M. F. Schurman’s Steam Whistle Donation

For much of the twentieth century, the loud sound of the steam whistle from the M.F. Schurman Company could be heard all across the town of Summerside and even miles into the surrounding country. It marked the start and end of the workday as well as the midday dinner break.  Willard (pictured below) worked many years at Schurmans and saved the whistle when the building on which it stood was demolished in the 1990s.
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The whistle will fit in well with our clock exhibit, showing how, from the late nineteenth century onwards, ‘clock time’ (as opposed to ‘sun time’, i.e. reading the time of day from the sun) became increasingly important in regulating the daily lives of working men and women in Prince Edward Island and elsewhere.
We have been given a custom-made polished steel bracket to hold up the whistle, made by Linkletter Welding in Central Bedeque.  We thank Wayne Linkletter and Brian Murphy of Linkletter Welding for organizing this.
Below: Willard Burrows of Wilmot Valley holds the steam whistle from the former M. F. Schurman Company of Summerside.