Caroline and I wish to join the Crown Jewels staff and all other collectors in mourning the passing of Esta Brown on July 10, 1983. She was a pioneer in building the foundation of the insulator collecting hobby and leaves as many friends as there are collectors. 

Following Esta's interest in glass insulators, her husband Gerald began collecting porcelain insulators and became one of the most well-known researchers, writers and publishers in the hobby. He has been a contributor to this column for many years.

Jack

Dear Jack:

I came across an Interesting porcelain insulator recently (U-776A, white glaze, underglaze Illinois map marking), and I wondered about its usage.
Randal Wickersham 
Duncanville, Texas 

- - - - - - - - - -

Dear Randal:

The 44 in your marking is the Illinois catalog number for this design, and the 1938 is the year of its manufacture.

The exact usage of this and many other styles of pin types isn't always stated in factory catalogs. They usually just list them bare-face and leave it up to customers to order whatever they fancy as fitting their own application. This particular design originated with Locke in the early 1930's and spread to other companies, and it was the lowest voltage rating of the "Hi-Top" series and the only one of the group meant for "side tie". Generally these insulators were billed as secondary distribution insulators, and thus could be used in any such application.

This insulator rates as a good collector item because of it being a popularly desired shape, its white glaze and the nice marking.

Jack

It is with pride and a degree of humility that I relate to you that the National Insulator Association awarded Caroline and myself honorary Lifetime Memberships at the annual convention and show held in Rochester., N.Y. this year. We feel deeply honored by this award.

Unfortunately we were not in attendance at the show to receive the beautiful metal display cards in person. Most collectors are aware that I have not actively collected insulators for several years and that we have only a few months between the snow drifts to enjoy our summer home in the COOL Arizona mountains. It's no longer in the cards for us to travel to distant hobby shows during the summer period.

Jack

Dear Jack:

I am enclosing information and photos of a Fred M. Locke Insulator I bought in Maine a few years back.

It is a very crude job of glaze weld and has a white glaze with a greenish tint. It bears a partly legible underglaze marking on the skirt, probably the #6-3 with six dates, since the readable portions agree with that one. Because of the odd glaze, it is hard to tell if the marking was with black, green or blue ink. 

I'd like to know more about this item, especially as to its possible rarity. I've not seen or heard of another one like it.
Richard C. Wiseman 
Sterling Junction, Mass.

- - - - - - - - -

Dear Richard:

This white Fred Locke is quite exciting, obviously rare and of very good value. I haven't seen a Fred Locke of this style before, and it win be a new addition to the Universal Style Chart after the preliminary drawing (above) can be completed as to internal detail.

It's really wild. If you looked up at this on a pole where you didn't notice the relatively small top groove, you would swear you were staring at something Pinco or Knox had turned out in the 1970's. Whoever designed this insulator for Fred Locke was 75 years ahead of his time. 

Jack

Dear Jack:

I have a white Imperial Porcelain Works insulator which doesn't really fit any U- number in the Universal Style Chart. It resembles U-935 for overall size and its general shape, but the crown is flat on top. It has both of the wordy Imperial marking stamps plus a 6-29-99 date stamp. 

The insulator is a beauty and was removed from a power line in 1983. Assuming it was put on a line in 1899, it has been in continuous service for 84 years. 

I look forward to your column and find it one of the most informative reference sections available in our hobby.
L. John Berard 
Cache Creek, BC, Canada 

- - - - - - - - -

Dear John: 

On page 32 of the Sept. 1977 CJ issue, I included a report from George Rahier (also BC, Canada) of Imperials from a line then being dismantled (also dated 6-29-99), but from his sketch I incorrectly tagged these as U-935. 

Later Bob Reyburn (Calif.) sent a report and nice photos of these flat-crowned Imperials (U-746) as compared to the somewhat similar U-935, and this was all-discussed an page 17 of the April 1978 CJ issue. In essence the 1897-1898 U-935 Imperial design evolved into the U-746 version some time after that period and was manufactured by a number of companies for quite a long period -- being known as the "Redlands" insulator because of it having been developed for the original Redlands., Cal. transmission line. Bob's U-746 Imperials weren't dated, but the 1899 date on yours does at last answer the question as to when this design evolved.

Yes, if this specimen was in use those 84 years, it might set a record for power insulators. At least a few years back I knew of other Imperial and Fred Locke insulators of similar vintage still in use in certain California areas. If used well under their maximum voltage ratings, and if undamaged by external factors, there shouldn't be any reason why well made porcelain power insulators couldn't serve indefinitely. But in real life, they are scrapped out because of being nonstandard items and of antiquated design -- their tiny wire grooves, lack of radio treatment, etc. Most Imperials were scrapped many years ago because of their white glaze -- super targets for vandals' missiles. 

