Ask Woody

Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", June 1988, page 7

N. R. Woodward is the author of The Glass Insulator in America and developed the Consolidated Design Numbers identification system for glass insulators. This month's questions come from Ken Willick, Lima, New York.

I have a CD 122.4 Hemingray E2 in an ice clear color (different from the usual lemon color) with a light carnival coating inside the skirt and pinhole. The insulator was dirty and had obviously been in use. Is this an unusual color for an E2, and have any of the "E" series been found with a carnival coating?

The CD 122.4 style, correctly called the "CW" insulator, was developed for use on American Telephone & Telegraph Co. carrier lines during the late 1920's. For electrical engineering considerations, it was desirable to have an electrically conductive support pin. In most cases this was achieved through the steel pins and transposition brackets used with the CSC and other similar styles. The CW was developed as an alternative for use on already installed wood pin arms. The extra large pin hole allowed mounting on a copper thimble which had a lead connecting to a conducting shunt between the two pins of the pair.

The majority of CW insulators one will find were made at Corning. The Hemingray E2 is uncommon and possibly was never established as a standard item of purchase. They are found in aqua and pale tinted glass. I have never seen one that was iridized inside but it is not surprising since the E2 was manufactured during the period of considerable experimentation with iridizing on various styles. It was possibly felt that the iridizing would help to increase or improve the desired conductivity between the two pins of the pair. This is a most interesting find. It is probably quite rare indeed.