Monthly Archives: July 2020

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“ARMY STORES” solid brass Antique Service Whistle

I love antique whistles. They’re such fascinating little devices, and they’re proof that just because something is an antique, doesn’t mean that it has to cost a fortune.

I’ve been collecting antique whistles for years, and have a small collection of whistles at home, which range in age from anywhere from 70 or 80 years old, up to over 100 years old. I’ve never been an active collector, but if I see one lying around that I don’t have, and which is in good condition for a good price, I tend to add it to my collection if the opportunity presents itself.

The latest addition to this small area of my much larger, overall collection, is the subject of today’s posting.

Why Collect Whistles?

Antique whistles are infinitely fascinating. They’re symbols of how times have changed, how work has changed, how technology has changed and how manufacturing has changed, over the last few hundred years. They come in an almost endless variety of styles and finishes, and all these variations tell their own little stories – they are pocket-sized pieces of social history…that you can play around with…and unlike most antiques…are so robust that you almost never have to worry about breaking them!

Before the days of mobile phones, portable radios, walkie-talkies, megaphones and all the other handy dandy electronic communications devices that we take for granted nowadays – whistles were the only way that people had to communicate over long distances, or under adverse or busy conditions. This is why they were so incredibly common, and popular.

Whistles were common in a wide range of occupations and professions. Ship’s officers carried whistles to pass orders. Railroad workers carried whistles to signal to other staff and locomotives. Cyclists used to carry whistles on them to warn pedestrians when they were coming through. Policemen carried whistles to call for backup, postmen carried whistles to alert people when they had mail to collect, prison guards carried whistles to maintain order inside prisons, and orderlies in mental hospitals carried whistles to warn of patient riots. During World War Two, ARP wardens carried whistles during air-raids, and during both world wars, army officers carried whistles for issuing commands on the open fields of battle.

In many occupations, there were strict regulations regarding the use and care of whistles. For example in many police forces, whistles had to be clipped to the uniform by a chain so that it could be easily retrieved. In the postal services, whistles that were handed in when a postal-worker retired, had to be sterilised in boiling water before they could be re-issued to new staff. How whistles were used in these various professions were also regulated – how many whistle-blasts were used, what they signified, and under what circumstances they had to be used.

It’s all these varied uses that make whistles so collectible, and manufacturers produced whistles with all kinds of markings, stamps and labels on them as a result. That means that just one standard type of whistle might have dozens, or even hundreds of different markings, depending on which company or entity had ordered the whistle. It might be marked for police use. Or army use. Or postal use. Or use in a hospital, or prison. Or for any other myriad of purposes. Whistles with rare or unique stamps or marks on their barrels are more valuable, and they’re a useful way of trying to determine a whistle’s age.

How old is This Whistle?

This whistle dates to the turn of the last century, which makes it roughly 120 years old. It’s solid brass, and was once plated in nickel. It’s marked:

“THE CITY WHISTLE – PATENT”.

Underneath, is the additional marking:

“ARMY STORES – MELBOURNE”

And finally, it has the country-of-origin markings:

“MADE IN ENGLAND”

Antique whistles are usually extensively marked, and this is good, because it means that they’re very easy to research. Every major manufacturer had their own marks, stamps and trademarks, which were all used at various times throughout history. These variations – which can be something as simple as the formatting, the style of lettering, the size of lettering, or even the orientation of the lettering – can all be used to identify the whistle’s age and manufacturer.

In this case, “THE CITY WHISTLE” with the first two words curved, and ‘WHISTLE’ straight, with “PATENT” underneath – indicates that the whistle was made by the Birmingham firm of Alfred DeCourcy & Company, which was the main competitor for much of the 1800s and early 1900s, to the more famous Joseph Hudson & Co whistle manufactury…or it was, until Hudson & Co bought them out in the 1930s.

Changes in manufacturing processes and little style details also indicate the whistle’s age. Concave cap-loops, and variations in how the mouthpieces were formed, are further indications of the whistle’s age. This whistle was made between 1900 – 1910.

Is it a Rare Whistle?

Probably, yes! It was made by a lesser-known manufacturer, and for a small client, in a far-off country. On top of that, it’s over a hundred years old. All these factors would increase the whistle’s rarity, and presumably, it’s collectible desirability – it’s the rare whistles with uncommon markings that ardent whistle-collectors really want, due to the sheer uniqueness of them.