Jack

Dear Jack:

In the May 1983 column, you asked for attribution information on William Ogden's "Crystal Valve" lightning arrestor.

Crystal Valve arrestors were also known as Keystone lightning arrestors and were made by Electric Service Supplies Company .... 

The type LB (single pole) and Type LC (double pole) are rated up to 750 volts AC and are designed for outdoor service in various applications where power is transmitted and utilized generally at 440 to 550 volts. 

They consist essentially of a cartridge enclosed in a glazed porcelain body and provided with line and ground leads.
Frank Donnelly
Menlo Park, Calif.

Many thanks. I knew someone out there would have the information on this trade name.

Jack

Dear Jack:

Enclosed is information on the new style of threadless porcelain insulator found in a dump on a building site in Guelph, Ontario, Canada last spring. The dump also contained a U-980 Elliot threadless and a lot of open-pontilled bottles.

Five of these were found, four a medium dark brown and one a lighter brown. I managed to obtain all five and have kept one of each color. The other three were sold at the NIA annual convention show in Rochester, N.Y.

These insulators are made of a dark gray colored clay rather than a true porcelain body material. I believe this item to be Canadian but do not know for sure.
Dr. R. Dean Axelson 
Willowdale, Ont., Canada 

- - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Dean:

Many thanks for the information on this new find of "porcelain" threadless, and it will be U-975 in the Universal Style Chart. This could well be of Canadian origin, but we will probably never know. Regardless of that possibility, it will be in the U.S. Chart simply to afford it a convenient reference number. That is the whole purpose of the style charts -- so we can all be talking about the same insulator style by merely calling out its number. 

When I first published my reference book in 1971, we really had no concrete information on any threadless pottery or porcelain insulators. Since then, we've found quite a few different styles of them (all scarce or rare), and two different new ones this year alone. Maybe we're just now getting to the right old dumps, but it could be that bottle diggers now recognize porcelain threadless for what they are now that both glass and porcelain insulators are such widely recognized collectibles.

Jack

Dear Jack: 

... and while at Penn State University I obtained a unique bracket/insulator from an old barn that was slated for demolition. A second one of these on the barn was badly broken. The wires to any nearby buildings or poles were long gone, so I couldn't determine the insulator's use. 

The porcelain knobs are an unusual shape and are retained on the malleable iron bracket with a cotter pin. Neither the bracket or the knob has any marking.

I've never seen another like this, even though I've been collecting since the 1960's. Do you have any ideas as to who made it -- or when?
Steven Corfidi
Kansas City, MO

- - - - - - - - -

Dear Steven:

No, I don't have any information an it. I'd imagine it is of early 1900's vintage, and you could probably bet that there is an old patent on it.

I've mentioned several times before in this column that anyone could really enjoy forming a specialized collection of the antique insulator brackets. I've seen some real dandy ones in past years. The insulators may get lost to the winds (you can replace those), but the old brackets are still out there just waiting to be liberated from old buildings and defunct pole lines. Nearly all of them were patented, and the patents can usually be located by using the classification system of the Patent Office.

Jack

Dear Jack: 

Aside from collecting insulators, I also collected coins at one time and was recently looking at a guide book of U.S. coins (the "Red Book") and came across the name Jack H. Tod and wondered if that might be you.

I also would like to know if the Victor insulator plant might have ever made coffee cups with the VICTOR marking on the bottom.
Ken Jackson, NIA #1888
Sweeny, Texas 

- - - - - - - - - - 

Dear Ken:

Yep, that was me, I've collected coins all my life. I owned a retail coin shop and dealt nationally in the early 1960's, specializing in Lincoln cents and becoming a recognized authority on that series. As such, I was a contributor to publications such as the U.S. Guide Book on coins. 

The insulator plant at Victor, N.Y. did make heavy coffee mugs with a "VICTOR" marking, but they were still doing that in very recent years, if not to the present day. When I was there in 1972 or 1973, they were not only cranking out the VICTOR mugs in a side room, but the whole cafeteria was outfitted with hotel-like china that they had made, and it was all marked with the I-T-E logo in blue. 

Jack

Dear Jack: 

A local utilities company is using Japanese insulators! The foreign insulators look like American ones by their style and color -- sky-tone with black crown. 

They are marked 

I was greatly shocked when the lineman said the company used whatever they could get and that the foreign insulators cost less. What do you think? 
Chris Umscheid, NIA #2849 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 

- - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Chris: 

This is nothing new. Most companies are much more interested in the bottom-line financial figures than they are in waving the banner for the buy-American crusaders, sad as it is. The primary interest of utilities in insulators is reliability, so the foreign insulators must be good to be considered at all, regardless of their cost. 

Just to be fair to the utilities, try this test on you and your friends. Next Christmas day, open all the several dozens of presents under your tree and see if you can find even a single one with a "Made in U.S.A." label! 

Jack