AUBURN, CALIFORNIA 1993

Ok, beautiful country, great weather, nice people, neat stuff, 135 sales tables, and 10 collectible displays. So, what else is new, Auburn is always a great time..... always.

But this year was a cut above......

DALE HUBER of Grass Valley, CA called it a "wild card" show... something wild always shows up.

It started Friday night. A CD 736 N.Y. & E.R.R. threadless dug in California turned up for sale and was snagged for a collection. (The eastern piece found its way to installation in the west.) And then STEVE VIOLA was checking out one of the tables and found a CD 120 in aqua with the numbers 300 on the price sticker. Did I mention that it was an unembossed C.E.W.? This piece is rarely seen, in fact I've never seen one for sale. In checking his price guide, Steve saw $500-600 and started asking around if it was really worth that much. Upon being assured that it was indeed scarce, he verified the price before buying the piece .... for $3.00! ! !

The next "wild card" showed up with LOU DIEKE who, last year, brought in one of the two Batchelder Patents pictured in the February 1993 Crown Jewels (p.34). The Batchelder is the first patented (Oct. 14, 1851) line insulator for which specimens are known. Not satisfied with just one, Lou continued digging on the line and this year produced four partial specimens. Not only was the existence of four of these rarities at one time phenomenal, he had three different styles!!! There were two of the screw shank variety (p.34), one suspension style (p.35) and a new style which had a ramshorn type of wire attachment arrangement at the end of the shaft. 

As if this wasn't enough excitement for one night, LARRY MONROE acquired a fluted cobalt Cal Electric (CD 130.1) and a second one made a first time appearance. 

On Saturday, things picked up where they left off the night before. DAVID KEILMAN was showing the Gregory (CD 159) which he and hunting companion TONY CARPENTER found on the C.P.R.R. right-of-way near Donner Lake. Not long after, JIM AND LAURENE RIVES approached FRED PADGETT with a second Gregory which had the dome missing above the top of the pinhole. Jim was trying to determine a fair value for the Gregory with damage so Fred brought Jim to my table to have me look at the piece. Incidentally, Jim had acquired the piece for $1.00!! It was better than most having 5 out of 8 wire groove corners in mint condition. While pondering the difficult question of how much is a broken rare insulator worth, Jim said that he had another piece he wanted some information on, as he started to unroll a small paper sack. Not knowing what to expect, I hastily put the Gregory down and prepared my hands to receive the sure to be amazing piece. When it came out of the bag and I began to examine it, I nearly wet my pants! It was clearly one of the most incredible insulators I have ever seen. 

Fig. 1 (above) shows the new insulator style from the front. It is similar in size to a pony insulator. The two short "arms"  are seen at the left and right side in front of the notched dome.

As I quickly learned, trying to paint a word picture over the telephone was virtually impossible. Words like: 'It's light green, looks like a pony with a notch in the dome surrounded by two arms with no wire groove and a wire path that looks like the Greek letter "Omega" with "Pat. Apl'd For" embossed vertically on the skirt' just didn't seem to do it, so I will have to let the photographs speak for me. 

Fig. 2 (above) shows the insulator at one-quarter of a full turn. The wire groove notch on the dome is clearly visible and the short arm  in the front. The rear of the dome is similar to a CD 102 pony but there is no wire groove on that side.

Fig. 3 (above) shows the insulator at three-quarters of a full  turn. It is an exact mirror image of Fig. 2.

After an hour or two of bid seeking and discussions, the new baby was purchased by MIKE GUTHRIE (me) and DWAYNE ANTHONY in a cooperative venture. In investigating the pedigree of the piece, I was able to determine the following. Jim Rives bought the piece with several others at a garage sale about two months prior to the show. Purchase price was $2.00 ! ! ! The seller lived not far from Auburn and apparently has no clue as to its origin. RON SOUZA, noted insulator researcher, shared that he had heard a number of stories about a pony "with knobs on the top" having been unearthed by a bottle digger about 20 years ago. Since it did not say "C.E.W." on it, Ron never pursued it. DON GAYLORD thought he had seen the piece a number of years ago at the Chico Show, possibly as a show and tell item. Beyond this limited background, little else could be determined about the new find other than it bore some evidence of having been buried.

Suffice it to say, it is one of the most incredible discoveries of an American piece in some time. Efforts will probably be made to have N. R. Woodward examine the specimen to consider assignment of a new CD number but transportation of the piece will have to be worked out first. 

As astounding as the above events are, it didn't end there. After the show, I learned that another great piece 'walked-in, on Saturday after the 'Pat. Apl'd For'. An aqua Seiler's patent (CD 130.2) showed up with a gentleman who was trying to determine its worth. Except for burial stain it was mint! As of this writing its purchase has not been consummated but needless to say, negotiations are underway. 

All in all, Dale Huber called it right when he said it was a "wild card show". If it gets any wilder, we'll need paramedics to standby to resuscitate the crowd!

Fig. 4 (above) shows the insulator from the back side. You can see a good portion of the one "arm" peeking over the top of the dome at the left and just the tip of the other "arm" at the right of the dome. The really unique embossing is vertical on the skirt of the insulator and reads:

Fig. 5 (above) This photo was taken with the "new CD" on the left and a CD 109.5 Harloe "baby claw" at its right. There is a striking resemblance between the two insulators. Their body shapes are very similar and the "no tie wire" type of service application is somewhat consistent. The Harloe design, however, would appear to have been more successful than the new find's configuration.

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show the "new CD" (left) and the CD 109.5 Harloe (right) from a view looking down at the two dome tops. In Fig. 7, a black line has been drawn on both of the dome tops to indicated the path the line wire would take when installed between the two arms and dome "nose" of the new insulator find and the three "claws" of the Harloe.

Maybe we should nickname this "new find" the DW-IKE (for Dwayne and Mike -- the current owners). However, we will wait for analysis and CD number assignment from N.R. Woodward in the coming months.

Until that time, there will be many conjectures about the new insulator's origin. Your editor and Mr. MAC are betting it is a Hemingray product that went West with a couple of early Seilers insulators. What do you all think???