British Made Whistles

You know how to whistle don’t you? ACME Whistles do. The world’s first and finest whistles.

The name ACME might conjure nostalgic images from up your childhood. Of Wilde Coyote trying to catch Road Runner with sticks of dynamite, bird seed or even earthquake pills manufactured by ACME. But in fact, the name first appeared courtesy of Joseph Hudson in 1870. A toolmaker from Birmingham who learnt his craft from the age of 12. Toiling by hand to create that unmistakable sound we all know today. ACME Whistles.

ACME Whistles have been at the cutting edge of whistle manufacturing ever since, inventing and patenting new products constantly. There have been so many firsts to come out of Barr Street in the Jewellery District of Birmingham. Which we won’t be able to do them all justice in this introduction. The ACME whistle is the epitome of British design and manufacturing in perfect harmony. An eye for detail and an ear for perfect pitch. The world’s finest whistles bar none from Barr Street. Wherever there is an iconic moment in British history, you can bet that ACME Whistles was there in the midst of it all.

Joseph Hudson created the first whistle used in football in the 1870’s. At the time referees used handkerchiefs to signal a foul or an infringement. Obviously unless you were watching the ref and not the ball, you would have no idea that the game had stopped. Joseph saw that the whistle would be a solution. He offered one of his early incarnations to the local team; Aston Villa politely refused the new whistle. Nottingham Forest though saw its benefits and its account books of 1872 record that they bought an ‘Umpires Whistle’. Where it is said that they first used it in a game against Sheffield Norfolk. (although the dates are disputed).

But in 1884 Joseph did in fact create the firsts sport whistle – ‘The Thunderer Whistle’. In 1966, that ‘They think it’s all over’ moment was signalled on an ACME by Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst. This famous Thunderer Whistle now resides in the football museum in Switzerland.