The Lynchburg Line
by Warren Olson
Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire",, July 1970, page 3
Woodward (Woodward, N.R., The Glass Insulator in America 1967 Report,
Press of Premier, Houston, Texas) says, “. . . . it seems certain that no plant operating for such a short total period of time has ever produced so many insulators, or distributed them so widely.” The same might be said of the number of varieties and shades of colors. My study of LYNCHBURG insulators is concerned solely with styles, embossings and colors that I have seen or read about. In all, I have recorded 13 styles and an infinite number of embossings and color differences.
I will list the different varieties that I have found and I hope that the readers will bear with what might appear to be repetition. When I wrote my recent article on Denver
insulators ("INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", January 1970, page 13) I felt reasonably certain that I had covered the subject quite
thoroughly. I feel no such confidence in this study of Lynchburg insulators. I am
certain that several color varieties are missing from this breakdown and I would
appreciate hearing from any collectors who have any different varieties. Perhaps in
this way we can begin to unravel some of the mysteries of this company's unusual
production.
As you read over the list that follows, you will note a few discrepancies that seem
important enough to mention here:
1. I have found only one style without the MADE IN U. S. A. plate. This is the NO. 38-2O variety and has been found in
both dark green and blue and both with and without drip points.
2. Lynchburg insulators without drip points appear to be in rather short supply. I have
found them in only two styles: the 36 and the 38.
3. In all cases except one, the abbreviation for the word number appears as NO. The sole exception is the 31 style on which the abbreviation is found with the small "o"; thus No. 31.
4. Another discrepancy in the list is the apparent lack of an insulator in the 48 style.
Mr. Woodward lists this style in his list of CD numbers but thus far I have not seen or heard of a specimen. Does anyone have a Lynchburg 48? I have seen two no-name specimens in that style: one is embossed NO. 48-40 and one merely NO. 48. Perhaps these are the missing pieces to the puzzle.
5. One specimen of the Lynchburg NO. 1 Cable shows the reverse embossing of
“June 17, 1890” clearly under the MADE IN U.S.A. plate. Perhaps a variety exists with the earlier reverse only.
Mr. Gayner of the Gayner Glass Works was in charge of production at the Lynchburg factory and his influence can be seen clearly, both in the style of the insulators and also in the numbering system. Sometime during production, however, he must have substituted the MADE IN U.S.A. plate for the last number of the old Gayner numbers. The dash between the numbers is present in the majority of the molds. Although I have heard of insulators that show the word Gayner under the new Lynchburg plate, I have seen only one such specimen. The Lynchburg 530 in a friend's collection shows the word GAYNER clearly from N to R under the LYNCHBURG on the front.
Two of the specimens included in this study contain lettering that seems to be hand fashioned. The workmanship is very poor and the lettering is extremely crude.
Both contain errors.
The No. 1 variety of the 36's has a backward N and an upside down G in the word LYNCHBURG.
Variety No. 2 of the NO. 2 Cable has the L in the circle reversed and a backward S in U.S.A.
The NO. 10 insulator also shows a variety with a backward S but the lettering is normal, on this variety.
No study of Lynchburg insulators would be complete without a mention of the Birmingham mystery. A friend of mine found one specimen in a warehouse in Florida; a few were discovered in South Carolina; one was found in eastern South Dakota; and several specimens have been found in Minnesota. The total number discovered is not large and this item is undoubtedly a scarce and desirable insulator. They have been found with both round and sharp drip points and from at least five different moulds.
In 1934 a man named Ed Schrom helped wreck an abandoned toll line in Minnesota. Never dreaming that one day collectors would be looking for insulators, he nevertheless
saved some of them. Among these were some honey colored insulators. When the insulator bug finally bit Mr. Schrom about six months ago, he took a better look at
his hoard. The honey colored ones were identical in size, shape and color but of
different embossings. Some were embossed BIRMINGHAM NO. 10, some LYNCHBURG NO. 10 and some had no embossing at all. This may not prove that Lynchburg manufactured the Birminghams but it would seem to prove that the same company manufactured all three types. The letter types of both of the embossed types are also identical. The word BIRMINGHAM could be made from letters that appear on Lynchburg insulators.
A further mystery is that a few Lynchburg 31 insulators have been found in the identical honey color of the Birminghams. Perhaps a Birmingham 31 exists and will some day turn up and add to the enigma.
In "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", April 1970, page 16, Mr. Woodward gives a complete listing of the actual production at the Lynchburg plant. His list contains several not on my list. Mr. Woodward goes on to say that not all the styles mentioned have been found with Lynchburg embossing. It is quite likely that some insulators embossed GAYNER were manufactured at the Lynchburg plant. The list of insulators includes a NO. 180 style. I know nothing at all of this variety save that it has been reported to exist and that Mr. Woodward has verified its existence. I list it only for completeness.
|
