Back in the early 50s when I was aged 4 to 9 or so, my mother used to whistle a lot while she worked (she never thought she could sing and wouldn't so I don't know what she would have sounded like). Her brother was a local country/old time singer that had a taped show on a local radio station (AM) for a time. I remember he came to our house one time to make his show tape and tricked my mother into talking with him while the tape ran. She hated the sound of her speaking voice so much on tape she wouldn't even consider singing anything with him. Between my uncle's music and listening to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night (before we got a TV), I learned a lot of older songs though I only sang to myself until I got to college and learned to play a little on the guitar.

SC