The April, 1992 issue of "Crown Jewels of the Wire" contained an article about my unusual "spaceman" insulator. When I wrote that article, I had virtually no information about the piece. Since then, I've learned more about it, and I'd like to continue the story. I tend to ramble a bit, so please bear with me.

Up until this year, I'd never been to an insulator show. No shows were held in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. Fortunately, the D/FW area's first show finally happened. The Metroplex Insulator Show took place in Fort Worth, on March 7. I reserved a show display table well in advance, and then picked out a bunch of insulators to display. The theme of my display was glass "oddities", and the "spaceman" certainly belonged in that category. When the big day arrived, I carefully packed the "spaceman" and carried it to the show.

The "spaceman" was certainly an attention-getter. It was arguably the most unusual piece on display. I was swamped with questions from curious onlookers. As in most hobbies, news travels fast in the insulator world. Many people at the show knew that I had this insulator, and they'd been hoping I'd bring it to the show so they could look it over. As usual, none of them had ever seen anything like it. Some people thought it was a two-piece insulator until I showed them otherwise. 

My pitiful show display didn't compare to the colorful displays that the others had brought, but I had a great time, and I'll definitely make next year's show with an improved display. I bought several insulators that were high up on my "hit list", all at reasonable prices, and I met a lot of nice folks, including Marilyn and Bill Albers. Marilyn plays an important part in this story.

While talking with Marilyn during the show, I mentioned that N. R. Woodward had wanted me to bring my insulator to him in Houston so that he could inspect and document it. Based on my photographs and description, he had said that he'd most likely assign the insulator a new CD number, but, of course, he'd have to see it in person. Unfortunately, I've been too busy and too broke to make the seven-hour-each-way journey to Houston, and I was not about to trust the Post Office or U.P.S. with my insulator. Marilyn said that she visited Mr. Woodward fairly often, and generously offered to carry my insulator to him. This was an offer I couldn't refuse, so I packed up the "spaceman" and sent it to Houston with Marilyn. I knew I could depend on her, and I was right. A couple of days later, I got a note in the mail from Marilyn, telling me that all was well, and that she would deliver the insulator to Mr. Woodward later that same week.

The following Sunday morning, the telephone rang. It was Marilyn Albers, quite excited, calling to tell me that she had taken the "spaceman" to Mr. Woodward, and that she had some news. After looking over the insulator in person, Mr. Woodward had assigned it CD number 181.5 (presumably because it looks a little like the CD 181 "Pluto"). He had also found that this piece was similar to a design patented in 1903. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear all of this. Marilyn was aware that I had written an article for "Crown Jewels of the Wire", and she suggested that I contact Carol McDougald and see if I could update the article with these new findings. I promised to do just that, after I got home from our weekly trip to the grocery store.

As I mentioned earlier, news travels fast in the insulator hobby. When Cindy and I returned from shopping a couple of hours later, I found a message from John McDougald on the answering machine. He wanted to know more about what had happened with Mr. Woodward and my insulator. I reached Carol by telephone and told her the news. I offered to re-write my article, which was scheduled to go to the printer the next day, so it was too late to re-write the article. Carol did the only thing she could under the circumstances, which was to add an editor's note to the end of the article, and make me promise to write this follow-up article as soon as I had all of the details!

On March 20, after several rounds of "telephone tag", I reached N. R. Woodward. We talked about the 1903 patent he had found which was similar to my insulator. The patent was issued on November 17, 1903, to Edward Schoenthaler (pronounced "Shane-taller"), of Longbranch, New Jersey. The insulator design depicted in Schoenthaler's drawings bears a very close resemblance to my insulator. Mr. Woodward explained that, although my insulator is similar to the Schoenthaler design, it is definitely not the same exact insulator. Someone may have tried to duplicate Schoenthaler's design, altering it slightly to ensure that no patent infringement would occur, or perhaps the insulator was a prototype of Schoenthaler's design, pre-dating the patent, and modified a little before the patent was applied for. 

It is interesting to note that Schoenthaler did not provide a model of his insulator design when he applied for the patent, only the diagrams. In any case, Mr. Woodward is sure that the insulator was hand pressed because it is so crudely made. He also believes that the glass was not cast by any of the major glass manufacturers (Brookfield, Hemingray, etc.), because by that time they were using automated insulator presses. Mr. Woodward made the wild guess that the insulator may have been manufactured at the old Novelty Glass Company works in Elmer, New Jersey. That's possible. Elmer is only a few miles from Mullica Hill, where I located the insulator. Before we ended our telephone conversation, Mr. Woodward promised to mail me a copy of the Schoenthaler patent, which I received about two weeks later.

As I studied the diagrams which accompanied the patent, I had the feeling that I'd seen them before. Sure enough... the drawings appear on page 72 of the McDougalds' book (Vol. II), the same page as the Brookfield CD 139 "Combination Safety". It appears that my CD 181. 5 may be a distant cousin of the CD 139. I made a Xerox copy of the side-view photograph of my insulator, grabbed a pencil, and drew in the features shown in Schoenthaler's patent drawings. It does indeed appear that my insulator is either a prototype of the Schoenthaler design, or a very close copy of it. The only difference is that my insulator lacks the holes in the "arms" through which the loop-wire would have been fed. Instead, each "arm" of my insulator has a "lip" around which the loop-wire could have been wrapped. Marilyn Albers verified the existence of these "lips" when she made her shadow drawings of the piece. The groove for the tie-wire and slot for the line-wire are identical to those shown in the patent drawings.

The funny thing about this whole deal is that knowing all of this information seems to raise as many questions as it answers. Isn't that always the case? Does anyone have any information on Edward F. Schoenthaler or his 1903 patent? Did anyone ever attempt to market Schoenthaler's insulator design? Did he ever actually make one of the insulators depicted in the patent (remember, no model was submitted with the patent application)? Did Schoenthaler patent any other insulator designs, or related items? Any information anyone comes up with, even speculation, would be greatly appreciated. So far, the only information I have is speculation, so more of the same wouldn't hurt. If enough new info turns up, I'll write another follow-up article and share the new information with everyone.

Another big question remains... what happened to the other specimen of this insulator, the one I didn't buy because it was so badly broken? Did it end up in the Gloucester County land-fill because I was too dumb to take it for free when the nice lady offered it to me? What a depressing thought!

This whole experience has been a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed my telephone conversations with N.R. Woodward. He is a fascinating man with a head full of wonderful knowledge. I could listen to him talk about insulators for hours. If you ever have the opportunity to chat with him, I promise you'll enjoy it. I owe a debt of gratitude to Marilyn Albers for transporting my insulator to Houston for me, and bringing it back to the Metroplex when everyone was done with it. Marilyn also took it to the Lone Star Insulator Club's big show in Houston on April 4th, and she tells me it was as big a hit there as it was in Fort Worth. Last, but certainly not least, I must thank our editor, Carol McDougald, for allowing me to bring you my story, and for doing such a super job publishing "Crown Jewels of the Wire". 

One parting thought. Just when it seems that all has been discovered, someone comes up with something new and exciting. It happened to me. It could happen to you. Keep searching... you never know what you might find in some dusty old attic or lying by some long-abandoned rail line. Good collecting to you all!