"World-Wide Spool Frenzy"

In this issue I want to share my enthusiasm for collecting spools from around the world. I realize these often maligned and overlooked insulators are smaller than their cousins and don't carry as heavy a load as their high power cousins. Nor do they have the characteristic threads associated with the heavily collected pin-type insulators. Nevertheless, they have faithfully done the job they were designed for and can be found in a rainbow of colors and a variety of interesting shapes.

I will begin by introducing my favorite spool: CD 1050. This particular style spool was originally designed and made by Hemingray and is embossed with the company's style number 519. For a significant period of time in the hobby, Hemingray was believed to be the manufacturer of unembossed examples of this style spool that had appeared in the hobby in several wild colors. Interesting stories reminiscent of early gold seekers during the California gold rush appear to have fueled wild speculation. I've been told first hand accounts by an early digger that Peacock Blue spools were being found in the 1970s at the Hemingray factory dump site, albeit on the surface. One can only wonder why they were only found on the surface and not below. Another story I've heard from a long time collector in the hobby was that there was a small line of colorful CD 1050 spools found in service in Georgia. Other than reports that they were seen in several different colors including the popular Peacock Blue, no further evidence to corroborate these reports have been found. I welcome feedback from our readers along with any documentation or other evidence to support Hemingray's involvement in the manufacture of these unembossed spools.

While I do not have the resources to investigate these claims, I have been able to identify at least one significant mold mark that is found on most, if not every, unembossed CD 1050 spool recovered in Colombia. There is a circle that is slightly smaller than an eraser head size that can be found slightly off-center in the wire groove on one side of the spool (see example of this mark on the milky peacock blue spool on page 27 upper right). To date, I have not been able to examine any of the early Peacock or Cobalt Blue spools that were reportedly "discovered" in the U.S. to compare them with those found in Colombia. But I have examined a beautiful Yellow Olive specimen that was among the early finds in the hobby (and initially believed to be of Hemingray origin) and it has the characteristic mold mark found on spools confirmed to have been made in Colombia. And I also recently had the privilege of examining a beautiful milkglass spool that was reportedly found in an antique store in Cape Cod that had been locked away for many years. I was able to find the key identifying mold mark on this spool as well. So I can state with reasonable certainty that these early finds in the hobby are unembossed spools made by Zicme. The milkglass spool is an especially rare find indeed with only one confirmed to be in existence, although there have been rumors of one or two others (see photo page 27 right middle).

Further evidence for the manufacture of these spools comes from documentation of Zicme's trademark application and incorporation papers uncovered at the Chamber of Commerce in Bogota. Although spools are not specifically named in these documents, insulators are. Conclusive evidence however comes from an interview with the former production manager at Zundel y Cia, Limitada who confirms with vivid details that Zicme made these spools. Additional confirmation comes from several interviews with Liza Zundel de Farina, daughter of Zicme founder, Salomon Zundel, and current co-owner of Pelicme Limitada.

An Italian moldmaker working for Zundel Y Cia, Limitada obtained a copy of a telephone supply catalog that was published in Argentina. Inside the book were many photographs and dimensions of various styles of insulators along with their dimensions. The CD 1050 spool (along with other Hemingray insulator styles) was successfully copied with the assistance of an Italian gentleman who was an experienced moldmaker. With his help Mr Zundel was able to produce molds and manufacture the now famous and highly prized "Zicme" glass insulators.

According to their production manager, a total of 10,000 unembossed Zicme spools were made in the capital city of Bogota, Colombia for 4 short years between 1961-66, with a one year moratorium on production. They were handmade exclusively for electrical contractors using bottom of the barrel leftover glass from insulator batches for the other styles they made (CD 106, 154 and 203). The spectacular colors these spools are found in can be explained by the heavy concentration of recycled glass they used to make them. This heavier, cullet laden, glass typically settled on the bottom of the pot so naturally one can find spools in deeper, richer colors (with a few exceptions) than their larger cousins the CD 106, 154 and 203. They can occasionally be found with large chunks of cullet or other unusually colorful swirls such as milk or burgundy and even cobalt blue! They were annealed in a small stone oven and placed in between their larger cousins. There was not much attention to quality control during this process as they are often found with large under-pours or excessive glass around the outer rim mold lines. Some contractors insisted the sharp overpours be ground down to prevent injury and so some spools are found installed in this condition.

These spools were installed primarily on iron and/or steel racks with a metal rod that slid down the center of the four (typically) and sometimes five spools. Each one was secured with washers and the top piece was secured to the rack by tightening it down with a nut and washer. These rack spools as they are sometimes called were installed as a service drop from power lines or for dead ending power to buildings, providing juice to light poles and occasionally (photo page 24) they were used to separate wires that spanned long distances on overhead power lines in addition to the service drop.

The main fascination I have for these glass jewels is the complete range of colors they have been found in and, due to their small size, the relative ease in displaying them. The first examples I located while living in the country in 1990-92 included Mint Green, Olive Green with Yellow Swirls, Foamy Amber Blackglass, Deep Orange Amber, Deep Red Amber, Purple, Deep Lilac, Cranberry Violet, Peacock Blue and Cobalt, Clear, Gray, Ice Aqua, Light Lavender, Royal Purple, Magenta Blackglass and Milky Peacock Blue!

