# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/101 "2013-08-24T00:42:08Z")
No noon whistles for me. When I was a kid (Michigan, '60s) we had the curfew siren every night at 2150, and I’ve lived in places that tested the civil-defence sirens at noon on Saturdays (some places every week, other places the first Saturday of the month). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/102 "2013-08-24T08:42:17Z")
Whistle? No. But the clock does chime in the square, and, every Wednesday you’ll hear them test the storm warning system at noon or so. ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/103 "2013-08-25T00:10:32Z")
The town I grew up in and still live in has both noon and six pm whistles, just one cycle. The fire siren has a continuous cycle, and the tornado siren hits the high pitch and stays on. It’s easy to tell the difference. Everyone is used to these noises so it’s only remarkable when the siren goes off at a non-standard time. For example, when a former volunteer fire chief died, the siren was set off as the funeral procession left the funeral home for the cemetery. It was a touching tribute. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/104 "2013-08-25T02:48:01Z")
Grew up in Tulsa, we had one. Currently work in Anadarko OK, still has one. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/105 "2013-08-25T05:13:44Z")
When people say “whistle” do they mean an actual whistle like maybe a steamboat? My town had something more like a fog horn blast. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/106 "2013-08-25T05:59:50Z")
I seem to recall a noon whistle going off at the foundry just around the corner and down the street from my house in the early '60s. This is kind of weird, since South Minneapolis has never been what I would call an industrial zone. I hadn’t even thought about this for years, but I’m pretty certain there was indeed a whistle. Of course, in those days we kids were able to go home for lunch (we all lived within walking distance of school) so it would have gone off right about the time I got to my house every day. I also remember the Civil Defense sirens being tested on a regular basis, but I’m not sure of the day or time. Wednesday afternoon or evening sounds right to me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/107 "2013-08-25T10:49:40Z")
Worked with a bloke who grew up in a company town that not only had a noon whistle – it had a start whistle and a 5-minute-before-start-whistle and a half-hour-before-start-whistle which used to get all the workers out of bed! ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/108 "2013-08-26T17:58:42Z")
Yep. 12:00 and 5:00. Home for dinner when the 5:00 whistle went off and home for the night when the streetlights came on. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/109 "2013-08-26T19:43:34Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Every day at noon they set off the fire siren in the small Kentucky town where I grew up. In summer it did indeed call us home to lunch. Much dog-howling accompanied the siren. Often we were told to come home when the Angelus was rung at Church at 6 pm too. > > I’ll have to ask a friend who still lives there if they’re still doing it. I wonder if you’re referring to the same small town in Kentucky where my mother grew up. A quiet, sleepy town in the Fort Knox area with only one stoplight. Right across the street from the Piggly Wiggly sits the fire station, with its noonday siren. I haven’t been back for many years, but the last time I was there the siren was still sounding off – through the duration of the blast is considerably shorter than it was in my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/110 "2013-08-26T19:59:26Z")
In my day, the nearby fire station gave three short blasts of its horn every weekday at 8 AM, noon, and 5 PM. It also sounded 5-gap-1 whenever an engine was responding to a fire, which I found strange as I always thought the signal was meant to indicate where the fire was taking place, rather than what fire station was responding. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/111 "2013-08-26T20:56:34Z")
[This used to be a volunteer fire station](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bonfield,+IL&hl=en&ll=41.146765,-88.057051&spn=0.0127,0.018711&sll=38.003385,-79.420925&sspn=6.802665,9.580078&oq=bonfield&t=h&hnear=Bonfield,+Kankakee,+Illinois&z=16&layer=c&cbll=41.146759,-88.057197&panoid=n27xV20_evwg1OtMHT5jFQ&cbp=12,172.91,,0,0) which did have a noon horn. No idea when they got rid of it nor when they converted the station to a village hall. ---
**Author:** ![Stafford2CJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Stafford2CJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stafford2CJ)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/112 "2015-04-04T16:39:29Z")
Cedar Springs, Michigan operates a noon whistle every day except Sunday. In fact, I found this page because I just heard the siren go off and wondered how common they are. I know locally this seems to be the only place that still does this. On several occasions I’ve actually had visitors who thought some emergency was happening when it went off (which is pretty funny if you ask me) The city actually demolished the old siren a couple years ago, and at that time they asked the community if we still wanted the new siren to blare at noon- over 90 percent of the people said yes. I live within 200 yards of it, and although I’m sure it would be annoying to people who aren’t used to it, I find it kind of comforting and nostalgic. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/113 "2015-04-04T19:24:37Z")
My hometown (Johnstown, PA) had one, I believe at the US Steel plant in the Moxham section of the city, but it’s been gone for a number of years. There’s a catholic church down the street from where I live now that rings (fake) bells every quarter hour, but it’s not very loud. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/114 "2015-04-04T21:55:08Z")
Small town in San Diego’s east county; they had a daily noon siren, way back in the 60’s. They’ve long since stopped, and I say great. Damn stupid annoyance. ---
**Author:** ![NuclearBombPop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@NuclearBombPop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NuclearBombPop)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/115 "2015-04-04T22:25:57Z")
The city I live in (Excelsior, MN) still has a noon siren. Every day, the siren goes off at noon, 6 PM, and 9 PM. Nobody really knows why those times, because AFAIK 9 PM is not a curfew or anything in Excelsior. It’s been that way as long as my grandma can remember (the late 1930s onward). The siren is on top of City Hall, which also once housed the fire department. However, I looked it up on the local fire department website, and the siren was put on City Hall in 1923 (it’s probably not the same siren, but maybe the support structure is original), but the fire department moved there in 1957. Also, there are several smaller sirens around town that go off for tornadoes (and probably floods or nuclear weapons, but those haven’t happened here) and siren testing on the first Wednesday of the month at 1 pm, which is apparently the required test time in Minnesota. It kind of scares you when you’re near City Hall and it goes off. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/116 "2015-04-04T22:44:06Z")
Yes, we had a noon whistle when I was growing up in the late 60’s early 70’s. These days at noon we have music/chimes. At Christmastime we have carols ever hour on the hour. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/117 "2015-04-04T23:40:35Z")
We had a noon whistle too where I grew up in Idaho Falls, in the sixties. I’m returning to IF for the first time since 1986 this summer so I’ll see if it’s still operating. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516/118 "2015-04-05T00:52:31Z")
My old home town had one but I believe it stopped around 1993 or 1995 or so; it was located on the firehouse and also served as a fire alarm. The one I really miss though was the old “Air Raid Siren”. It was on this tall tower and was tested every Wednesday just after the noon whistle. And it could be heard for MILES. (I also miss the “duck and cover” drills in grade school that went along with the weekly test. Ah for the good old days. ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-noon-whistle-did-you-grow-up-with-one/666516.md?page=5)