Dear Jack:

I've acquired a couple of new 3-3/4" porcelain cables for my collection of "colors" and thought they might be something new to you and other collectors. 

The first one is Similar U-629A with a "LOCKE" handstamp marking on the skirt and underneath which is a 4-digit number ending in 81. It is a dark olive green, slightly lighter than the olive green U-484 Pinco's. Is this a new or rare color find for Locke? 

The second cable is a V-I (Victor Insulators, Inc.) and is a dark olive green, so dark that it looks black, It's probably the closest to black of any color I've seen in a porcelain cable. I got it at the Denver NIA National. Incidentally, did any company ever produce a black porcelain cable insulator? 

I'm also curious about another item which possibly is not even an insulator. It's 1-3/4" by 2-1/4" long and shaped about like the enclosed sketch. Glaze is white, and has a flat firing rest about 3/4" long on one side as I've sketched. It has a mold line visible on both sides in the groove portion only. 
Clarice Gordon, NIA #1597 
San Diego, Cal. 

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Dear Clarice: 

Your Locke similar U-629A is their catalog number 8881 (to complete the number for you). Locke did use green glazes on pin types, one of which was a super pretty apple green on larger cable types. I can't recall seeing any with such a dark green as you describe, but then I've seen only a small fraction of the insulators in the hands of collectors. 

Nearly all the V-I insulators (Victor Insulators, Inc.) are a boring chocolate brown, but they did make quite a few in white, plus occasionally in green and cobalt blue. Such a dark green glaze would be quite unusual for any company, since glaze "colors" were used to either code circuits or to match equipment paint colors. Why then this extremely dark green when a dark brown would look about the same?

I don't know of any company who purposely made pin types of any kind with a black glaze per se. We see many which are totally black in appearance, but if you find a thin spot on the glaze, you come to the conclusion they are just on the very extreme end of the dark-brown spectrum. 

Your other little grooved object is probably either an item they use in sling shots when hunting kangaroos or some gadget that popped out of Skylab when it crashed. In either case then, this means it probably is of Australian origin. Glad to be able to identify these types of gismos. 

Jack

Dear Jack:

I recently acquired this strain insulator from the local Puget Sound dumpster. I haven't seen this marking before and was wondering if you know anything about it. 

It's 2-3/8" wide by 3" long, and it has a very shiny, light tan-brown glaze similar to the old shiny brown Imperials. Both markings are embossed (raised). Could the "41892" be a style number or a patent date (such as 4-18-92 or 4-1892)?

The insulator has a small chip on one of the grooves, and it appears to be wet process -- or a very good quality dry process. Any info would be appreciated. 
David Bethman 
Bellingham, Wash. 

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Dear David: 

The marking on your strain insulator is the "KEYSTONE" trademark of Electric Service Supplies Co., Philadelphia, Pa., successor name after 1906 for Mayer & Englund Co. (1901-1906). (See October CJ column, Frank Shore Question-Answer for more details on E.S.S. Co. operations.) 

The "41892" number is undoubtedly the catalog number of the item. Since the company was in business until at least the 1930's, no telling what the vintage of the specimen is. 

The markings being embossed (raised) makes it almost certain this is a dry process insulator, since wet process strains are usually made by extrusion processes where such raised markings are not possible. The four small firing teats on the end of the insulator also indicate it's dry process in my opinion. 

Jack

Dear Jack: 

I need your advice regarding the two blue Pittsburg U-202A transpositions I have, plus one more coming if it ever gets liberated from a pole top here. Outside of several others that people around town have, plus the one we sold to Jerry Turner 6 or 7 years ago, I have never seen any at shows or elsewhere. What kind of a price would you put on it?

I had an oddball MACOMB similar U-244, but which was 1/2" taller. Maybe I made a mistake in parting with it recently ($40) before I first checked it out with you. Maybe I had something good and didn't know it. Dennis McHenry was interested in it for his Macomb specialty collection, so I let it go. 
Fred D. Wittstock 
Waterloo, Iowa 

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Dear Fred: 

I've heard of only a couple of styles of transpositions in blue, and only several of each. They have to rate as very desirable items. Since I've never seen one sell, I don't know what the going rate would be, but I'd think they would properly be in the $20 to $25 range. 

