Other than those unique qualities of the menu, a few dishes stood out to me worth recognizing that I have never heard of before, the first being giblet gravy. At the bottom of the menu, it indicates that there was a 3 percent sales tax at that time, which was also surprising since I didn’t know sales tax began in West Virginia in 1921, but in California in 1933. That being said, it’s quite remarkable for a family to be able to go out and eat a six-course meal for under 5 dollars for that time, which seems quite absurd when you think how much we pay for McDonald’s and how it numerically is more than the price I could pay for a crab cocktail at the Pig N’ Whistle. When analyzing the menu, I was confused about the price of the items, as there were no dollar signs to indicate whether it was dollars or cents, but later came to the realization that a peanut butter cold sandwich wouldn’t cost 15 dollars in the 1930s. Another interesting point about the menu but also the menus of other restaurants from the same time would be how prices were labeled and the price dishes cost. Items like Chili Con Carne and Tamales were a surprise for me to see on the menu because, at the time, Mexican food in California was not at its height of popularity, especially in comparison to its popularity in California now. The menu has Italian, French, English, German, and Spanish influences, creating a whole array of items to be shared when ordering for a family. Not only the length and density of the menu were a surprise to me when looking at the menu for the first time, but the variety of food as well. The Pig ‘N Whistle served both lunch and dinner, which is why their menu seems to be lengthy providing a wide variety of meats, desserts, cheese, and more. What’s On Today’s Menu… From 90 Years Ago Out of all the locations, the Los Angeles location, or at least the name of the original location stayed the same transitioning from the restaurant scene to easy fast food to finally a bar stayed open till 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately, shut down the Pig ‘N Whistle and silenced its name permanently. The two words together over time formed the term Pig ‘N Whistle, which is quite an ironic name for a restaurant/tea room that doesn’t serve any alcohol at first. In the late 1800s, British taverns commonly had an alcoholic mix called, “wassail” which was drunk from a bowl, normally called a “pig”. What also plays a role in the naming of the Pig ‘N Whistle would have to do with British Taverns and their customary lingo. The craftsmen are trying their best to protect this intangible cultural heritage from fading in the developing society.As the story is told on both the front and back of the menu, the origin of the name come from the Inn when “the cellar was sent down to draw peg from the cider barrel to fill the jug, he was under orders to whistle during the whole time of drawing the cider in order to prove he was not having a surreptitious drink”. People say the pigeon whistle is an echo from heaven and carries the memories from generation to generation. After that, pigeons should be placed in their homes for a while to get used to the weight on their tails. He knows the way to attach whistles to his birds’ tail feathers gently and tight. He relocated his pigeons to a remote community near Beijing after moving out of the hutong. Mu Ruixin is Ma’s friend, also a pigeon fancier. The great Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang called it "the symphony in the sky." With different shapes come different tunes, a flying chord is composed. Ma plants his own gourds and bamboo to make the best whistles which he says should be lightweight for the pigeons to carry.
They are usually made with materials like gourds and bamboo. Ma Kewei, one of the best whistle craftsmen in Beijing, has been making whistles since 1982. But with the concrete jungle fast-encroaching on the old neighborhoods, residents moved out and lost the best environment for this source of pleasure, so it’s now hard to hear the beautiful orchestration in the modern city.
People living in hutongs (small alleys) traditionally raised pigeons in their quadrangle dwellings. In the 1970s and 1980s, people in Beijing usually woke up to a special morning call – the pigeon whistle, the sound of old Beijing.
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