Foreign Insulators
by Marilyn Albers

Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", February 1993, page 16

HERE'S A REAL HEAD SCRATCHER

Many interesting letters reach my desk every week inquiring about various foreign insulators and/or reporting new finds. Mail delivery is one of the real highlights of my day! I would like to share with you a letter I received just recently from Barry Conolly of Westford, Vermont.

Hello Marilyn,

I've heard it said that if you get a few hundred insulators together, there is going to be one that is a little bit different. I've got a few hundred porcelain insulators now, and I've got one that is just a little bit different. I doubt that it is unique, but here I am writing for the expert's opinion. (Thanks, Barry, I needed that -- Marilyn) 

The insulator is a porcelain signal type in a white glaze. It was bought at a garage sale here in Vermont about 1-1/2 years ago and it was then given to me. I know nothing of its history. It has some damage to the base of the outer skirt which is much finer (thinner) than that of the inner skirt. It is well made, and is thread rested, with no glaze in the pin hole. There is an ink marking at the top of the pin hole. This marking -- MADE IN GERMANY -- appears in English, using uppercase block letters.

I looked up in both WORLDWIDE PORCELAIN INSULATORS ( 1982) and WORLDWIDE PORCELAIN INSULATORS 1986 SUPPLEMENT), and did not find a match for this insulator. It really looks like a U-318 from Jack Tod's book of U.S. styles. It is smaller, however, being only 3-1/4" x 3-1/4". This marking is not shown in either of your books. Have you ever come across it? The pin hole is 1-1/8" wide, with 5 threads per inch, as best I can measure it. The hole is too big to fit a 1" Standard U.S. pin.

Because the marking is in English, I assume the insulator was made for export. Were any German insulators imported into the U.S.A. or Canada? Since the pin hole does not match the NA standards, could it have been intended for use here? Too many questions, help...

I am also thinking that this guy is pre-World War II, since it does not say MADE IN WEST GERMANY. I would very much appreciate anything you can tell me about this insulator.

Best Regards,

Barry made the following sketches of the insulator along with its German marking. I took the liberty of adding the photo.

This was my reply to Barry:

Dear Barry,

Thanks so much for writing. I have one of these insulators in my collection too, and have enclosed a photo. Your insulator and mine seem to be identical in every way including the color, the marking, and the measurements you gave for the pin hole and thread pitch. You are right, it isn't to be found in either of the two WORLDWIDE PORCELAIN INSULATORS books you have. It just missed getting into the 1986 SUPPLEMENT by a hair. I bought mine from Jeff Katchko (Swoyersville, PA) at the 1986 National Show in Saratoga Springs, NY. The next update of the foreign porcelain book will include it as U-2230.1 remembered some of what Jeff told me about the insulator at that time, but not all, so I called him before answering your letter. I hope the following information will be helpful. 

Jeff found 12 of these in Nanticoke, PA at the dump or "graveyard" belonging to the old Susquehanna Coal Mining Company, which has long since gone out of business. Among the downed poles and tangled wire he saw a total of about 150 porcelain insulators, including these few U-2230's along with many similar pin types, some of which were made by OHIO BRASS and PITTSBURG. Apparently, they had been used on lines supplying power to the mine, as evidenced by identifying metal tags found on the poles. Unfortunately, out of the 12, Jeff found only 3 whole specimens of U-2230, two good ones and one with damage. He seems to feel that these might have been used as markers on the line, because they were on the crossarms along with brown insulators. Either that, or they were simply used as replacements for broken insulators. To his knowledge, no others quite like them had ever been located anywhere else until he found one duplicate in a brown glaze at a local flea market. He was told that the piece had originally come from the Port Jervis, NY area. He is quite proud of this one and was very interested to learn of your find, Barry. Apparently, these insulators are very scarce. 

What intrigues me is that, in spite of the fact that the pin hole and thread size do not meet the American Standard. (close, but...), all of the U-2230's Jeff found were screwed onto wooden pins! But he remembers that those pins were crude and that they were fluted around the bases, making them appear larger than most he'd seen. He did not mention the pin's thread pitch, but the insulator I have screws quite securely onto a Standard American wood pin, even though the two are not a match. So either these German insulators came equipped with their own pins made to fit, or the local linemen made due with the standard equipment they already had.

I think you are right in your assumption that this insulator was made for export before World War II. It is the only thing that makes sense, since the letters used in the marking are in English, and specify only that the insulator was made in Germany, period, and not in "West" or "East". Also, I'm 99.9% sure that you'll find no wooden pins used in that country -- only metal and cement! As to which company manufactured these U-2230's and what they were doing in Pennsylvania, that's anybody's guess. I have an idea they were originally used in Canada, because at least 4 German styles made by the company known as HERMSDORF-SCHOMBURG INSULATORS were imported into that country before World War II. Units are marked HESCHO. There is also reason to believe that the. "Kootenay White" insulator used in Canada came from Germany. However, the one hole in the argument is that all of these German made styles were made to specifications for Canada, in that they have the Standard American pin hole. So we are back to square one. Even if the U-2230's filtered down across the border into the U.S. from Canada, that odd size pin hole still leaves us scratching our heads. The German people are so accurate and precise, I cannot believe it was just a goof on their part. 

Just putting all this together for you has made me appreciate my insulator a lot more. Hope it's the same for you.

Happy Collecting,