ON THE FOREIGN INSULATOR SCENE AT THE NATIONAL

It's September and we're all still basking in the glow of the 20th NIA National Show weekend in Allentown, Pennsylvania, July 14-16. What a super show! There were more dealers, more displays, more collectors and curiosity seekers roaming the aisles, more good insulators and more enthusiasm than at any National Show since Berea, Ohio, in 1976. The three show hosts of this big event are truly to be congratulated for a job well done. Stand up, FRANK EDGAR, DAVE WIECEK and DOUG WILLIAMS!! 

My husband Bill and I flew up from Houston the Wednesday before the show so we could visit with Dick and Inge Clark of Somers, New York. We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with them at their home. This delightful couple, both educators by profession, promised each other when they married that they would take time to travel every summer. This they have done during their 45 years together and, needless to say, they have acquired quite an impressive collection of American and foreign insulators. Dick shared an amusing story with Crown Jewels of The Wire readers in the May, 1989, issue entitled "Insulators Undo the 'Ugly American' Image." You remember reading how he managed to free two porcelain insulators from the side of a railroad station in a Czechoslovakian village. These beauties were mounted on display pegs in Dick's insulator room, and since they were identical, we were able to work out a happy trade so that I might come home with one of them. I'm proud to show you a photo of Dick and Inge as well as one of these special insulators, which will have a U-number assignment by and by. The crown is marked simply RH29.

Dick and Inge Clark

Czechoslovakian insulator belonging to Dick Clark

On to the National! Bill and I occupied sales tables close to the entrance of the Exhibit Hall and were proud to be able to display some really unique glass and porcelain insulators that Don Fiene (Knoxville, Tennessee) brought back from his recent trip to the USSR. Unfortunately, most of them were not for sale, but many collectors stopped by to admire them and ask questions. An upcoming issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire will have photos of these pieces along with Don's account of his latest adventure in the Soviet Union. Watch for it! 

Several other desirable foreign pieces appeared on sales tables throughout the hall. It would be impossible to describe them all -- you shudda been there! Bill Rosato (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania) had the impressive porcelain piece you see pictured in the next column. This twist lock insulator has an inner petticoat, measures 4-1/4" across the base and is 5-1/2" tall. There are no identifying marks on it, but Bill said he found it in Norway. Isn't it a beauty? This one also awaits a U-number. 

Dave Kingston (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) brought several Greek porcelain insulators to show Carol McDougald and me and after he let on that they were for sale (he had duplicates), they were quickly divided between two new homes -- Houston, Texas, and St. Charles, Illinois. But let me show you two that he would not part with since he has no others exactly like them. I managed to borrow them for a shadow profile and some measurements, however! Here again, these represent a new style, so it looks like there will be several U-numbers coming from Jack Tod's oven. It is uncertain what the TTT marking stands for in the photo and Dave had no information on it, but I'd be willing to bet that two of the T's are for "Telephone" and "Telegraph" and the other may be the first letter of the town where it was used.

We do know that O.T.E. is for Organization of Telephones of Ellas (the modern word for Greece.) Incused above these blue ink markings on both insulators is a curious logo with the letters EXME in a circle. This is probably the manufacturer, but at this time it is unattributed. Readers have a look at it. Can you help?

The following pictures show two views of one of Dave's Greek insulators that is now in my collection and I really like this one! This is a 'dry-spot" insulator and has already been classified as U-1942 with Rosenthal of SeIb, Bavaria, as the manufacturer, but we have not seen one with the O.T.E. marking before. Also, instead of Rosenthal's ebonite screw cap, this Greek version has a metal lid with two inner bumps that serve as a twist lock. The material resembles that of a fruit jar lid. As you can see, the marking on the opposite side of the skirt is CV in a circle, the trademark of Kloster Veilsdorf Porcelain Factory located in the city of that name in Thuringia, East Germany. So, obviously, this insulator was made for Greece, but not in Greece. This seems to be true of several styles used in that country. I've seen several marked O.T.E. but with accompanying trademarks of manufacturers from other countries, such as NGK (Japan), Hermsdorf (East Germany), etc. It's possible that Greece imports all her insulators.

My husband said that of all the things he saw at the show, the one thing he really wanted was a cap just like Dave Kingston's hat. Maybe he got his wish after all. Do you see any resemblance between Dave's cap and the one on the insulator??

Paul Plunkett (Boonton, New Jersey) had the slotted double cone insulator you see on the left in the above photos. The two views of these porcelain insulators are shown to emphasize the difference. These are really quite old and they are British. Neither one is marked, but the Buller Jobson & Co. catalog dating somewhere between 1890 and 1895 shows that this company in Staffordshire, England, did produce a slotted double cone insulator. 

According to W. Keith Neal (Guernsey, Channel Island) the author of SEARCHING FOR RAILWAY TELEGRAPH INSULATORS, these two styles were used many years ago on telegraph lines running through the damp railway tunnels of England. By their very design, they hugged the walls of the tunnels and did not pose a hazard by projecting out into the somewhat limited space. An earlier barrel shaped insulator of earthen ware proved to he unsatisfactory when used with the bare uninsulated wire, which was in common use at that time, so a Mr. C.V. Walker designed a double cone insulator which had only one small point of contact with the wire. This one worked a lot better. When one of these got broken, the slotted insulator was used as a replacement. It could be put into place without having to cut the wire. Keith says that these double cone insulators were in use by the thousands during the 1850's but today they are extremely rare. I feel very fortunate to have two of these in my collection! If you have Keith's book, turn to page 34 and you'll see one of the slotted double cones in Figure 18. On the opposite page is a sketch of the original (and unsatisfactory) earthenware insulator invented by W.F. Cooke and used on the South Eastern Railway back in 1845. If you haven't ordered either of Keith Neal's books on British insulators, you owe it to yourself to do so. They are beautiful books and very informative.  

The lead-sheathed cable these linemen are installing, above,
 circa 1900, would reduce and virtually eliminate the use of open wire for aerial telephone lines.