You don't see them much anymore. When I started as a LEO in 1969 we still used them, mostly for traffic control. The department I started with put you walking a beat downtown before you graduated to a cruiser. Part of what we did was directing traffic. The police whistle was an important part of this. As the traffic lights changed you made a long blow on the whistle followed by a few short ones and you waved the cars through the intersection. Most drivers understood this. When I first started portable radios were not issued to everyone and if you got into something you blew your whistle to let other officers know you needed help. It also let non police folks know to get out of the way. Later as I went to patrolling in a cruiser whistles were still very effective while working traffic accidents or other traffic situations. As mentioned on another thread Acme was pretty much the standard whistle. The whistle was carried on the uniform shirt with a lanyard string attached by a clip to a shoulder epaulet, a cloth flap fastened by a button on the top of a uniform shirt. Most police uniforms still have them even though I haven't seen a whistle attached to them in a long time. The whistle was usually at the end of the lanyard clipped to a shirt pocket flap, which most uniform shirts still have. When you look at a modern uniform, and I'm not talking tactical stuff, you now know why they have epaulets and pocket flaps. I still carried and used one until the end of my career almost four years ago even though I kept it in my shirt pocket. It's the same one I started with. I still have it and may bring it to Tulsa and blow it a few times. If you hear it you'll know who it is.

Whistles were used back when Police Officers looked like LEOs. Now with ball caps, baggy pants and shirts, sport shoes, and Swat type equipment belts the "Officer Presences" look is gone and the silver whistle with chain would be out of place with the BDU baggy shirts.

I started in 1981 and the whistle lanyard was mandatory on the uniform shirt, but the whistle wasn't. The uniform shop took my ignorance and lack of experience to sell me everything he could, including the whistle, a brass Acme Thunderer. When I finished the state academy and began my FTO, I found out nobody carried a whistle. Everybody put an extra handcuff key on the lanyard.

My whistle is right next to me on the desk, by the phone. I still use it to communicate with telephone solicitors.

We switched from tan and green to dark blue uniforms in 2010, when my department reorganized. We went from brass colored accessories to nickel and the department deleted the lanyard.

Here in Ohio on my farm we use them for deer drives...if the "drivers" kick up a deer on the drive, the whistle alerts the "setters" that deer are coming...sometimes it helps...other times not...

Here in the Great White North, plastic is the material of choice for the Acme Thunderer.

Cold steel is a good choice for a handgun, but has certain drawbacks in a whistle. On a good day, the pea in the whistle would freeze and you'd sound like an asthmatic canary when you blew it. On a bad day, you'd be have the whistle stuck to your lips like Flick's tongue to the flagpole.

(Boy, there are some things I just don't miss...,)

I never lived in an area where cop's walked a beat but I had a aunt that lived in the city where the cop's walked a beat, every house that they went by where someone was outside they would stop and talk, have a cup of coffee and something to eat, no wonder they were so fat..

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Don

My first day after academy graduation was the opening day of baseball season, 1968, and I got a traffic post at one of the gates. Talk about baptism by fire . . .

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Acme was the last metal whistle manufactured in the U.S. Their place of business was in downtown Columbus, Ohio. A friend of my dad's wanted the property to build a Hotel on the property, but he had to buy the business to get it. I have no idea what he did with the Whistle business but that year every member of every friends' family, received a case (36) of ACME whistles. I still have 7 or 8 around the house. We used them to call the kids in from playing when far from the house, just like my mom called me in from the woods.

My youngest son and one of his cousins got lost in a corn field while playing army, when they were 4 or 5. My wife went to call them in for lunch with a ACME SIREN, they were 50 or 60 yards out in the corn and yelled for her to keep blowing and found their way back to the yard.

From then on, no one in my family went camping or in the woods without a whistle.

On a calm day, I can remember hearing mom call with her voice. In the woods that was good for a little over a quarter mile. With a whistle, she could be heard for a half mile or a little more.

