MAC's Believe It Or Not!

Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 1987, page 14

DOES THE NAME BARCLAY RING A BELL?

When I arrived at Houston's Hobby Airport, I was met by Mrs. Mac's hug and kiss and an excited "you'll NEVER guess what insulator showed up here at the Central Regional?!?!" This "BELIEVE IT OR NOT" story I share with you with the assistance of N.R. Woodward:

Back in 1968 the publication, "Stuart's Insulator Guide" by Lynn R. Stuart, featured an interesting insulator on page 37. The drawing appears to be a CD 147; and, according to Mr. Stuart, it was embossed one half-mold BARCLAY, opposite half-mold PATENTED OCT. 8th, 1907.

For a long time, most of us have assumed that his information was inaccurate and that there was not in fact an insulator embossed with the Barclay name; and, that the insulator was known by that name only because of its inventor, John C. Barclay, who was chief engineer at Western Union during those years.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, now comes the big surprise! At the Regional, Rob Lloyd showed up with a real insulator that does indeed carry the BARCLAY name! It is not, however, CD 147, but rather it is a CD 150. It is a Hemingray product with DRIP POINTS, of ordinary Hemingray blue-aqua glass. On the opposite half-mold it is embossed PATENTED OCT. 8 1907. Our specimen has considerable damage; even so, it must be considered as being at or near the top for exciting finds in 1987.

From Rob Lloyd...."I was visiting an insulator collector friend in St. Louis, Missouri, and took off walking to the grocery story which was about four blocks away. I was intrigued by the CD 134 signal insulators which remained on the old poles and had wired an old fire alarm circuit. Binoculars revealed what appeared to be a CD 150 with SHARP DRIPS! Now, THAT would be something!

When it had finally gotten dark, I found myself under a streetlight face-to-face with a CD 150 with sharp drips. No time for examination -- just get that insulator off the pin!!! Into the bag, down the pole, onto the bike and we're GONE! Back at the house, wash it up, and take a look at the prize. The embossing was PATENTED OCT. 8 1907. Spinning the insulator around, I was confronted with the word "BARCLAY." Then the shaking started. Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Upon waking the next morning and finding the word BARCLAY was still there on the insulator, my sense of being in a dream became pure exhilaration. The real joy came as I shared my new "find" with other collectors at the Central Regional Show."

As you can well imagine, this piece blew everyone away at the Pearland show. I know that the insulator is damaged and a bit dirty (we had no solution with which to safely clean the piece), but, "BELIEVE IT OR NOT" the piece exists. The following pictures show comparison shots with the CD 147 and CD 150.

CD 150 front skirt BARCLAY compared to the CD 147 embossed PATENTED OCT. 8 1907. There is no embossing on the CD 147 rear skirt.

CD 150 rear skirt PATENTED OCT. 8 1907. compared to CD 147 embossed PATENTED OCT. 8 1907. The embossing is identical and may have lead to the confusion. Note that the embossing on the Brookfield CD 150 in the next pictures is slightly different from the embossing on the BARCLAY.

CD 150 front skirt BARCLAY compared to CD 150 embossed BROOKFIELD/PAT. OCT. 8, 1907

CD 150 rear skirt PATENTED OCT. 8 1907. compared to CD 150 embossed BROOKFIELD/PAT. OCT. 8, 1907 and there is no embossing on the rear skirt of the piece on the right.

Now the question remains, did Mr. Stuart or one of his associates actually see a BARCLAY back then? And, was it a CD 147 or CD 150? Do any of our long-time collectors have the answer? "BELIEVE IT OR NOT!?!"