"Threadless Corner"
by Ray Klingensmith
Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", June 1979, page 27
This month I thought I'd bring all the past articles up to date,
rather than covering one specific item.
Also, I'd like to make mention at this
time that I will be in Denver at the 10th National show. I'll be making drawings
of threadless for the new style chart and will also be taking notes on color
variations and other characteristics. I'd appreciate it if anyone owning any
threadless and wanting to share information, would bring your jewels to Denver
so they can be catalogued. The only way we can get a complete listing is for all
collectors to cooperate in this effort. There are not a great many shows, and
Denver will be the last place I can meet many of you until the 1980 national, at
which time some of you may not be able to attend. So please bring your jewels to
Denver. Your help will be of great value. See you there!
Below is a listing of
new material found on insulators covered in "Threadless Corner".
FEBRUARY 1978 - THE BENNINGTON THREADLESS.
Since the article on the Bennington,
I've come up with a patent on this item, and a little more info, which I've
decided to save for an article on the "Elliots" which will appear in
C.J. this fall. I was able to get a look at the second known Bennington last
fall, and it appeared to be the same color and size as the first one known.
There was rumor of another Bennington having been for sale on the east coast
several years ago; but, after talking with Forrest Jones, who once owned the
original Bennington, I've concluded the original and the rumored one were the
same insulator. So, with the one found in Massachusetts last year, there are
only two in existence, as far as I know.
APRIL 1978 - THE UPRR.
In the CD 735
UPRR/Mulford & Biddle, color variations of medium dark aqua, light aqua,
green, light blue and "cobalt" blue were confirmed after the writing
of the article.
MAY 1978 - UNEMBOSSED CD 732.
Added to the list of color
variations in the three-piece button mold style is a green one, which I'd call
"celery" green. Also, in the two-piece mold line over dome variant, I
viewed three different shades of deep amber.
JUNE 1978 - NY& ERR.
There's so much to tell on this one, primarily because of my never ending search
for insulators on this line. In the past five years I've "visited"
this line a total of 21 times and will have made three or four more trips by the
time you're reading this. So I've driven over 6,000 miles back and forth, walked
over 100 miles of line, and spent countless hours of searching. I haven't yet
come up with a whole threadless, but I've learned much about what type of
insulators were used, in finding fragments of insulators on the line. In the NY
& ERR article I made mention of two embossing variations (see figures 1-3 in
"Threadless Corner", June 1978 issue of Crown Jewels). I now know of
the following color variations to exist. Variant one embossing (NY & ERR
on front): aqua, blue-aqua. Variant two (NY & on front, ERR on back): blue
aqua, green aqua, light green (described as grey-green in article), puce
(red-purple-amber color mixture), bubbly aqua and, get this, sapphire blue! The
bubbly aqua one is similar to some of the real bubbly aqua CD 740's. There are
many bubbles in the glass, not just one here and there. I've also confirmed two
more types of threadless used on the line. The CD 701 egg was used, both in deep
green (emerald) and a medium-dark green (more olive). And a piece of what
appears to be a CD 736.4 was found in deep amber. That one was quite a surprise.
I've only heard of one CD 736.4 to exist, and it is clear. There are also two
different types of bases found in the NY & ERR (see drawings below).
This
characteristic was caused by two different plungers having been used. Both
embossing variations are found with the two different base types. I've also
become aware of the fact that in some cases there were two NY & ERR's used
on one pole, and that brings up the question of how many wires were used in the
early 1850's. I now believe there must have been at least two in use from the
very beginning. Also, with the eggs being found on the line, were they perhaps
the first insulators used there, or were several types used?
AUGUST, OCTOBER
1978 - JEPTHA WADE.
The unembossed "Chester type" in cobalt has
definitely been confirmed. There is a lime green one which, I believe, has a
slightly different shape in the "smooth Wade". I'll get a photo of it
in the near future and include it in an upcoming article. The unembossed unit,
shown in figure 8 on page 24 of the October issue, was also made in a much
lighter color than the lime green one described. I saw two broken ones that were
found in New Hampshire.
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