You might’ve seen this in old movies, or in period TV shows. You need a cab to get somewhere across town. So like Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, you step off the pavement, shove two fingers in your mouth, and blow a sharp whistle that cuts through the air, and clear across the street. A cab-driver hears it, and your ride rolls up right beside you, ready to go!

“I never could do that…!”
“It’s easy!”

But what if it ISN’T so easy? What if you couldn’t just do that sharp, piercing cab-whistle like they do in the movies?

Well, fear not! You might not believe it, but there’s a ready-made solution for you!

From the late 1800s through to the 1950s, cab-companies, whistle-factories, and novelty manufacturers, produced a wide range of noisemakers, specifically for hailing cabs!

Variously called cab-calls, taxi-calls, taxi-whistles, or taxi-hailers, these compact, pocket-sized, often two-toned whistles (usually made of brass, nickel-silver, or stamped steel) were sold to the general public between the very late 1800s (ca. 1890s) through to the 1940s and 50s. They were marketed to everyone who needed a cab. Men for convenience, and women and children for safety. An easy, compact way to call a cab on a busy street, and to draw attention to oneself in an emergency or to stand out in a crowd.

They were made by all kinds of companies, both in the USA and across the pond in Britain and Europe. In America, the Yellow Cab company sold cab-hailing whistles to their customers, with instructions on where, when, and how they were to be used, and why it was a good idea to carry one. As adverts from the Yellow Cab Co. put it:

“WHISTLE for a YELLOW! Keep it handy, especially at night, or whenever visibility is poor. Drivers will recognise the signal as a call for service”.

And…

“FOR PROTECTION AFTER DARK: Keep this whistle handy. After dark, it provides an effective warning should you ever need help”.

In an era when most people didn’t drive, and relied more heavily on public transport than we do today (especially in big cities like London, New York, and Los Angeles, etc), hailing a cab, especially at night, or during inclement weather, was a difficult, and sometimes even dangerous prospect. A cab whistle made it faster, and safer.

I’ve been collecting whistles on a small scale, for years, and my collection isn’t extensive by any means. I’ve got a GPO whistle, used by postmen, an ARP whistle used by wardens during WWII, I’ve got a variety of police-whistles from various dates and departments, a boy-scout whistle, an army whistle, etc, etc…but I’ve never had a taxi-call whistle. I’d been searching for one for years, but they hardly ever show up. Most people don’t even know that they’re something that exists, so they don’t recognise one when they see one. I was lucky enough to find one on eBay recently for a great price, so I pounced on it before any of the other watchers could make a move. If I hadn’t, I doubt I’d find another one again anytime soon.

Types of Taxi Whistles

While they were uncommon, various types of taxi-whistles existed. The aforementioned ones sold by the Yellow Cab Co. were simple yellow-and-black stamped-steel whistles with the name of the company on them. In the UK, the famed whistle manufacturer, ACME Whistles, produced, and sold cab whistles. They generally came out with two variants. The most well-known one today is the two-toned 144 taxi-call – a dual-pipe design that blows a low, double-note. This also came in the smaller variant, the No. 143.

Yet another variant, introduced in 1909, was a shorter model with two vent-holes, that also blew two notes at once. Introduced specifically as a taxi-call, it seems to have been little-used for this purpose, at least, by the general public. Most of them were eventually repurposed for other industries or functions, such as train-conductor whistles used by the LNER (London & North Eastern Railway Company). Nonetheless, some of these can still be found with “ACME TAXI-CALL” stamped on the barrel.

Who Used Taxi-Calls?

History seems to indicate that they were generally utilised by people in the service industry. Porters at railway stations, doormen at hotels, big department-stores, or luxury apartment-buildings, attendants working the lobby at the theatre, and so-on, tended to be the main users of such whistles. It was considered unsophisticated for the representative of a luxury hotel, upscale apartment-complex, or major metropolitan train-station, to wave and gesticulate their arms around, or to shout for a cab (I mean, really!). One notable institution that issued their doormen with taxi-calls was the Savoy Hotel in London.

To combat the image of hotel doormen shouting and waving their arms in public, and to improve their overall image and quality of service, they were given whistles like these to use instead. While some models (like the ACME 144) came with rings or hooks on them to attach chains or ribbons so that the whistle could be worn around the neck, they seemed to have been stored mostly in uniform pockets instead. When a cab was needed, the doorman or porter would step out into the street, retrieve their whistle, and give it a long, loud, continuous blast to attract the attention of nearby cabbies that a fare was waiting.

While these whistles were mostly used by people in customer-facing service roles, they could also be purchased by private citizens. However, as mentioned earlier, they seem to have been little-used in this role, and died out shortly after. The 1909 ACME taxi-call whistle was only manufactured for a relatively short period of time – from 1909/1910, to the end of the 1920s. A paltry run, when you consider that models like the Metropolitan, the 144, and various other products, have remained in production well into the present day.

The Whistle I Found!

I bought this whistle from a collector in the UK about a month ago, and I just love it! It’s compact, loud, it’s got two-tone sound, a unique shape, and was specifically manufactured as a taxi-call (even if it wasn’t always sold as such). It’s definitely one of the most unusual and rare whistles I’ve ever added to my collection, small as it is. The shape is instantly recognisable in the hand, and is impossible to mistake for anything else.

Is the whistle loud and distinctive? Definitely! It’s great for calling cabs and flagging down other transport (like streetcars!) when you’re out in public, and need something to draw attention to you. I love it!