This month I started out to discuss several different insulators and realized that some very exciting Macomb insulators have never been reported. There is always something new in porcelain that hasn't been seen before, which makes reporting new items fun yet difficult to get them all in PIN. The next PIN will have a variety of things to report including a bevy of beautiful blue Pittsburgs. Stay tuned.

The Illinois Electric Porcelain Co. of Macomb, IL was founded in 1910 as a dry press manufacturer of knobs and tubes. With the first major plant addition in 1913, a line of dry press pin-type insulators was added. All of these insulators bear the embossed marking MACOMB. Even though a line of wet process porcelain pin-types was added in 1915, the use of the MACOMB marking on dry press pin-types continued until possibly the late 1910's. It was thought that only a brown glaze was used on the dry press pin-types, which often comes out mottled black with tan highlights or large areas of light tan where the glaze was thin. The U-197 shown here is the prettiest one I have ever seen. It was in the collection of Mike Bliss.

U-197 Macomb 
2-part glazeweld.

So, a Macomb insulator in any color other than brown is very rare. Jim Crandall found two U-239B insulators in white! That is a very unusual color indeed for Macomb and may have been a special order.

U-244 is one of the most common Macomb insulators. That style can be found at every insulator show and often with other very common porcelain insulators. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to acquire a blue U-244 with embossed MACOMB marking!!

Recently another rare Macomb insulator surfaced. There are differing opinions about eBay, but it does offer a venue for rare insulators to get into the hobby. This is one of those cases. U-565 with embossed MACOMB marking has never been reported before. The typical mottled black glaze on this specimen is attractive with tan highlights. There is one white spot where another insulator had touched it in the kiln and the glaze fused the two together. Other than that, it is factory mint even with the tiny nick on the bottom edge of the firing rest caused by one of the three protrusions breaking off. The protrusions were from holes in the plunger that allowed air to escape when the plunger was pressed down with high pressure to compress the nearly dry sawdust-like clay particles into the mold. The three protrusions or extensions are noticeable on other Macomb styles with inner skirts.

There is a wet process porcelain version of U-565, too, which was obviously made by Illinois Electric Porcelain Co. It is shown in the accompanying photograph so you can see easily see the similarities and differences with the dry press version.

Macomb dry press insulators have similar and prominent mold lines. While most dry press insulators have a mold line at the upper wire groove ridge, Macomb insulators usually have a mold line across the crown, two down the side of the insulator, and another horizontal mold line up from the bottom. The next photo shows two unmarked ponies, U-43 and U-42A, which are thought to have been made by Macomb. The mold lines are very prominent. U-43 doesn't have the horizontal mold line up from the bottom, but other features including the top of the pinhole are characteristic of Macomb dry press insulators. Usually the top of the pinhole is curved upward with a small flat circular area in the center. Note the flat top on U-43, which is similar to U-244. The reddish glaze color may indicate later manufacture after discontinuing the use of the embossed MACOMB marking.

Unmarked Macomb insulators: U-43 and U-42A.

The next photo shows three other unmarked dry press insulators that are suspected of being Macomb. There are other styles, too, that may have been made by Macomb.

Possibly made by Macomb: U-53, U-15B, and tiny U-11.