My German piano teacher introduced me to the slide whistle when I was 8 years old. Every year her piano students would join the local volunteer orchestra to play Haydn’s Toy Symphony. She and her husband were fortunate to have escaped Nazi Germany with the beautifully made toy instruments in tow. Later, I learned that slide whistles were used as props in cartoons and acquired the goofy characteristic they are now associated with. In any event, they are fun to play!