Alice J. Shaw

Alice J. Shaw (1853 – 1918) was an American musical performer, who was billed as "The Whistling Prima Donna" and, in French, "La Belle Siffleuse."

[2] Because a "whistling woman" was sometimes considered vulgar or unwise,[3] Shaw was careful to craft her shows with the utmost decorum, both in her physical movements and in her facial expressions.

[4] An anonymous New York Times reviewer, however, commented that "her notions of melody are weird and uncanny ... and reminds one of little children, in that she ought to be seen but not heard.

However, she seems determined to make a noise ..."[5] Another reviewer that year acknowledged her uniqueness, and hoped she would remain so, because "a generation of whistlers is an appalling thing to imagine.

[11] A 1907 recording of Alice Shaw and her twin daughters performing a whistling trio, "Spring-tide Revels"