Acme Whistles: Birmingham's whistle makers to the world

Blow a whistle on a football pitch, a dog walk or a station platform and there is a good chance the sound has Birmingham roots. Acme Whistles, the trading name of J. Hudson and Co. (Whistles) Ltd, has been making whistles in the city since 1870 and is still based on Barr Street in the Jewellery Quarter.

The business was founded by Joseph Hudson and his brother James. The firm's own timeline marks 1883 as the year of its first police whistle and 1884 as the year of its first sports whistle, while the history of the Jewellery Quarter credits Joseph with producing the first football referee whistle in 1878 and inventing the police whistle in 1883.

A police contract in 1884 helped turn the small firm into a major supplier for police, military, sports and railways across the British Empire. In 1909 it moved to its Barr Street premises, and in 1912 its whistles were carried by the crew aboard RMS Titanic.

The name Acme comes from a Greek word meaning a high point, a nod to how loud the whistles were meant to be. The classic Thunderer pea whistle has long been one of the most popular models, joined over the years by the silent dog whistle in 1935, the 210 range of dog whistles in 1950 and the Tornado T2000 in 2000, which the company describes as the world's loudest whistle.

For more than 100 years the business was run by three generations of the Hudson family. A. R. Topman joined as assistant general manager in 1957, and his son Simon Topman later became owner and managing director. The company makes millions of whistles a year and remains privately owned.

Today the range covers sports, dog training and sheepdog whistles, outdoor and marine whistles, a Heritage Collection with Titanic and railway designs, and a Prestige range of sterling silver gifts, a fitting touch for a firm in the Jewellery Quarter.

The company even offers factory tours, giving visitors a chance to see a true Birmingham original at work.

The full range, along with stories from the archive, can be found on the Acme Whistles website.