As a relatively new addition to the ranks of insulator collectors, I have found the articles in Crown Jewels exciting and interesting. Little did I know when my wife and I embarked on a recent exploration of the antique and collectible shops along the Maine coast this summer that I would discover a small piece of the history of our hobby that would be worth reporting in the journal.

The shop was a neat little place off the road from Damanscotta to Premaquid Beach, Maine. I had already scanned the contents for insulators and determined that the few I found there were already in my collection. In the very back of the shop were several stacks of old magazines, books and what appeared to be old bookkeeping journals. The shopkeeper had conveniently placed small pieces of paper in each of these declaring the nature of the contents. One of the "bookmarks" read "The Philadelphia Insulator Company." 

Upon leafing through the journal, I found pasted to the pages, onion skin typewriting paper containing the accounts of certain meetings of the shareholders of the company, including the Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. Needless to say I had no hesitation in paying the price of two dollars to purchase this volume. I must admit I had no real understanding of what I had found at the time. 

My first thought was to consult the indices of my copies of the McDougald books so that I might identify what a Philadelphia insulator looked like. Much to my disappointment, I found no reference there. It was almost two weeks later that I happened upon the story and description of the "Mad Hatter" - CD 134.6 on pages 64-66 (Volume II, Insulators, A History and Guide to North American Glass Pintype Insulators) A name from that story -- Hannibal W. Rappleye -- jumped at me! That was a name I had seen in my journal. My curiosity was now on a major alert! 

I copied the first entry from my journal and sent it to Elton Gish since it was apparent from his notice in Crown Jewels that he had a wealth of information about the history of insulators. It was his prompt and helpful reply that has encouraged me to write this article. Let me describe in summary form the contents of the material from the journal.

The Philadelphia Insulator Company was formed by five gentlemen on November 24, 1896. The men were H. W. Rappleye, T.W. Pilling, J.W. Fitzpatrick, James C. Rappleye, and S.B. Rappleye. The purpose of the corporation as stated in the articles of agreement written on that day was for "...manufacturing, buying and selling, licensing others to manufacture electric insulators; for the purpose also to obtain by purchase or otherwise, patent rights for insulators, and incidentally of existing assignments of patent rights..." 

The incorporators subscribed the sum of one thousand dollars to the capital stock of the company. They paid an initial one hundred dollars, and listed their intent to raise two hundred and fifty thousand dollars by the sale of additional shares. The initial shares, worth one hundred dollars each, were distributed such as to give H.W. Rappleye shares worth 60% of the initial subscription value.

The articles of incorporation and the bylaws of the company were filed on November 27, 1896 with the Secretary of State of West Virginia, Mr. W.E. Chilton. The offices of the company were listed as being in Philadelphia and the duration of the corporation was specifically stated to be until December of 1945.

All of the initial corporate business occurred during two meetings held at the residence of H,W. Rappleye, 2814 Poplar Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to the writing of the bylaws and articles of incorporation on November 24, 1896, the directors of the new company voted to purchase from H. W. Rappleye "...his Letter of Patent for Insulators #557,881 and in payment therefore to issue to him twenty-four hundred and ninety shares of full paid stock..." When the second meeting convened on December 14, 1896, the minutes note that the corporate papers had been filed, that T.W. Pilling was elected President, and that Mr. H. W. Rappleye had obtained the corporate seal and some stationery. The main piece of business at the second meeting was a vote by the directors to authorize"... the purchase of the necessary tools for making the ties for one thousand sample insulators, and the material from which to make said ties..."

Unfortunately, that is the extent of the material in the journal relative to the Philadelphia Insulator Company. The material on the other pages consists of hand written journal entries typical of any business.

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Upon receipt of copies of this material Elton Gish kindly shared with me, his copies of the complete patent #557,881 referred to in the minutes. The patent was applied for by Hannibal W. Rappleye on February 24, 1896. The drawings from the patent are reproduced on page 66 of Volume II of the McDougald book. With the help of Me. Gish, the information published in the McDougald book, and the documents I found it is possible to reconstruct a bit more of the history of the "Mad Hatter."

Hannibal W. Rappleye patented a new design for an electrical insulator in February 1896. The concept involved a new method of tying wires onto the insulator rather than the design of the insulator itself. It is not clear if Mr. Rappleye tried unsuccessfully to sell his newly patented idea in early 1896 or not. We do know now that he was instrumental in forming of the Philadelphia Insulator Company and by so doing he secured sufficient capital from the incorporators to produce one thousand sample insulators.

Although we know the papers of incorporation of the company were filed in West Virginia we don't know why. Nevertheless that may explain why the company did not appear in the article from the McDougald book. Perhaps one of the partners was from West Virginia. We still do not know the details of the circumstances by which the Brookfield Company produced the first CD 134.6. Mr. Gish speculates that the Philadelphia Insulator Company contracted with Brookfield to produce the limited number of sample items. Also, it is his belief that the tie wire design proved to be unworkable and/or unacceptable to potential buyers and the entire enterprise ended in failure.

I would like to end this story with a speculation of my own. I believe The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard is one of the military facilities which has been targeted for closure. Since the shipyard is the place where the only known specimen of CD 134.6 has been found I recommend that The National Insulator Association hold a special meeting at the shipyard the day it officially closes so that the membership may search the premised for the remaining 999 specimens of the "Mad Hatter".