A friend and I were cruising antique shops this weekend and, amongst a shelf full of farm equipment and tools, I spotted a tin whistle, labeled as a “child’s toy flute.” Since it had been marked down from an original $27 to to $12 and finally to $6 I thought it was no great investment and I bought it.
It’s labeled “Victor” and “Made in Germany” and appears to be a B whistle. It’s pretty beat up and I’m attempting to do a little undenting and cleaning to improve its very weak tone.
Has anyone ever heard of this brand? Know anything about it? I’ve googled it but got no hits.
Thanks for any info you have.
Should have added that it is a conical whistle, similar in appearance to a Clarke–black with gold trim and lettering.
And in case no one knows anything about this whistle, can anyone give me any suggestions for removing some impressive dents from it? One hole is also a bit crinkled, and straightening that out a bit and cleaning has helped immensely. Will removing those dents affect the tone enough to try it? This whistle seems to be made of very soft metal and I don’t want to make things worse.
How can I tell if lead is involved? It has a wooden block, and as I said above, it looks a lot like a Clarke that has been beat up a bit. Quite a bit. I still haven’t found anything online about this whistle.