One of the great things about attending the National Convention is the opportunity to see some of the "new finds" that have been turned up during the past year. Sometimes, I get advanced notice that some new items are coming in for review, and sometimes I just get surprised. The Chicago National was one of the times that I was just surprised -- not just once, but twice.

If you attended last year's London Show or this year's national, you are already aware of the work that Roger Lucas and Darin Cochran have been doing at the Hemingray plant in Muncie, Indiana.

Darin Cochran of Indianapolis, Indiana 
was "all smiles" at the national show.

They were kind enough to exhibit at both of these shows a wonderful cross section of the material that they have recovered from the Hemingray site -- insulators, bottles, shards, hunks of glass, etc. I remember being told 20 years ago that "there was nothing left in the Hemingray dump." Well, the fact is that the dump is not accessible any more, but the plant site has yielded a wealth of material, some confirming earlier finds and others falling in the "never been seen before" category.

This month's contribution from the Hemingray plant is pictured below and was uncovered by the shovel and hard work of Darin Cochran. To the best of my knowledge, this is a heretofore unseen style. The cable top looks like a No.3 Cable (CD 254), but the base looks more like a Hemingray-23 or -24 (CD's 241 and CD 241.2 respectively) or possibly a CD 232 with drip points. Murphy's Law was operating at its best since the critical style number was probably embossed on the part of the insulator that was broken off. Darin assured me that a lot more digging was done to find that piece, but to no avail. Notice the well formed inner skirt. This does not appear to be another style that sagged into this shape, but we hope to learn more about it in the near future. "Woody" (Mr. N. R. Woodward) has taken a preliminary look at the pictures and feels, based on the color and drips that it was probably manufactured in the early 1920's. We are trying to get the piece sent to him for further inspection. As we were going to press with this article, we learned of another new find at Hemingray by the digging duo. Details and pictures will be available next month. Thanks, Darin and Roger, and keep up the good work.

The next fantastic new find came to the national with Ken Roberts, from Huntsville, Alabama. Ken tells the story of this find in his own words.

Ken Roberts and CD 299.7

"Approximately two years ago, I contacted a man in Gadsden, Alabama who collected insulators back in the early to mid 70's. He told me he still had his collection (around 1,800 or so), but was no longer an active collector. He had obtained the majority of his insulators at local antique stores and flea markets. I was quite excited when he told me that he would consider selling what he had. However, he then explained he would not be interested in selling just a few, I would have to take them all. After quizzing him on what he had, it was apparent that almost all were common CD 106's, CD 115's, CD 121's, CD 152's, CD 154's and CD 155's -- most of which were Hemingray-42's. When I told him I didn't need most of what he had, he told me to let him know if I changed my mind. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I was sure that if he did have that many insulators, there would have to be a couple of good ones. Well, over time I pretty much forgot about it. 

Then, in early May of this year, I received a phone call from him. He was in the process of moving and wanted to know if I was still interested in the insulators. After explaining that there was no way I could take everything he had, he told me to "come and get what you can use." Now I was excited again so the next Saturday I went to see him. When I arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes! All of the insulators were in and around a small metal shed in his backyard. Some were on metal shelves or in boxes and crates. However, most were piled together in two 55 gallon drums and two old coca cola coolers. I had never seen so many insulators at one time piled together. Anyway, it took me over 5 hours to sort through all of them while carefully trying not to break any. It was in one of the 55 gallon drums, near the bottom, that I found the CD 299.7 At the time, I didn't realize what I had. I just knew it was a different CD than what I had in my collection, so I put it with the other insulators I had picked out. It was not until two weeks later, while I was cleaning them, that I realized I might have something never before found. Not long after, I went back to see him and make sure I hadn't overlooked another one. However, I had no success and he could not remember exactly were he had gotten it.

This experience just goes to show that you can never give up looking and following up leads. There are still a lot of good insulators to be found, it's just a matter of spending the time searching, As far as finding a new CD. I never thought it would happen to me. However, it proves there is a possibility that a few more still exist! I am living proof that it can still happen!"

CD 299.7 and the triple petticoat which gained 
the piece a new Consolidated Design number.

As you can see from Ken's comments, Mr. Woodward has already assigned a CD number (CD 299.7) to this new find. The most unusual features of this piece include the triple petticoat, never seen before on a Lowex product, and the slightly extended neck, compared to other D-514 styles. The embossing on the insulator is (F-Skirt) LOWEX/REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. (R-Skirt) D-514/ [Number] MADE IN U.S.A. I really enjoyed the part in Ken's story about finding the piece at the bottom of a 55 gallon drum. It reminded me of a collection I bought (not coincidentally in Alabama) about 12 years ago. The collector had his collection stored in his kitchen in a 55 gallon drum. I still remember the weird feeling of pulling castles (CD 206) and cobalt signals (CD 162) out of that drum, in addition to several hundred other collectible items. The best comment at the national about this new find came from an anonymous source who said, "Well, I guess the old saying, 'nothing valuable ever had LOWEX embossed on it' is out the window." I can't remember if Arlen Reinstra (who put on a beautiful display of LOWEX insulators at the Chicago National) was in the area when that comment was made. Oh well, I guess the author of that comment will just have to remain anonymous, Believe It or Not!

http://www.insulators.com/shows/reports

If you have access to the World Wide Web, you can now read an "online" account of the 1997 National Show report as published in the September 1997 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire magazine. Of course, the photos of all the displays and people will be in living color. A "thank you" to Bill Meier for converting the report for Web access. Type in the address above, and relive July's insulator extravaganza in Chicago!