fish horn, noun phrase

In historical contexts. The small horn used in the past by Cape Town fish-vendors to cry their wares. Also attributive. See also fish-cart.
1871 W.G. Atherstone in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 80What sound is that, like a cracked fish-horn with a very bad cold?
c1904 J.H. De Villiers in L.G. Green Old Men Say (1964) 64The noise of the fish horn is not very musical and might affect the nerves of extremely sensitive people.
1910 Rand Daily Mail Nov. 8Malay carts, bearing hideous fish-horn blowers..monstrosities..known a century ago.
1913 W.W. Thompson Sea Fisheries of Cape Col. 82The tuneless reverberations of the archaic fish-horn are decidedly open to improvement.
1936 H.I. Brimble in I.D. Du Plessis Cape Malays (1944) 47The fish-horn, that ‘pest of the Cape Town streets’.
1947 L.G. Green Tavern of Seas 15A weird, bleating call, a banshee wail..it is the fish horn.
1955 V. De Kock Fun They Had 163The vendor would slowly wend his way through the streets..lustily blowing his fish horn.
1964 L.G. Green Old Men Say 64Cape Town’s earliest fish-horns were hollow lengths of kelp. More durable horns were made later from paraffin tins.
1979 Heard & Faull Our Best Trad. Recipes 63The sea bamboo..whose hollow dried stalks were used as fish horns..to herald the approach of the Cape fish carts.
1986 Fair Lady 16 Apr.As the sound of the fish horn came nearer, they rushed..to the front gate to await the arrival of the little cart and horse.
The small horn used in the past by Cape Town fish-vendors to cry their wares. Also attributive.
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