A Tough CD to Acquire in Mint Condition

It has taken seven years. Putting together a type set of three, colored CD 241 Hemingray #23's is a goal I didn't think I'd ever accomplish. Let alone in mint condition.

My first is in honey amber with round drip points. It surfaced on Ebay several years ago. Not owning a computer at the time, I had a friend buy it for me. Back then, I felt I paid too much. But the price sure looks good today.

The second I acquired is a sharp drip point example in red amber. While attending a Western Regional insulator show, a dealer was bringing superb insulators out of boxes one at a time. Most of the insulators never made it to the table top. They were being snapped up by eager collectors about as fast as they surfaced.

I watched as one of the collectors reached into one of the boxes himself and pulled out a mint CD 241 in red amber. The collector offered the dealer $100 for it. My heart sank, my knees got weak and everything went into slow motion. The dealer opened his Price Guide and looked up the value. With a pack of about fifty frenzied collectors around his table he yelled out, "Mint Hemi 23. Who will pay $125?" What a break! I yelled out, "I will." It was over; the insulator was mine.

My third Hemi 23 is orange amber in color. I owe this one to Dwayne Anthony and his incredibly well done on-line auctions. The purchase was a piece of cake. And, well, a willingness to outbid the competition. Having the following information helps explain why I did so.

I've talked to many collectors about Hemi 23's. Bill Reid has a mint example in Hemingray blue, one in yellow amber in mint condition, and one in orange amber that is about near mint. Bill told me that in his 45 years of collecting he has never owned a mint orange amber.

Bill Rosato does own one in mint condition, and another in dark honey amber. He reports that in the fall of 1979 he found a line about forty miles south of Cleveland, Ohio that contained some Hemi 23's. He found orange amber examples on every couple of poles for a distance. The reason they were still there is that the poles were very tall and thin, too dangerous to climb.

Tim Wood pointed out to me that 23's come in two different types of sharp drip points. One type is what I would call standard Hemingray sharp drip points. The other has larger, taller, sharper drips. They are so sharp they could cut you if you weren't careful while handling them.

Looking at my set, the orange amber (shown below) has standard drips. The red amber (shown in the second picture) has the larger, shaper drip points.

Hemingray 23's are beautiful insulators. And, in mint condition, I believe they are extremely rare. The three in my collection are the only ones I've even seen come up for sale in mint condition.

Editor's note: Mike's Hemingray 23's are pictured in color on the following two pages. McDougald's price guide lists sharp drip Hemingray 23's in seven colors: aqua, Hemingray blue, red amber, root beer amber, honey amber, orange amber and yellow amber. Mike has been having a number of collectors watching for a sharp drip example of yellow amber for him for a number of years. So far none have shown up for sale in any condition. He'd be delighted to hear from collectors about the Hemi 23's in their collection.

Mike call be contacted at 541-535-9630 or email: mrandall97501@yahoo.com