CD272 Whitall Tatum 511A

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", April 1973, page 11

Just finished reading "Questions Answered by N. R. Woodward" in January issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire in regard to the CD 145 B/2, B/3 and B/4. I had been collecting insulators long before there were any publications on insulators as a collectible item. I have a set of 4 of these old B's: B/1 B/2, B/3 and B/4. I found only one each of these in 12 years of searching. The B/1 I have never seen on a list, and no writer has mentioned it. Wonder if anyone else has one.

About the Whiten Tatum 511A CD 272, to answer Mr. Woodward's question, "Did Whiten Tatum Co. make a red 511A?" Yes, but I would not call them ruby red, as they are a darker red than ruby. I was in Atlanta, Georgia, two years ago with Bob Brown from Florida, when we took six of these red W.T. 511A's off the line. I wrote Frances Terrill of our find, and a few months later a collector in Virginia found some of these red 511A's and offered a damaged specimen for $75. I believe as Mr. Woodward believes, that since some insulators have shown up in an altered shade or color, folks pass up the red W.T. 511A, and in the process pass up a true red insulator. Yes, W. T. Co. made a red insulator.

Dee Willett 
Bakersfield, California