Artistas de Vidrio - Uruquaya 

If you have insulators in your collection from Uruguay, you are indeed fortunate! Not only are they beautiful, but extremely hard to come by. Only a handful have found their way to this country, due to the very strict Uruguayan postal regulations in regard to sending anything large out of the country. The limit on smaller items is eight ounces! I have never traveled to Uruguay, but I do have a friend who has a friend..... 

As I sit writing I am looking at a total of eleven glass insulators, each different from the other is size, color, or shape. The smallest is only 2-1/4" tall, and the largest nearly 6". The glass is sparkling and bright, and the colors range from clear to dark root beer amber, 7-up green, forest green, and the darkest purply cobalt you can imagine. It almost hurts your eyes to look at it! 

With the exception of the largest insulator, they were undoubtedly intended for communication purposes. Of the eleven, nine are from my own collection, and two (C.D. 128 and C.D. 947) are on loan from Mr. N. R. Woodward who lives here in Houston. I want you to know that this kind of trust is all that prevents me from tucking these last two insulators under my arm and running off into the hills with them! In fact, it was through Mr. Woodward that the insulators were brought into the U.S.A. in the first place, and I am very grateful to him for supplying me with the necessary information to be able to tell you about them.

Following are sketches of all eleven insulators, shown in the same order as in the pictures on the preceding page, but reduced in varying degrees in order to fit on the pages.

Seven of the insulators are embossed S.A.F.N.V. (or S.A.F.N. de V.), the first letters of the words Sociedad Anonimo Fabrica de Vidrio. This is the name of the factory that made them. Translated loosely it means National Glass Factory, Inc. It was most likely located in or near Montevideo -- the only large industrial area in Uruguay. 

I have no idea how old the insulators are, but they are in such fantastic condition that they probably never saw service on a line (and since my real name is Marilyn "Mint" this suits me just fine). The factory certainly believed in producing beautiful colors. The C.D. 828 is their cobalt. On this one, observe the unique vertical ridges inside the pin hole! 

The remaining four insulators are all clear, and were manufactured by a Uruguayan glass factory named Codarvi, perhaps also in the Montevideo area. The name Codarvi evolved from the words Cooperative de Artistas de Vidrio, or Association of Glass Artists. 

Two of the insulators are embossed CODARVI--PANAMCO # IND. (for industria or industry) URUGUAYA; one is embossed with only the words CODARVI // IND. URUGUAYA; and the fourth is not embossed at all. 

One bit of information was especially interesting. At one time Codarvi made insulators to order for a company named Panamco, probably a small Uruguayan sales organization. This company belonged to a young expatriot, who, after working for some time, stole money from his company and fled to another country, leaving Panamco much in debt, so much so that it was forced to go out of business. No further information was available at the Codarvi plant, since their only contact with Panamco was the contract. I wonder if the bill was ever paid? 

Does anyone out there, by chance, have other insulators from Uruguay that you'd like to tell us about? Any information you have on any foreign insulators will be welcome and certainly of interest to other collectors.