-
I know recently i focused on a few U.S based companies still producing high quality products in America. I thought i'd draw attention to another company much closer to home:
https://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/
J Hudson & Co have been producing whistles for over 150 years and they are still 'Made in England'. One of the most recent products they have reproduced in their range is the WW2 D-Day 'Clicker' a largely forgotten piece of military history. -
-
I think they were also referred to a "crickets", and were prominently featured in the classic D-Day film "The Longest Day".
It's great when a company that has deep history is still in existence and pays homage to the recognition of that history!!! -
-
A great story on their website about searching and finding an original Acme Clicker used in the D-Day Invasion.
Thanks for sharing this.
Also, they are available on Amazon.
acme Cricket Model 470 Polished Brass Clicker https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRZHK7F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_RhLcFbF3SRYH8
I had to have one. 🤠 -
-
Yes the search for the D-Day clicker was a great story and i was happy they found an original one so close to home!
Glad you have bought one Charlie, i also have one in my own collection along with some other ACME products including a few Thunderer whistles. -
-
Here is my ACME clicker next to another WW2 icon, a 1941 replica black crackle Zippo lighter:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] -
-
My clicker came in the mail yesterday!
I am at the Ranch and will not see it until next week. -
-
Glad yours has arrived Charlie, i know when i first got mine i was surprised with how loud it actually was.
Hope it serves you well.
-
-
Swift Fox, Thanks for the links !
I will purchase an ACME boatswains (Bosun) whistle for a retired Navy friend.
Glad to see that someone still supports quality products from Britain at a time when so much industrial production has gone to another country that is hell bent on the destruction of Western civilization. It is amazing that those ACME products can still compete in a world where a foreign Party can use slave & child labor, and wage outright intellectual property theft to dominate the worlds’ free markets.
Post Script ... in the USA , ACME products are favored by coyotes for use in catching road runners
https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/wile-e-coyote-acme-products-catalog.jpg?w=600&h=425 -
-
I'm glad you liked the link and i have one of those bosun whistles in chrome with the chain in my collection, admittedly it took a bit of practice for me to get it sounding right.
Yes i'm pleased the company is still going strong despite all the foreign competition out there. I'll always try and buy British where i can and i'm hoping the fallout from the current crisis may bring more manufacturing back to the UK.
Hope you friend enjoys the bosun whistle!
Well aware of the road runner connection, a prolific supplier of cartoon dynamite
-
-
Found a nice article on Popular Mechanics featuring ACME whistles:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a32316416/acme-whistles-made-here-video/ -
-
I have my Dad's old Acme Thunderer from his BR days. Looking at their website, it appears to be a 588. Ear-splittingly loud with a good blast!
-
-
Liking that B.R Thunderer!!
-
-
Fair to say i have quite a few of J.Hudson & Co's products in my collection, some of which have been added relatively recently.
A group photo:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
From top left: ACME Siren, ACME City Whistle, ACME Scout Whistle, Metropolitan Police Whistle, ACME Taxi Call, Air Ministry Thunderer 60.5, ACME 470 Clicker
Titanic Thunderer 58, Thunderer 58.5, Thunderer 59.5, Thunderer 60.5, Thunderer 63.
Bottom left: ACME Silent Dog Whistle, ACME Shepherd Call, ACME Fox Call, ACME Bosun Whistle, Samba Thunderer, ACME Tornado T2000, ACME Cyclone 888.
There is also an interloper from J.Hudson's Canadian competitor from across the pond bottom right, i'll leave it to your imagination why i had to have one! 
If i had to pick a favourite out of all that lot above it would have to be the ACME Siren, which is a lot of fun and was originally invented in 1895 as "the cyclist's road clearer"!, it is now used a lot in movies to simulate police car sirens and other effects.
-
-
That's quite an impressive array you have on display there Philip!
The only one of that assortment that I possess is the Bosun's Whistle, only mine is not plated as is yours, but is simply showing raw copper and brass with a bit of exposed solder. It is however, clearly marked "THE ACME" in an arc, under which is smaller letters "Made in England", all on one side of the keel, so I assume that qualifies?!?! -
-
Thanks Daniel, they do make an eclectic mix of products!Quote from: Stoker
It is however, clearly marked "THE ACME" in an arc, under which is smaller letters "Made in England", all on one side of the keel, so I assume that qualifies?!?!
Sounds like a genuine ACME bosun whistle to me, nice to know you also have one.
-