* * * * NEW BOOK * * * *
Multipart Porcelain Insulators
by Elton N. Gish

This new book is the first to deal exclusively with multipart porcelain insulators. Multipart insulators have received last billing with many collectors because of their size and general limitations to space available for displaying. However, there is a substantial following of dedicated collectors for multiparts and many have made themselves known in recent years.

More than 345 styles of multipart porcelain insulators are illustrated in the book. M-numbers have been assigned to the various styles for easy reference by collectors. Most of the styles are shown by drawings taken from many manufacturer and supplier catalogs with over 90 styles illustrated with photographs.

Each style is shown with dimensions, manufacturers that cataloged that style, the dates of the catalogs listing that style and the nominal voltage ratings. There is a cross-reference for ease of finding a manufacturer's styles. With the catalog dates, it is simple to estimate the approximate age of a particular specimen. History of multiparts with patents and trade journal advertisements are also included. You will be surprised at the many beautiful classic styles that were produced over the years and at the variety of styles.

The book will be available at the Houston National or you may order from the address at the top of this page. The book is $16.00 plus $1.00 shipping.

To acquaint you with a few of the M-numbers in my new book, the Porcelain News this month will feature multipart porcelain insulators.

Last Fall, David Kingston stopped by one evening for a visit to talk insulators. He had with him a couple of nice multiparts which were of very early manufacture. The first one had a partly illegible Pittsburg date stamp on the firing rest on top of the crown. Pictured below, it is M-3060. This is a three piece unit (hence the M-3000 series) and it was cataloged by both Locke (1907 and 1916) and Ohio Brass (1907, 1912 and 1916). This insulator is over 70 years old and has a beautiful blackish tan glaze.

The second insulator that David had was an unmarked unit. It is pictured on the next page, M-2636, and is a two-piece unit (hence the M-2000 series). This style was cataloged by Ohio Brass in 1907 as well as by the jobber company of Parker in 1917. It is a beautiful piece with a light tan glaze and a distinctive flared petticoat under the top skirt. David says that this unit was installed in early 1907 and it may have been made by Ohio Brass. However, inside the bottom skirt were unusual manufacturing marks that I had seen before on one of the two-piece Lima units that were found in Alaska by Bernie Warren (M-2640).

The photo at the right is of another M-2636 of which I have seen two specimens in collections. What is so unique about this insulator is that the glaze is a beautiful turquoise blue. It is very unusual for an early insulator from the 1905-1915 era to be anything other than some variation of tan colored. This is an incredible beauty.

The next multipart porcelain insulator is very unusual and impossible to describe without photographs. I photographed it on a recent visit to see the fantastic collection of Lu Farin in northern Texas. It is a three-piece insulator, M-3900, and has a standard two-piece insulator cemented inside. Chris Hedges also has one of these and he refers to it as the "Tick". I did not weigh it, but it is quite heavy and undoubtedly it was used as a fog type insulator.

I hope that many of you will be at the Houston National as there will be a lot of good porcelain available and several porcelain displays. See ya there!