Oy Wartsila Ab Turku Pottery - Finland

The July, 1980 issue of Crown Jewels carried an article I wrote in which I showed a picture of some porcelain insulators, along with their markings, that Frank Shiels (Fort Worth, Texas) had brought back from that country in 1975. At the time I didn't know the meaning of any of the markings, and I asked for help. 

All comes to him who waits! In November, 1981 I received a letter from Paul Kappus of Asbury, New Jersey. He wrote that he'd seen the article in Crown Jewels and had contacted his friend, Nick Antonow, whose wife, Raija, is from Finland, and asked them for any answers they could give. Raija immediately wrote to her family over there, and they, through the help of a Mr. Pentti Muukari, were able to send back the information I needed, plus some current sales brochures from the manufacturer! 

At the end of his letter, Paul said that he had three Finnish insulators he could probably part with if I wanted to buy them. I wrote back right away to thank him for his help and said YES, YES, YES to the offer on the insulators. The next letter from Paul told me that Nick also had some insulators from Finland that he would sell; so when the box arrived it had a total of eight (six porcelain and two glass), all different either in shape or marking. Well, it was just like Christmas!!

The following pictures and the insulator markings are the same ones that appeared in Crown Jewels, July, 1980. Following is Paul's explanation of these markings.

Figures. 1, 2, 3 and 4 (left to right).

Figure 5.

The next two pictures show the eight insulators I bought from Paul and Nick, and following are the incuse insulator markings.

Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 (left to right).

Figures 12 and 13 (left to right).

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The factory marking that resembles an F, and is found on three of the porcelain insulators above, is the logo used by Oy Wartsila Ab Turku Pottery in Finland. This pottery was founded in 1918 at its present site in Turku. Over the years it has expanded, and today 2,500 tons of goods are produced annually by the staff of 230 people. 

Turku Pottery manufactures products made of ceramic materials primarily for the electrical industry. 30% of the total production is made up of insulators for high and low tension lines, including pin types, suspension insulators, spools and guy insulators.

The factory also makes pressed details for electrical installations, various porcelain parts used in other industries where a wear resistant quality is required, and also those used in the chemical industry, because of the porcelain being resistant to corrosion.

The porcelain is composted in four firing kilns, three of which are oil-heated tunnel kilns, and one an electrically heated "top hat" kiln. There is also a high tension laboratory for electrical testing. Its equipment permits a sustained voltage of 300,000 volts and a momentary voltage of no less than 1,000,000 volts!! 

A separate department is responsible for making and servicing tools. The pottery also has grinding and installation departments for giving the finishing touches to the insulators. 

The word ARABIA found on the remaining three porcelains in the picture, Paul says, "is the name of a Finnish porcelain company which makes virtually anything out of porcelain from fine pottery to toilets". No other information is available at this time, but Paul is trying to get brochures from not only this company, but another large porcelain company in Helsinki as well. When he gets them, we'll pass the information on to you. 

The two clear glass insulators are truly unique, in that their pinholes are triangular shaped instead of round! Instead of regular threads inside the pinhole, there are several rows of rectangular bumps or protrusions. As you can see, figure 12 is our very familiar CD 128, but unembossed. Figure 13 is a new find to us and now bears the new CD # 453. It measures only 2-1/2 inches high. It is embossed KARHULA HEL-2. I don't know what glass factory made these, but it was either made in or made for use in the town of Karhula, east of Helsinki and along the coast line. The HEL, I would presume, has something to do with Helsinki.

Below are two photos taken by Nick Antonow in the Museum of Technology in Helsinki. I don't know how well these will reproduce, but one picture shows a case full of typical insulators used in Finland, and in the other one you can see a lineman (mannequin) on a pole. I would really like to see that museum, wouldn't you?

Many, many thanks go to Paul Kappus, his friends Nick and Raija Antonow, Raija's family, and Mr. Pentti Muukari, who all went to so much trouble to find the answers for us!