The threadless "Confederate Egg" (recently renumbered from CD 701 to CD 701.6) has long been regarded as a class act piece. Crudely made, with nearly none identical and with a limited quantity known (probably no more than 15 in respectable condition prior to early 1990), it commanded a hefty price tag and was highly sought.

If one could define "Insulator Heaven" it might be something like digging an area where these prize eggs were coming up by the score and your bucket was filling up with them too. This writer and a few other Crown Jewels of the Wire subscribers were lucky enough to grab a bit of this paradise. Granted, while some were broken and burned, others were in great shape, never used, and to make it even more heavenly, in colors from various shades of green, olive, blackglass, mottled green jade, milky aqua and to top it off, cobalt blue, a previously unknown color in any egg. As Paul Harvey would say -- "Here's the rest of the story..." 

The stage was an area of central Richmond, Virginia, near the banks of the James River in a rather rundown warehouse section. The sound of traffic from I-95 about 400 yards away could be heard. A steady stream of city traffic crossed the nearby May bridge and the sounds of people and equipment associated with urban renewal and reconstruction were everywhere. Several railroad tracks crossed nearby and the heavy rumble of a freight train was frequently heard on the large steel bridge that cast its shadow on the digging site. Under the bridge, smoke rose from a fire in a old 55 gallon drum in an area where some of Richmond's less fortunate gathered or made their home.

This plot of open land had apparently become a focal point some months ago when a contractor dug the hole for a small structure and hundreds of Civil War uniform buttons came to the surface or were later dug. Since construction folks are always tuned to such things and there are a number of pseudo Civil War relic diggers/collectors who follow nearly every piece of earth-moving equipment they see, the area attracted a crowd and the booty was gathered up.

The ground apparently lay fallow until early February, 1990, when a backhoe dug a trench to lay a duct connecting two points on the site. Lo and behold, at about the centerpoint of the trench emerged a number of crude, strange looking objects. Scratching around quickly yielded more, soon identified as threadless insulators. Some research done about this time indicated that this was the site of a Confederate supply warehouse, known as the Mayo warehouse and holding who knows what in addition to buttons and insulators. It seemed that when Richmond was in imminent danger of being overrun by the Union forces in the mid-1860's, the Confederated chose to leave nothing for them and at the same time they burned the Mayo bridge, they also torched the brick and wood warehouse. Since the area was prone to flooding the site was built up with fill over the next 125 years, but likely in stages since a railroad spur 2-3 feet below the surface was unearthed during the dig.

Diggers excavate beneath the rail of the buried railroad spur
approximately 2-3 feet below current ground level.

Back to the intrigue..... Many of the initial batches of eggs found their way into local antique shops where contact was made with one or more insulator collectors. Others made their way directly to a few collectors via old friendships or past contacts with some of the diggers. The secret was now out and the phones of the well-oiled and active "insulator network" were jumping. One of the many phones calls during the ensuing week prompted Marshal Dick's trusty steed to leave the driveway 1/2 hour later on an all night drive to Richmond. A ride in Larry Veneziano's van with Larry and one of his friends got us to the site early on February 19. By now, the site was fairly well known in Richmond and all during the day, 20-25 people, both diggers and a changing cast of observers were present. Even the crusty owner of a hardware store 4-5 blocks away where we bought shovels remarked, "You might as well dig insulators too, everyone else is."

The Richmond "war zone " or "ant colony" crawling 
with Confederate relic hunters and insulator hounds.

The primary digging sites were contained in an area about 80 feet by 80 feet centered around a large mound of dirt generated by the contractor. Six or seven holes going as deep as 12 feet were in various stages of progress. Indeed, had one viewed the site from far above, it would have looked like a cross between a giant ant colony and a war zone. The first 8 to 9 feet down generally consisted of rocks and dirt dumped over the years, then came a layer of clay-like dirt and then the heart of the dig, a layer of brick with a layer of ash below. It was this layer of brick and ash that one had to get to. Then, using a knife or pick of sorts, one would tunnel around the periphery of the hole until you either got claustrophobic or just plain afraid of a cave-in, particularly when the Chessie freights crossed the bridge and the ground shook. Dirt removal from the holes eventually became difficult so the old bucket and rope trick was resorted to by most. Digging generally continued well into the night as the persistent ones hung in or others showed up after their work hours, some to dig all night. The cars, trucks and vans became a major center of economic activity as the inevitable dealing for the eggs lined up on the vehicles went into the wee hours of the morning. 

You can barely see the top of one of the digger's head and 
shoulders as he proceeds to scoop out dirt in one of the deep holes.

Larry Veneziano (in dark jacket) watches the "old bucket and 
rope trick" used to bring out insulators from the hole.

Larry Veneziano (right) and his grandfather who proudly
shows off one of the excavated Confederate eggs.

In addition to the eggs, there were a few Leffert's ramshorns, some CD 738's (most in broken or only fair condition, but with rusty wire), pottery eggs, porcelain teapots (two styles and mostly broken pieces, but a couple of decent ones), and the front 1/3 of a CD 740 root beer amber embossed "TILLOTSON" on the front crown and "16 B'WAY" on the front skirt. Not a bad supporting cast! 

By now, a larger number of insulator collectors have made their pilgrimage to the 1990 Mecca of the hobby. Some have returned with pieces they have dug or purchased and others came away empty. There are an unlimited number of anecdotes and stories that will be told in the next few months, some good and some not so good. Along with the excitement of finding these pieces came some hard feelings and disputes by some, but in spite of it, there is no doubt that this was one of the greatest finds ever.

"Marshal Dick" (or maybe we should rename him "Marshal Dig")
 holding a piece from the 1990 Insulator Happening -- 
The Richmond "Eggs for the Masses"

The site is now closed to all due to an unpleasant incident involving a serious injury and may stay closed except to daring and perhaps foolhardy souls. This incident, fortunately, did not involve any insulator collectors. The final chapter may not be written as word has it that this area will become part of a flood control project involving a retaining wall (The Corps of Engineers are currently working on the other side of the river), thus perhaps more construction and maybe more surprises for the vigilant.

(Photographs for this article were taken by Larry Veneziano.)