Many Februarys, I had laryngitis and couldn't call "Pull" to the trappers during sporting clays shoots, so I started tying a whistle to my shooting coat, and gave a short blast to PULL and a long blast for ALL CLEAR. The country kids that were trappers, figured this out right away, the kids from town took 2 or 3 attempts! I always figured, other country families used various types of noise signals to communicate (think Diner Bell).

Ivan

I think they still make metal whistle's, not long ago on How It's Made, they showed how they make metal whistle's.

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Don

Whole buncha whistles on Amazon.

Surely, high school and college coaches must still use 'em.

The military also used whistles in combat, I think commonly during WWI, maybe even later. I suppose for things like ordering the troops to charge "over the top" and into no man's land. I have a WWI-era brass whistle on a brass chain lanyard with a hook on the opposite end - very loud. Part of a number of WWI items I once bought at an estate sale. No idea if it is American, British, or some other army. All it has stamped on it is the word "MILITARY."

My brass ACME Thunderer is marked "MADE IN ENGLAND".

The whistle I carried daily on my uniform was my dad's. I still have it, just don't carry it anymore.

I found it's best use was keeping me from cussing at drivers while working traffic control.

I insist that my son carry a whistle, along with a small squeeze activated flashlight on a lanyard when we go hunting (I carry the same). When he asked why we needed these items, I told him a small flashlight can be a god send, and if you ever get lost and/or hurt, you'll be glad you had the whistle with you. Also, the wife laughed at me when I carried the whistle and a Surefire penlight with us on our vacation to NYC until she saw how quickly I could get us a cab with them.

Regards,

Dave

My father brought one back from WW I. He was a squad leader and had been issued it. It was marked J. Hudson Co. Birmingham, 1916. The leather lanyard had a broad arrow mark on it. It was unbelievably loud. It was actually two whistles, with the frequencies very close together, so the low beat frequency was a rattle.

I got the whistle from my hunting coat, that I talked about earlier in this thread. It isn't an American made Acme! It is marked COLSOFF, Col., Ohio, USA.

The old building had the whistle factory on the top three stories, with a Tobacco and Candy wholesaler on the first 2 and basement. All long gone since the early 70's!

My dad's friend, built a mid to high rise Hotel on the sight. His chain grew until he sold it to Red Roof Inn (another hotel company from here in Columbus). They don't do the traditional metro hotels and sold it off, after which it fell rapidly into disrepair and has been torn down and a High Rise office tower built in its place.

Sorry I mis-remembered, and led you astray!

Ivan

When I started as a puppy policeman we were issued whistles with lanyards. We were instructed in whistle use for directing traffic (long blast meant stop, two short blasts meant go, three short blasts meant "wake up dummy").

Whistles were occasionally useful while working a foot beat. When chasing a suspect down alleys and around downtown areas we could signal to other officers where we were, allowing the others to cover other escape routes. Not 100% effective, but in the days prior to reliable hand-held radios it was better than nothing. We still used call boxes and fire phones to contact dispatchers, call for the paddy wagon when needed, etc, and tower lights (different color for each beat officer) to alert us when dispatch wanted us to call in.

Working in patrol cars we frequently responded to complaints of obscene phone calls. Tracing telephone calls was complicated (usually requiring phone company personnel to go out to switching stations in order to identify call sources) and not to be ordered for minor offenses, so I started leaving my whistle with the victim with instructions to treat the caller to the joys of a ruptured eardrum. After a couple of trips to the supply room for new whistles I was asked what I was doing with them, and after I explained they started giving me several at a time, thus reducing the frequency of repeated nuisance telephone call complaints.

We have to carry and use a metal whistle on the R/R. It's use is to warm a gang of workers when to clear up (get in the clear) of an approaching train.

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My brother is my Hero

With some proper training you can cuss the drivers with your Acme Thunderer.

This thread made me look for my whistle. HS coach gave it ti me to help ref a few scrimmages in the late 60s. Later I used it when riding a bicycle in town, way more effective than a car horn.

It now stays with my hunt gear, and that is where I found my Made in England Acme Thunderer.

I still have my brass-plated Acme Thunderer, although it's kinda tarnished and dinged up. Might just give it a toot New Year's Eve this year.