You might be referring to the U-244A Macomb. This used the same side dies as the U-244 but had a crown the part with a round dome instead of flat. The more ordinary U-244 is not a scarce item, but the U-244A is very scarce, if not rare. Casual collectors wouldn't get excited over the round-dome variety, but those specializing in Macomb have been chasing after a specimen ever since it was discovered. Considering that a dozen Macomb specialists are all fighting over the one or two known specimens, I'd say the $40 figure is about right on the button for it. 

If instead you mean a regular U-244 but with a cylindrical extension below the normal skirt, that would be classed as a production goof. This could happen if the die set and press cylinder were "loaded" with clay granules, then rammed, then inadvertently reloaded and rammed a second time. Yes, I'd think this kind of a specimen would be "something good" as you term it, especially to a Macomb specialist. But golly, Fred, $40 sounds pretty fair for an ordinary "something good", especially since that's about 3 times the price of my very expensive book "Electrical Porcelain" ($13.50) which no one can afford -- and which also happens to contain an explanation of how dry process insulators are made. 

Jack

Bob Reyburn, Ontario, Cal., recently reported having the following Pittsburg date control markings on three specimens of "hat type" distribution insulators: 

This was in response to our request in the July 1979 column for collectors to report these markings in order that we might be able to crack the Pittsburg dating code. Every one reported is helpful, but we still need a bunch more to solve the riddle. Thus, I'm asking you again, please try to take out just a few minutes and send a postcard with the date control markings you have in your collection or trading stock. Many thanks for doing so. 

Jack

Dear Jack: 

I have come up with some porcelain which has generated considerable interest at local shows. I know very little about porcelain, but I do keep most everything I find so that I don't pass up any unknown "goodies". 

I've sketched here (Sim U-271) one which is a fairly common design here, of which I have many glazes. This one, like the rest, is a dry process piece and has no glaze in the pin hole or on the skirt base. It has a glaze which is a dark purple-gray (mottled). 

It has an incuse "G" stamped on the skirt, and I don't know what to make of that. The other proverbial "G" insulators I have always have a thin glaze with a grainy appearance over the dry process body, and they all have an embossed (raised) "G" on the dome. What do you think? 

There were two of these on a pole in our area, and I got them from a lineman who was replacing the line. Both are identical except that the marking on one is glazed over so much as to be indistinguishable. 

Another item of interest is this insulator I've sketched (at left). I dug these along the Milwaukee Road right of way, eight specimens in all, but none mint. There are two slightly different styles (Sim U-648). One variety has a "VICTOR" handstamping on the skirt, and the others are unmarked. The glazes are tan and brown respectively. 

The strange thing about these is the heavy iron cap which is cemented over the crown with what appears to be a sulphur-concrete mixture. There is a threaded hole (5/16" threads) in the cap's top. What can you tell me about these?
Brent Burger 
Kirkland, Wash.

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Dear Brent: 

I don't think there is any connection of your specimen with incuse "G" on the skirt to the other series of styles with the embossed "G" on the crown. As a check on this, you'll note all the regular "G" insulators have glazed pin holes and with a very rounded top to the pin hole. 

General Porcelain Co. did make similar styles and with some having an incuse handstamp marking of "G. P. Co." on the skirt. You might look very closely (with magnifier in sunlight) to see if you can detect a period after the G. As far as I know, these were mostly wet process items. 

Locke also used single-letter stamps (B, G, H, etc.) on skirts for trimmer operator identification, but they didn't make these styles, and they didn't make dry press pin types. 

Sorry I struck out in trying to answer your question on this item. 

Your old pin types with the iron caps could have been used in a number of different applications. They were commonly used as support insulators in power substations, but were also used on pole lines as mounts for disconnect switches on the crossarms and in trolley line electric systems. Judging from the insulator style, glaze and marking, I'd say the vintage of yours is about 1905-1910. Such an old and unusual relic really spruces up a collection shelf. 

Jack