Without exception, Crown Jewels receives more questions about one particular insulator than any other. What is it? It's the carnival glass suspension insulator collectors have nicknamed "the sombrero". 

Typical questions asked are, "I found this beautiful carnival insulator in an antique shop. But I can't find it in the price guide. Does that mean it is rare and valuable?" 

Answers: "No", and "No". The reason the insulator is not listed in the price guide is that it is not a pin type insulator. It does not have threads. It was not placed on a cross arm or side peg like the telephone, telegraph and power insulators shown in the price guide.

It has been nicknamed the "sombrero" because, once the metal attachments are removed, the insulator resembles a Mexican hat.

Suspension insulators are hung (suspended) from cross arms on high voltage power lines. Individual pieces are strung together in "strings" of a half-dozen or more units. 

The carnival glass suspensions (manufactured by Pyrex) are most frequently associated with power lines built by the Bonneville Power Administration in the Pacific Northwest in the 1930's. At one time there were hundreds of miles of lines of carnival glass suspensions in use in Oregon and Washington.

Places you can still see them in use in Oregon include: Eugene, Albany, Corvallis, as well as west and north of Salem: (Note: Crown Jewels advertiser Ed Sellberg sells "sombreros" on a regular basis. See page 49.)

Photographed in November, these poles in Albany, OR
bear a combination of both carnival and porcelain suspensions. 
There are 33 carnivals in use at this pole setting alone.