So…does it work?

Yes! Yes it does. Or it did, once I tweaked it a bit and got it working again.

Despite their apparently simple, tubular construction, these old whistles were very carefully manufactured. Inside the barrel is a flat diaphragm which splits the barrel lengthwise into two chambers. At the mouthpiece-end of the diaphragm is a circular endpiece that stops just below the bottom of the two sound-slots at the bottom of the barrel. There are two tiny semicircular gaps between the edges of the round endpiece inside the barrel, and the interior of the barrel and sound-slots.

It’s through these two gaps that the air passes when you blow on the whistle. Air passes through the mouthpiece and through these two gaps. It’s the passage of air which creates the trill, rippling, warbling, two-toned sound of the whistle.

…which won’t be produced if these two gaps are clogged or sealed up in some way! To fix it was a simple case of clearing out the gunk inside the mouthpiece and around the vent-holes using a pin, and levering out any dents around the slots using a flathead screwdriver and gentle pressure. Once the sound-slots near the holes had been opened and cleared sufficiently, the air could flow smoothly through the whistle, which meant that it could sound exactly like how it should!

 
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Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 Desk-Pen Base

Despite restrictions and lockdowns, quarantine orders and masking-up, it is nice to still be able to attend auctions…even if, nowadays, they have to be done at home…through a screen…and online…instead of going out in-person to view the items you want to buy.

Nevertheless, it is still possible to score some amazing stuff online – like the latest addition to my fleet of Montblanc paraphernalia!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you’ll know that one of my longest-lasting loves has always been for fountain pens and fine writing accessories. It was to this collection that, just before all this virus-stuff started, I added the Montblanc inkwell, and about which I had created a post of, just a couple of months ago:

Well, today we celebrate the recent (a few weeks is ‘recent’, right?) addition of the second piece of that collection: the matching desk-pen base!

What is a ‘Desk Pen’?

A desk pen (which can be either a ballpoint or a fountain pen), is a type of writing instrument which, instead of having a cap to protect the writing point, has a base or stand, into which the pen is placed. The base is kept on the user’s desktop, where it will always be available for use at a moment’s notice. Usually, such stands and pens exist to serve decorative purposes – they show off the owner’s taste in writing instruments, as well as displaying the quality of the writing instruments which they can afford.

Desk pens have a long history, and date back as far as the 1910s and 1920s, when fountain pens were first entering the mainstream consumer consciousness. Pen companies such as Parker, Sheaffer, Wahl-Eversharp, Pelikan, etc, manufactured desk-pen sets for executive types – CEOs, business-owners, lawyers and high-flying professionals, so that they could place them on their desks in pride of place in front of their customers and clients.

100 years later, and not much has changed, really! Desk pen sets are still manufactured (although in smaller quantities, and at much higher prices), and they’re still being sold, and people still buy them for exactly the same reasons as they were purchased in the 1920s and 30s – to show off, and to have a pen conveniently at-hand whenever one was needed. You know, for signing that big fancy contract, business-deal, or legal document, and all that jazz!

The Montblanc Meisterstuck Executive Desk-Pen Set

Naturally, a company such as Montblanc has to have at least something to offer, when it comes to desk-pen sets…and so they do!…or rather, did!

Made of clear acrylic and polished, black resin, the Montblanc Meisterstuck desk-pen stand, or base, is designed to match the resin and acrylic body and the gold detailing of the similarly square-shaped Montblanc inkwell, in the same line. It’s also designed to match the classic, black and gold styling of the Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 fountain pen – which the sconce at the top of the stand is designed to hold; the sconce even has “MONTBLANC-MEISTERSTUCK-149” on the gold banding. It’s basically a 149 cap with the finial removed, and replaced with the ball-and-socket swivel joint to attach it to the heavy, acrylic base beneath it.

Maintaining an angle of 45 degrees, the stand holds the 149 up loud and proud for everybody to see. The pen can simply be rested inside the cap, and rely on gravity to hold it in place, or it can be screwed in, like an ordinary pen-cap, for added security.

Here, we see the base, along with the pen that’s designed to fit into it. It’s a convenient place for a 149-owner to park their pen on their desk, without worrying that the pen is going to roll off the side of the table when you’re not looking – while also having the pen near-at-hand when you need it, without having to dig through your briefcase, desk-drawers, or your coat or jacket pockets to find it.

