”?
Now maybe a banjo or concert harp…
Best wishes.
Steve
Another thing to consider with a bamboo whistle is their longevity. They might have been made in the same way Othar Turner made his fifes, and when they cracked, got worn out etc, they likely ended up in the fire or down the outhouse.