I've carried one from when I started in Law Enforcement in 1991 till now. I've always carried a cuff key and a spare car key along with the whistle. That way you don't have to call your Sgt. to let you into a car. Ask me how I know! About 20 years ago my kids got me a Metropolitan whistle from England for Christmas. Now when I'm directing traffic I sound like a Bobby! A whistle also works good for getting people in domestics to calm down and let you talk without trying to yell over them.

When I started in Law Enforcement, all of our uniformed officers carried the Acme Thunderer. Ours were marked: "Made in England". Officers had nickle plated badges and nickle plated Acmes, and Sgts and above had the unplated brass whistles and gold badges. (Probably where the term "Brass" came from). We also carried either nickle plated or gold plated "Cross" pen and pencil sets that matched our badges. I still have both the nickle plated and natural brass Acmes that I carried, along with the snake chain lanyards, and the hook that the whistle hung from, that was pinned to the left pocket flap.

Brings back memories.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

What killed the police whistle?
The proliferation of automotive air conditioning.

I well remember foot patrol officers and traffic cops using whistles, but this triggered a memory of something I hadn't thought about for a long time.

Around fifty years ago, maybe a little less, I bought two Acme Thunderers (I believe they were nickel or chrome over brass) and neck cords for when my late brother and I hunted squirrels and rabbits together. I think mine is still around here somewhere. I wonder if my brother's kids found his after he died. I'd love to reunite the pair.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Still have to have a whistle by policy at my department. Never used it a single time, but it's in my gear bag if needed. Definitely an effective tool for directing traffic. Not many officers wear them on their uniform with the lanyard, however. Just something else to get broke in a fight.


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I carry a Fox 40 with nylon lanyard for uniformed duty, usually in my off hand front pocket. The Fox 40 has no pea, it's what most coach's and referee's use. I find I use it a time or two a month.

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- Change it back -

J.W. I was issued a plastic whistle by my local police dept years ago. Being me I sanitized it in boiling water and it fell apart. Got it glued back together for traffic duty.
I ended up wearing a brass whistle as a deputy sheriff more for looks.
Bob

As Faulkner notes above, the Fox 40 is a very popular whistle today, and has no pea, and is made of plastic, and is probably superior in many ways to the Acme Thunderer. I too was given one right after, I believe that they began making them. And I was pretty impressed with their ability and advantages.

In many ways, I see their development as analogous to the Glocks and their clones replacing the wonderfully crafted, hand fitted revolvers of yesteryear. I can see advantages, but decry the loss of something elegant and seeped in tradition that is lost when mass produced, inexpensively made products replace the splendid products of another and more elegant era.

I've been following a thread recently about the great Union Pacific steam locomotive, the 844. Here is another example of the same sort of thing happening. Sure, the ubiquitous Diesel engines of today are cleaner and more efficient than the old coal fired locomotives of yesteryear, but where is the elegance, the splendor, the craftsmanship, the lure and picturesque flamboyance of the old, majestic trains of yesteryear??

So, the Acme, is to me the pinnacle, indeed, the Acme of whistle development, and is both functional and adds a touch of class to the police uniform.

By the way, I still have both of my Acmes, the nickle plate, and the brass. I also still have my Fox 40. This is analogous to my service handguns: I still have both of my Model 66s, a 4" and a 2 1/2" (no dashs), and my Glock....guess which ones I shoot the most?

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

It isn't marked as to the brand name but it is loud, very loud. My brother in law gave this to me in about 1966. He was in the Air Force and was issued to him. It has been around a long time and still works. It has a cork ball inside.
According to a friends dad, they were cork until the tooth fairy started selling baby teeth for whistles as well as Krylon paint cans. That is what you hear when you shake the can. No wonder my friend turned out the way he did.
Peace,
Gordon

Attached Images

DSCN3702.jpg (79.3 KB, 11 views)

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better have that checked

It is not pretty, it doesn't add to the bling factor, but you better put your ear plugs in before you blow it.



All-Weather Safety Whistle Company - The Loudest Emergency Whistles

I have had people in cars with the widows up, ac on, and music blaring look at me when I blow it.