Four Prized Bullers Insulators

You may remember the story of Bullers Ltd. of London, England, from my column appearing in the February '82 issue of Crown Jewels. Briefly, the company had its beginning in 1840 as a small family pottery in the village of Bovey Tracy. In 1885 it joined with Jobson Brothers and became known as Buller, Jobson and Co. Then, in 1959, as a result of the merger with Taylor Tunnicliff and Co., a new company was formed called Allied Insulators Ltd. Today, having further expanded, the company is known as A I Industrial Products Ltd. Porcelain insulators are still being produced, and their plants are located at various cities throughout England.

During the time period the company was called Buller, Jobson and Co., they put out a catalogue showing drawings and photographs of the porcelain insulators they manufactured. Pages from that catalogue also appeared in the February '82 Crown Jewels. You may want to go back and have a look. You will see three of the Bullers insulators I'm going to tell you about. Each of these three was found in Australia, and thanks to Laura Van der Endt, my collector pal from Sidney, they are now in my collection.

U-1542

This is known as the Cordeaux insulator. There is nothing unusual about the design, and, in fact, it has been produced virtually without change since it first appeared in the Buller Jobson catalogue about the mid 1980's. It is known simply as a telecommunication insulator and is quite common. Lots and lots of these can be found in England in white, and a few in reddish brown, though not so plentiful. What is unusual about this particular insulator is the dark brown color. All the reddish brown U-1542s I have seen are marked with only the letters G.P.O. (General Post Office) This dark brown one has the Bullers crest incused on the side of the crown, as shown on the following page. Also there is a picture and 1/4 size scale drawing. Incidentally, all four of the drawings you will see were done by Jack Tod and were taken directly from our Worldwide Porcelain Insulators book.

U-1502 

Am I ever proud of this one! Laura tells me it is very rare. Here again, the shape of it is not rare, but the fact that it would be found with the Bullers trademark. U-1502 is very common in Australia, but most are unmarked, and all are old. The Buller Jobson catalogue shows this insulator as being made for export to Australia and according to their specifications. It's a telegraph insulator. Many of the unmarked U-1502's were used on the Overland Telegraph Line running between Adelaide and Darwin (begun circa 1871), and since Bullers was a supplier, it is possible that this insulator also saw service on the same line. What a thrill it is to actually find it, knowing that it was shown in that catalogue nearly 100 years ago! I'm wondering why there seems to be so few of them left. Perhaps insulator production by local potteries took over, and not too many of the Bullers U-1502's were ever ordered from England. Just a guess?

You'll see this insulator in the picture below, along with its drawing and the incuse Bullers trademark. Notice the slightly different version of this marking. 

U-2840

This one is a gem! The Buller Jobson catalogue lists it as "Bennett's Telephone Insulator". Bennett, I'm almost certain, is the name of the patent covering its design. I can't tell you too much about this insulator, except that it is scarce, and very old. At the present time I'm trying to track down information on the patent. When I have success, I'll pass it along.

The insulator is still snug on its metal pin, and, believe me, I'm leaving it alone! It would be just awful to try to remove it and end up breaking the insulator. There is a flange on the pin so close to the pinhole that I can't see whether the pin is cemented in or screwed in! For right now, it comes under the heading of "Small Problems". I'll just stand and hold it if I need to!

Please see the following picture of it, the 1/4 size scale drawing and incuse marking which is to be found right on top of the insulator's crown.

U-1924

This insulator is actually a "dry spot". It is known in England as the S.A. insulator. Quoting from material sent to me by Alex Burnett (Vermilion, Alberta, Canada), taken from the Practical Telephone Handbook: "This is a special form, invented by Messrs Sinclair & Aitken, and formerly used by the late National Telephone Co., where a line terminated and a V.I.R. covered leading-in wire was attached to connect to an instrument, or otherwise. As seen in Figs. 374 and 375, it is made in two parts, which screw together. The inner cup has a deep recess cut through screw and top large enough to accommodate the leading-in wire so that when the outer cup is screwed on, the wire is well protected from the wet, surface leakage along the outside of the covered wire being thus prevented by a dry portion being preserved in the cup." 

This insulator is truly unique! I have it both in dark brown glaze made by NZI (New Zealand Insulators, Canterbury, South Island) and in a white glaze made by Bullers Ltd. They are identical in every detail except color and manufacturers trademark. Both were found in New Zealand.

The brown U-1929 is shown below. I took a picture of the one by Bullers in white, but it didn't turn out. The 1/4 size scale drawing is made from a shadow of the actual specimen insulator and shows a straighter skirt than the artist's version taken from the Practical Telephone Handbook. 

Bullers put its incuse marking on the side of the crown, and NZI placed it on the flat unglazed top of the crown. Both trademarks are shown below.

In conclusion I'd like to tell you how neat I think it is that we now have all known foreign porcelain insulators catalogued by their own U-numbers. Collectors from England, Europe and Australia are particularly enthusiastic, because it certainly lets them communicate better with their collector pals in the U.S.A.