MORE INSULATOR MANUFACTURERS FOUND! 

Over the last few months I've located some material through a little research of my own, and reading through the works of other authors, on some early glass companies that made telegraph insulators. At first I planned on saving the news for individual articles after more extensive research was done, but after finding another one last night, I decided to list them for you now. 

CONFIRMED: 

LANCASTER GLASS WORKS, Lancaster, New York
This company was started in 1849 and continued until after 1900. It is known telegraph insulators were produced there in large quantities during the Civil War. It is unknown at present what style these were. The works at this location produced a wide variety of colored bottles, including many shades of ambers and greens, and also including violet blue, sapphire blue, aqua, near colorless and many others. With that in mind, it makes one wonder what insulators were produced there! I'm of the opinion that insulators were made there prior to the Civil War also. (See Lockport below.)

LOUISVILLE GLASS WORKS, Louisville, Kentucky 
In 1855, a glass works which had been established at this location in prior years, was referred to as "The Louisville Glass Works". They are reported to have supplied all the insulators for the first telegraph and fire alarm system in Louisville in 1865. Some collectors have felt that perhaps the Confederate States, during the Civil War, purchased telegraph insulators from foreign countries. They may have; but I personally feel that the glass companies in the South, including The Louisville Glass Works, also produced large numbers of them for Confederate lines. Some "eggs", and particularly the glass "teapot", I am of the opinion, were made in the South, and Louisville is one possible manufacturer of these.

NEW GRANITE GLASS WORKS, Mill Village, Stoddard, New Hampshire 
This works was one of five early factories that existed in the Stoddard area. It was operated as early as 1861 by a group of men which included a name familiar to collectors -- Foster. These were the same Fosters who had an earlier works in Canada. In June, 1861, George Foster circulated a printed letter explaining what products he would have available. Among the items, he stated: "I shall pay particular attention, also, to the Manufacture of GLASS TELEGRAPH and LIGHTNING ROD INSULATORS...." Also, a trade card listed insulators "Of any Pattern or Weight". And that's not all the good news! However, I'll not include all the material here now, as I'm in the process of writing a Foster article. So I'll save some of the very interesting material for later. The above material doesn't show that insulators were actually produced in Stoddard, only that they were advertised. However, I'm certain they were made there, and I have strong feelings that at least one variant of the current CD 740 was made there, and possibly other styles as well. I'll go into more detail in the Foster article.

RICHMOND GLASS WORKS
VIRGINIA GLASS WORKS, Richmond, Virginia 
The Richmond Glass Works was in operation in 1855. In later years (1857 and 1858) the factory was sometimes termed "The Virginia Glass Works". In February, 1858, the Virginia Glass Manufacturing Company was incorporated. Jacob S. Altee, who was associated with the company, was referred to in the July 6, 1861, Richmond Examiner: "Mr. Altee became involved in these charges partly in his endeavor to ... procure soda ash and a particular kind of clay, essential to the manufacture of telegraph insulators." The clay mentioned above might lead some to believe that perhaps porcelain insulators were made there. There is no reference to anything but glass being produced at that date or earlier. One must keep in mind that a wide variety of "ingredients" were used in different glass manufacturing, including sand, "clinkers", pearl ashes, salt, lime, sandstone, etc. As an example, one reference to another glass company stated that it was the clay-slate that caused the black color and formed one of the bases of the glass itself. A broken deep colored glass threadless egg was found at the factory site several years ago, and it can be assumed that it was made there. I have a picture of it, but without examining it personally, I can't be certain which type it is, but believe it is probably similar to style A, referred to in the "egg" article in the February 1980 issue of Crown Jewels. 

G. W. KEARNS & CO. (ZANESVILLE GLASS MANUFACTORIES), Zanesville, Ohio
The story of glassmaking in Zanesville is a long and complicated one. Glass was produced in this city in the early 1800's and later as men involved in glassmaking moved westward from the well established industry in the east. Both window glass and bottles were produced there, and in 1868 additional products advertised were: fruit jars, colored glassware and insulators. It's possible these could have been lightning rod insulators, but one could assume they were telegraph insulators, most likely threadless at that date. 

