# The noon whistle: Did you grow up with one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516 "2013-08-17T22:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/21 "2013-08-18T02:27:12Z")
Every Friday at noon the ‘air raid’ siren at the local fire station would go off. This was in the late 60’s in Houston, Texas. And now that you bring it up, I can’t honestly say _when_ it was discontinued. 😕 I’ll try and find out. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/22 "2013-08-18T02:32:17Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > I remember the noon whistle from my childhood in Upstate New York. I think it must have been at my grandma’s in Dewitt, since she babysat me while my parents were at work. I loved hearing it; I was very attached to it and would get really excited and yell when it went off. You were a…special one, weren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/23 "2013-08-18T03:01:47Z")
I found out that here in Houston, Tx, the ‘Federal Thunderbolt T 1000’ was the most commonly utilized siren, with every Houston Fire Dept substation having one, as well as some of the other municipal buildings (City Hall, for one example). I haven’t been able to pin down an exact date of discontinued use. The general consensus is that the regular sounding was stopped in the mid 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/24 "2013-08-18T03:04:03Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > I remember the noon whistle from my childhood in Upstate New York. I think it must have been at my grandma’s in Dewitt, since she babysat me while my parents were at work. I loved hearing it; I was very attached to it and would get really excited and yell when it went off. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > You were a…special one, weren’t you? Probably rode on the ‘short bus’, too. 😛 D&R ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/25 "2013-08-18T03:08:03Z")
There was a noon whistle in my home town when I was growing up. I think they phased it out in the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/26 "2013-08-18T03:12:51Z")
No noon whistle in Elwood, Indiana. Friday’s in Indianapolis they test the tornado sirens at noon from Spring through Fall. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/27 "2013-08-18T03:13:46Z")
The town I summered in as a teen had one (late 80s/early 90s) ---
**Author:** ![jbarro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jbarro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbarro)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/28 "2013-08-18T03:28:01Z")
Here in Halifax, NS, we have a noon gun. A cannon is fired from the Citadel to mark the time each day. It’s been going on for over 150 years, but during the G7 summit in 1995 no one thought to mention it to the security forces for the heads of state. They were gathered in front of Citadel Hill for a photo op when the cannon was fired. Bill Clinton’s people had him whisked into a limo before anyone could explain what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/29 "2013-08-18T03:36:03Z")
Nope, never heard of it either. (Except maybe I guess in a movie where there’s a factory…) I live next to my old high school, and they switched their bell system a while ago so it’s not physical bells that ring inside but some sort of digital tone that goes off inside AND outside. So since I work from home, I’m able to hear the class change bell every day. Yay. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/30 "2013-08-18T03:36:19Z")
I have never in my life even heard of such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/31 "2013-08-18T03:40:12Z")
When I was a kid, Houston used to test the air raid sirens at noon on Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/32 "2013-08-18T03:42:06Z")
We had the fire siren thing everyday. At least as late as the 1990’s. ---
**Author:** ![slomomofo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@slomomofo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slomomofo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/33 "2013-08-18T03:44:27Z")
Gunnison, CO has (or had until recently- it’s been a few years since I’ve been back to the G-Spot) a noon whistle. Originally it was a fire signal to call the volunteer fire fighters way back when before pagers and whatnot, but it was repurposed as a noon ringer once technology came to town. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/34 "2013-08-18T03:51:23Z")
Every Tuesday at noon, in San Francisco, the air raid siren goes off. As a kid growing up in a college town in upstate NY there was a Noon whistle. I note I’m the 3rd person from upstate NY to say so; maybe its something specific to factories in the northeast? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/35 "2013-08-18T03:54:21Z")
> [@slomomofo](#): > > Originally it was a fire signal to call the volunteer fire fighters way back when before pagers and whatnot, but it was repurposed as a noon ringer once technology came to town. Nothing says technology like a noon whistle. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/36 "2013-08-18T04:00:34Z")
The fire station used to blast a noon horn in Nevada. In Prague they don’t have a noon whistle, but they do have an air-raid siren test once a month (first Wednesday of the month at noon). ---
**Author:** ![slomomofo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@slomomofo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slomomofo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/37 "2013-08-18T04:13:28Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Nothing says technology like a noon whistle. Somehow telephones came to town but the ability to take the metal tower with the siren in it off the top of the police station did not. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/38 "2013-08-18T04:32:09Z")
Is this like the Fred Flintstone cue to slide off your brontosaurus and go get some vittles? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/39 "2013-08-18T04:45:51Z")
When I was a kid in the Bronx in the 1950s they would test the air raid sirens at noon, to be ready for when the Russkis came to nuke us. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/40 "2013-08-18T05:21:42Z")
my hometown had a 9 pm siren. Probably a noon siren but I can’t remember. And unless I’m mis-remembering they used the siren in some capacity to direct the fire trucks. If there was a fire there was a series of blasts. Still remember the time the driver of the fire truck tried to beat a train. Urban legend said there were body parts in trees but us kids were not allowed to go down and see what transpired. The things you remember from your childhood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516.md?page=3)