The tradition will absolutely continue.

Christmas in York will again begin with a 12:15 a.m. Factory Whistle Concert, according to Jeff Hines, chairman of the York Factory Whistle Concert Committee. There will also be practices the two Saturdays before.

"York being a classic Americana industrial community, it's had its share of factory whistles," Hines said. "Essentially one has survived, and they used to do this Christmas Eve concert every year. The tradition has just carried on."

Calling whistlemaster Don Ryan "the real hero" of the operation, Hines reiterated that Ryan will be conducting his 64th straight Christmastime concert.

It's a one-of-a-kind, 25-minute concert that starts at 12:15 a.m. Christmas Day, the performance now conducted via compressed air as opposed to steam, which is how the tradition started — and remained — until just a few years ago.

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Hines said their records indicate the tradition goes back to at least 1888 with New York Wire's factory whistle, a communication device that was loud and much more common in the industrial era, a means to alert workers and townspeople that shifts were starting or ending.

Watch, people do their impressions of the whistle (story continues below):

The Christmas tradition has undergone changes but has ultimately remained, a point of pride for many in York.

It's now played on a trailer-mounted compressor that will be moved into the factory building owned by 240 Arch LLC (at, not surprisingly, 240 Arch St. in York) around Dec. 12.

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There will be practice concerts, including some patriotic tunes, at noon on Dec. 15 and Dec. 22, Hines said.

He added that the Guinness World Records has credited York's factory whistle as the "world's loudest music without amplification from a nonmusical instrument."

The event will also be streamed online yet again this Christmas, Hines said, at www.yorkpafactorywhistle.com.

The reason for the 12:15 a.m. start, he said, is based on the tradition of playing for townspeople leaving churches after late-night services at Christmastime.