One of the great things about attending the National Convention is the
opportunity to see some of the "new finds" that have been turned up
during the past year. Sometimes, I get advanced notice that some new items are
coming in for review, and sometimes I just get surprised. The Chicago National
was one of the times that I was just surprised -- not just once, but twice.
If you
attended last year's London Show or this year's national, you are already aware
of the work that Roger Lucas and Darin Cochran have been doing at the Hemingray
plant in Muncie, Indiana.
Darin Cochran of Indianapolis, Indiana
was "all smiles" at the
national show.
They were kind enough to exhibit at both of these shows a wonderful cross
section of the material that they have recovered from the Hemingray site --
insulators, bottles, shards, hunks of glass, etc. I remember being told 20 years
ago that "there was nothing left in the Hemingray dump." Well, the
fact is that the dump is not accessible any more, but the plant site has yielded
a wealth of material, some confirming earlier finds and others falling in the
"never been seen before" category.
This month's contribution from the
Hemingray plant is pictured below and was uncovered by the shovel and hard work
of Darin Cochran. To the best of my knowledge, this is a heretofore unseen
style. The cable top looks like a No.3 Cable (CD 254), but the base looks more like a Hemingray-23 or -24 (CD's 241 and CD 241.2
respectively) or possibly a CD 232 with drip points. Murphy's Law was operating
at its best since the critical style number was probably embossed on the part of
the insulator that was broken off. Darin assured me that a lot more digging was
done to find that piece, but to no avail. Notice the well formed inner skirt.
This does not appear to be another style that sagged into this shape, but we
hope to learn more about it in the near future. "Woody" (Mr. N. R.
Woodward) has taken a preliminary look at the pictures and feels, based on
the color and drips that it was probably manufactured in the early 1920's. We
are trying to get the piece sent to him for further inspection. As we were going
to press with this article, we learned of another new find at Hemingray by the
digging duo. Details and pictures will be available next month. Thanks, Darin
and Roger, and keep up the good work.
The next fantastic new find came to the national with Ken Roberts, from
Huntsville, Alabama. Ken tells the story of this find in his own words.
Ken Roberts and CD 299.7
"Approximately two years ago, I contacted a man in Gadsden, Alabama who
collected insulators back in the early to mid 70's. He told me he still had his
collection (around 1,800 or so), but was no longer an active collector. He had
obtained the majority of his insulators at local antique stores and flea
markets. I was quite excited when he told me that he would consider selling what
he had. However, he then explained he would not be interested in selling just a
few, I would have to take them all. After quizzing him on what he had, it was
apparent that almost all were common CD 106's, CD 115's, CD 121's, CD 152's, CD
154's and CD 155's -- most of which were Hemingray-42's. When I told him I didn't
need most of what he had, he told me to let him know if I changed my mind.
Needless to say, I was disappointed. I was sure that if he did have that many
insulators, there would have to be a couple of good ones. Well, over time I
pretty much forgot about it.
Then, in early May of this year, I received a phone
call from him. He was in the process of moving and wanted to know if I was still
interested in the insulators. After explaining that there was no way I could
take everything he had, he told me to "come and get what you can use."
Now I was excited again so the next Saturday I went to see him. When I arrived,
I couldn't believe my eyes! All of the insulators were in and around a small
metal shed in his backyard. Some were on metal shelves or in boxes and crates.
However, most were piled together in two 55 gallon drums and two old coca cola
coolers. I had never seen so many insulators at one time piled together.
Anyway, it took me over 5 hours to sort through all of them while carefully
trying not to break any. It was in one of the 55 gallon drums, near the bottom,
that I found the CD 299.7 At the time, I didn't realize what I had. I just knew
it was a different CD than what I had in my collection, so I put it with the
other insulators I had picked out. It was not until two weeks later, while I was
cleaning them, that I realized I might have something never before found. Not
long after, I went back to see him and make sure I hadn't overlooked another
one. However, I had no success and he could not remember exactly were he had
gotten it.
This experience just goes to show that you can never give up looking
and following up leads. There are still a lot of good insulators to be found,
it's just a matter of spending the time searching, As far as finding a new CD. I
never thought it would happen to me. However, it proves there is a possibility
that a few more still exist! I am living proof that it can still happen!"
CD 299.7 and the triple petticoat which gained
the piece a new Consolidated
Design number.
As you can see from Ken's comments, Mr. Woodward has already assigned a CD
number (CD 299.7) to this new find. The most unusual features of this piece
include the triple petticoat, never seen before on a Lowex product, and the
slightly extended neck, compared to other D-514 styles. The embossing on the
insulator is (F-Skirt) LOWEX/REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. (R-Skirt) D-514/ [Number] MADE
IN U.S.A. I really enjoyed the part in Ken's story about finding the piece at
the bottom of a 55 gallon drum. It reminded me of a collection I bought (not
coincidentally in Alabama) about 12 years ago. The collector had his collection
stored in his kitchen in a 55 gallon drum. I still remember the weird feeling of
pulling castles (CD 206) and cobalt signals (CD 162) out of that drum, in
addition to several hundred other collectible items. The best comment at the
national about this new find came from an anonymous source who said, "Well,
I guess the old saying, 'nothing valuable ever had LOWEX embossed on it' is out
the window." I can't remember if Arlen Reinstra (who put on a beautiful
display of LOWEX insulators at the Chicago National) was in the area when that
comment was made. Oh well, I guess the author of that comment will just have to
remain anonymous, Believe It or Not!
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