Monday, February 04, 2008

Noon Whistle

Do you remember the Noon Whistle?
Did they have one in your town.
We had one in my town and still have
it as far as I know. It was set off by
the fire department. It was the same one
that they use to call the volunteer firemen
in to a fire. So many blast told what
part of town for them to head to. And
even after they had a paid crew, the
whistle still went off.

One town I use to live in.. didn't have
the noon whistle...they had something
better. It was the church bells. At noon,
the bells would start ringing for up to 3
minutes. It was a wonderful sound.
Reassuring.

Gosh I miss that...

7 comments:

Betty said...

We have a noon whistle, such as it is. It is the silliest sound I've ever heard, kind of like someone being strangled. Can I possibly be the only one who has noticed?

Big Piney Woods Cats said...

Where I grew up (Minnesota) the Northern Pacific Railway had a the following whistles:
6:00 AM: Time to get up
7:00 AM: Time to start work
12:00 Noon: Time for lunch
1:00 PM: Time to go back to work.
4:00 PM: Time to go home.

Yup, lots of whistles!!!

Toni

Books, hooks, needles, and my weightloss journey said...

We have a noon whistle that goes off at noon. We also have church bells that go off at the hour, and every quarter hour. The bells at the hour chime the number of times to match the hour. so 3 o'clock is 3 long gongs. The noon whistle is also used to call firefighters, the more whistles the worse the fire. I think 5 whistles is the worst, which means all hands on deck, every shift and every firefighter is needed.

Anonymous said...

I definitely remember the noon whistle and the 10 o'clock curfew whistle of all places - Clark Fork Idaho. (population then - of under 200 people)

The church bells USED to ring on Sundays - there.

...and now people complain about the sound of the trains passing through that I used to snore through. With any luck that will drive investors/potential buyers with their condominum dreams out of Trestle Creek, Idaho.

I hear Clark Fork enacted some ridiculous ordinance about Christmas lights having to be gone/put up by a certain date? The noon whistle makes more sense than that!

Idaho Dad said...

When I moved to Idaho 21 years ago, the first time I heard the noon whistle in Moscow I thought it was weird. After awhile, however, I started relying upon it and even looking forward to it! I don't know if Moscow still has a noon whistle. I kinda hope they do.

MarmiteToasty said...

We have church bells :)

x

Anonymous said...

We have people singing 5 times per day in the top of a minaret