PROBABLE INSULATOR MANUFACTURERS: 

LOCKPORT GLASS WORKS, Lockport, New York 
This works was built in the early 1840's, and for decades produced large numbers of bottles and other items. Although I haven't yet found any reference to insulators having been produced there, I feel confident they may have been. As you will recall, I made mention in the notes on Lancaster Glass Works, I felt that insulators were possibly made in Lancaster prior to the Civil War. My reason for mentioning both Lockport and Lancaster at the same time is that the towns are relatively close to each other, and in some cases they produced the same type and colors of bottles. As an example, I feel that the large unembossed "Erie type" (similar to CD 736) was produced at one of these works. Both works produced bottles for G. W. Merchant, Lockport, New York. These bottles are found in many different, yet consistent, colors. It's bad practice to go by color alone, but I've noticed the large unembossed "Erie type" insulator is found in many of the exact same colors as the early Merchant bottles. The dates of the factories, and of the use of these insulators (either 1851 or 1856), plus the location of the works and similar location of the New York & Erie Railroad where these insulators were used, is still more evidence to back up this theory. Also, there are two other insulators which have at least a slight chance of having been produced at Lockport or Lancaster. The first of these is the embossed NY&ERR units. This is based primarily on color. The similarities of both bottles produced at these factories and the NY&ERR insulator include: shades of aqua, sapphire blue, light sapphire blue, two shades of light green and "puce". The puce in the insulators appears dark amber in some light sources, but actually is what appears to be a mixture of amber, red and purple. When a true dark amber piece of glass is very thin at the edges, it will appear yellow. The puce color in these items at thin edges is more a clear pink or rose-burgundy color, similar to the color of some wines or black cherry soda pop. Bottles attributed to Lancaster and Lockport include the same colors described in the NY&ERR's. One possible exception is the exact description of the puce. Lancaster has been attributed in cases of bottle colors as follows: "red-violet", red amber, deep amethyst, etc. The term "red-violet" is especially interesting, and with the use of deep amethyst and amber, I feel relatively safe in saying these works produced glass in a color the same as, or similar to, the NY&ERR's. 

The third insulator mentioned that could possibly have been made there is the CD 741. These, once again, are found in shades of aqua, light sapphire blue, a similar shade of green, and once again "puce". As further evidence, most of these have been found in New York State (western, north central, southeastern), and a few in Canada. In an 1853 Lockport newspaper it was stated of the Lockport Glass Works: "The wares manufactured go principally to Canada, though a fair amount of orders come from New York...." Before finishing on Lockport and Lancaster, I'd like to point out that the above mentioned three insulators may not have actually been produced there at all. In fact, Lockport may actually have never produced insulators. These are my own opinions, and I'd like to point out that I feel much more sure of the large "Erie type" than of the NY&ERR and 741. 

MASSACHUSETTS GLASS COMPANY, Somerville, Massachusetts 
My research in the Boston area last fall yielded a little more information concerning Samuel Oakman. Although information on Boston Bottle Works was very scarce, the following proved rather interesting. In May, 1867, a corporation called the Massachusetts Glass Company was organized with Samuel Oakman as president. In 1870, Oakman sold the company some property. It's possible the slotted threadless insulator, made under Oakman's July 1870 patent, was produced by this company. There was a factory built on the site, which in later years became the site of Boston Bottle Works. I'm planning a future article on the Oakman 1870 patent insulators and the Massachusetts Glass Company, so will not go into further detail at present.

"Saratoga" 
In the middle 1840's a glass works was built not far from Saratoga, New York. This was in the heart of "mineral water land". There were a great number of mineral springs in the area, and many companies bottled the healing waters to be sold to ailing individuals throughout the nation. This created a large demand for glass bottles, as did other merchants of the time, and the "Saratoga works" is known to have produced large quantities of bottles. A couple years ago I viewed a threadless, a CD 740 variant, that was said to have been made at Saratoga. This information was printed on a small piece of paper dated in the 1920's, I believe, which was inserted into the insulator. I'm not certain where it was found, or how the story originated, but I'll research it further. Also, at least one variant of the CD 718 is believed to have been made there, too. At present I have no documentation to prove either of these styles were made there, but am relatively certain insulators were a part of the factory's production.

POSSIBLE INSULATOR MANUFACTURERS:

So far I've covered confirmed and probable manufacturers which are additions to those already known to us. At this time I'd like to make mention of several other possible manufacturers. I am sure one, or more of the many glass works in New Jersey was responsible for some units. The close location of that state to the many telegraph supply houses in New York City (including Tillotson, Chester, etc.) makes the dozens of early glass houses possible suppliers to them. I always was aware that New Jersey had many glass houses over the years, but after my research trip through that state last fall, I became amazed at the very large number of glass factories that were located there over the years. 

Other areas which have high possibilities of producing threadless insulators because of their location and number of early glass houses and type of glass produced include: the Baltimore, Maryland, area; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in addition to S. McKee & Co.; and several in the New England area, including West Willington, Connecticut; Westford, Connecticut; and the Boston, Massachusetts, area.

If anyone wants to further their research on most of these and many other glass companies, I strongly recommend reading American Bottles & Flasks and Their Ancestry by McKearin and Wilson. It is a very extensive work, published after decades of research by the authors, and has proven a very valuable source of information to many.