One thing I didn’t know about the stand before I bid on it was the fact that while the sconce swivels around on the base from side to side, it doesn’t have a full range of movement – for example, you can’t adjust it so that it sticks straight up, nor lies down flat – it always remains at an angle of 45 degrees. While this doesn’t really bother me, it was a surprise, in as much as it would make the stand more tricky to pack or store, if for whatever reason, I ever had to put it away somewhere, or box it up. It also means that it’s more susceptible to damage. It’s a bit of a design-flaw, if you ask me, but that quibble aside, I’m still glad that it’s the latest addition to my collection of Montblancs.

 
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Antique Sterling Silver School Cufflinks

You find the strangest things on the internet.

I stumbled across these on an online auction site while bidding on some antique silverware. I’d never seen anything like them before, they were in very good condition for their age, and the price seemed reasonable, so I bid on them. I was very excited to win them and add them to my trove of treasures, and they now form part of my collection of antique cufflinks!

The silver cufflinks with the Scotch coat of arms on the front.

These antique ‘torpedo-style’ chained cufflinks, typical of the 1920s and 30s, are sterling silver with blue enamel on the front.

Normally, I don’t collect silver cufflinks, but I made an exception for these, because the face of the cufflinks depicts the crest of Scotch College, in Melbourne – my old highschool. Since I went there for so long, I decided that it’d be a nice little touch to buy them as a memento of my school-days.

The Coat of Arms on the Cufflinks

The coat of arms on the cufflinks is for Scotch College, a private boys’ school in Melbourne. Established in 1851, it’s the oldest school in the state, and, I think something like the…third oldest…school in the entire country.

The coat of arms is quartered by the Scottish Cross of St. Andrew on a background of blue. The quarters depict the Royal Crown representing Australia’s links to the British Empire, the Torch of Enlightenment and Education, the Southern Cross constellation, the Olympiad rowboat with its sails furled to indicate determination, and the Burning Bush (above the crown) to symbolise the school’s religious background.

The blue banner at the top has the Latin motto “DEO – PATRIAE – LITTERIS” (For God, for Country, for Letters). When the school was founded in 1851, the original motto was “DEO et LITTERIS” (“God and Learning”). This was ‘updated’ in 1914 with the start of the First World War, when the motto was changed to the current version, with the addition of “PATRIAE” during such a momentous time in international history.

The complete coat of arms, with the three-word motto and the quartered shield and bush were finally joined together and became the new school coat of arms in 1924.

What is ‘DAMMAN’S’?

Damman’s Tobacconists and Jewelers. Cnr Swanston & Collins Streets, Melbourne. 1954. (Image from SLV)

“Damman’s” was the name of a tobacconist’s shop and jeweler’s on the corner of Collins Street and Swanston street in Melbourne. Established in 1854, at the height of the Melbourne gold-mining boom, the shop lasted for at least 100 years, and was operated by at least two generations of the Damman family. Doing bulk custom-orders for specialised clients (such as these cufflinks for the school) must’ve been a big part of their business, because these aren’t the only Damman’s branded Scotch-related memorabilia which I have in my collection.

How old are these Cufflinks?

My guess is that they were made between the mid-1920s to the late 1930s. There’s a number of clues and indicators that point towards this.

The back of the cufflinks, showing the ‘torpedo’ toggles and the chain links.

First, the school coat of arms was adopted in 1924. So they can’t be any older than that. Second, I know that Damman’s was still producing Scotch-badged memorabilia in the mid-1930s (the cigarette lighter in my collection is from 1932). Thirdly, the cufflinks are chained cufflinks – very common in the Victorian era and the early 20th century…but which started to decline heavily in popularity in the decades after the Second World War.

Such cufflinks would have been unlikely to have been made during the war, and look too old-fashioned for postwar, 1950s construction, leaving a small window of about 15 years in which they could’ve been manufactured.

Does the School Still Sell Stuff like This?

Most definitely! Mugs, shot-glasses, tea-towels, books, clothing, and – yes, even cufflinks – are still sold by the school. They’re purchased from the school’s campus shop, or are offered to students for purchase as part of their graduation-memorabilia package, when they leave school at the age of eighteen.