In the May 1995 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire, an article on “ramshorn” insulators appeared with a number of photos of the different varieties of these early telegraph pieces.

Unfortunately, the photos did not reveal much about the internal appearance of the insulators as all of them are made of opaque materials such as wood, metal and rubber. Since that article, I was fortunate to acquire a specimen of the 1867 Brooks’ patent which had been separated into its three main components: metal shell, glass tube, and iron hook, all of which were assembled together using molten sulfur.

For those who have ever wondered what the inside of one of the pieces looks like, the photos which follow should forever satisfy the curiosity.