I was very fortunate to have recovered some of these spools because many of them are truly scarce. For example, on one of my first hunts in the "wild streets" of Bogota for spools was the amazing discovery of a rack of 3 green spools on the side of a building in the north side of town! With the help of a local utility crew who changed them out for some readily available modern spools, my contact recovered the Green with Yellow swirls, and two Mint Greens. Initially this gave me the false impression they were readily available yet in two years of traveling and searching (with the assistance of several scouts) I only saw one other Green spool on the side of a building in another large industrial city many miles away. A contact of mine was able to hand deliver it to me a few days before I left the country in 1992. I saw a mustard spool in a catalog auction that came out of the Jim Overstreet collection a few years later, and only this year was able to add a similar color spool to my collection! (page 29, upper right) I can only confirm these two examples of the mustard beauty, and it isn't listed in the Glass Insulators From Outside North America (GIFONA) but will be published in the new World Wide Glass Insulators Handbook that I am working on which will serve as a supplement to GIFONA.

Other previously reported CD 1050 spools which are considered rare and underrated are any Ambers, Magenta Blackglass, Deep Violet, Deep Blue Lavender, Mustard Yellow, Milky Yellow Olive, Milky Peacock Blue, Gray, and the true Cobalt which is much deeper than the relatively common but still very beautiful Peacock Blue. I also consider Aqua spools as scarce, with about 6-7 known. The tough ones are the richer aqua shade, not the icy color which is a common color for Zicme glass. I keep wondering if there is a CD 106 or 154 Amber Zicme waiting to be discovered because the amber spools (like all other insulators) were handmade from cullet rich recycled glass batches! In fact, I was able to recover approximately 12 Teal Aqua CD 106's with varying amounts of red cullet swirls inside and 2-3 crude CD 106 Teal Aquas with small milky cullet droplets inside. Perhaps this helps explain the origins of Deep Red Amber spools. Since most of the Red swirled CD 106's were found cracked it's possible the cullet combination was incompatible with the glass batch, thus ending the use of amber in their glass batches. Further evidence to support this is the scarcity of amber spools and non-existence of other Zicme insulators with amber swirls in them. I've found Zicme insulators with cullet based swirls in Light Cobalt Blue, Sage Green, Purple, Burgundy, Milk, Yellow, Red, Smoke and possibly others! Why are all these colors found swirling inside insulators, yet I am unaware of a single Zicme with amber swirls? Apparently the heavier cullet used in the glass batches drifted to the bottom of the pot and evidently didn't get stirred or mixed well because many insulators can be found with a wide variety of colors swirling inside.

Over the last couple of years some fantastic new, unlisted color spools have been discovered (many are one of a kind colors) including a Clear with Burgundy swirls, Peacock Blue Jade Milk, Mustard with Citrine swirls, Milky Yellow Olive, Pink, Lilac Lavender, Burgundy with Cobalt swirls, Lemon tint, and Cornflower Blue!

Another source of interesting spools can be found in Australia. There are several new spools that have been found in recent years in Australia, but unfortunately I have not been able to obtain an example for my collection. You may view a photo of the CD 1058 in Light Amethyst and Straw online at http://www.insulators.com/pictures/?id=6640018. My favorite glass spool from Australia currently in my collection is a CD 1055 embossed A.G.M. L.T.O.!I that was found in an unlisted and attractive pale Olive Green. The measurements vary slightly from the GIFONA, but it's close enough to classify it as a CD 1055. (see photo page 29, top left)

One of the more colorful spools to be found in France includes this CD 1066 Sediver A22 (braille dots on base) in a fabulous Yellow Olive Green (bottom right, page 27). It is slightly different than the other spools in this CD assignment in that it has a different profile inside the wire groove area perhaps modified from previous models to reinforce the insulator to handle heavier cables and wires, and/or to increase the leakage distance between the wire and the pin.

A couple of recently discovered spools come from Belgium. This cute little fella is barely wider than a quarter, measuring a meager 1 inch across base, by 3/4 inch tall!! It has an unusual cross top grooves suggesting it may have had been used to secure wires on it. It's embossed "B TE S.G.D.G." on front skirt and No.1 on reverse skirt. (color photo at bottom right, page 29) The embossing suggests there are other style numbers made by this previously unknown manufacturer. Although the name could be the company that supplied them or it could indicate the user of the product. It's still a mystery and I invite our readers to contact me if they obtain further information. One additional interesting thing about this insulator is that on the base of the insulator are mold lines that curve under the base but are interrupted by what looks like excess glass that was either trimmed or snapped off at the factory. This could indicate they were hand blown in a mold. But since they are of such high quality glass they are more likely of much newer technology. No further information is known about the spool at this time.

I also purchased a cute white porcelain knob from Belgium hoping it was nearly identical to a green aqua CD 1096 I purchased from a seller in France. (page 29 bottom, middle) Upon closer examination I discovered the porcelain knob is clearly smaller in size, unembossed and has external circular ribs around the lower skirt. For some reason it reminded me of CD 553.2 and CD 563.1 insulators made by Folembray which have external ribs around the skirt, albeit not as dramatic. It's just an unusual coincidence and an interesting find as its unlikely that there is any connection between the small porcelain knob and the much larger glass insulators with ribs.

Look for more exciting discoveries from around the world in upcoming Crown Jewels. I have some fantastic discoveries I will be reporting about from Scotland, England, Australia, Italy, Chile, and Argentina. If you would like to report new discoveries or if you have a question regarding a particular insulator or manufacturer, please write to me directly at my new address:

Caleb Thimell
5101 Linbar Drive 
Apt H216 
Nashville, TN 37211

(615) 781-3830 
zicme_insulators@hotmail.com

I'm usually at home M-F from 3:30 pm till 9:00 pm CST
 or 9 am - 9 pm on Saturdays. 
Please limit calls to between these hours.

Embossing mark