Bob "Super Sleuth" Stahr searches and researches for
The Missing Hemingray Insulators

When I began doing research, I realized the importance of the research done by others before me. I saw this in the many early books written about insulators. This made me want to put together a library of those early insulator books.
                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                    

In this quest for books, I bought one of Frances Terrill's books. I acquired Book #3, Hemingray Insulators Priced, published in 1971. While looking through it I noticed two oddities. The first oddity was a HEMINGRAY-49. The drawing and description are reprinted below. The drawing and dimensions of the insulator could fit a squatty HEMINGRAY-19. This makes it a possibility that it is a HEMINGRAY-49 embossing error. Yet the drawing could also fit that of a HEMINGRAY-42. Maybe it was a HEMINGRAY-42 with faint embossing and the "2" didn't completely form. 

The early years of collecting unfortunately produced some inaccurate information. N. R. "Woody" Woodward shares some thoughts: "I doubt the Hemingray-49 story. During those early years of collecting, many crazy stories circulated. Frances (whom I knew well and highly respected) had the philosophy that her column was actually written by her correspondents: and she would publish anything, even if she knew it to be wrong, of course giving credit to the writer. I suspect some of them felt a bit foolish afterward." Along with Woody's observations and having gotten copies of several catalogues regarding Hemingray insulators from the research service, I concluded that the '''49' story" was just an inaccurate description. It didn't seem to me, that such a piece could exist.

The second mystery insulator I encountered in Frances' book was a HEMINGRAY-517. This insulator seemed more probable because Hemingray produced the 500 series which included the 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515 and the two spools, 518 and 519. The description even includes the date code of 10-46. The number 46, standing for the year 1946, could fit right in with production years of these popular styles. Again I had doubts, the dimensions on this one could fit a Hemingray-514. I thought that maybe this was another poor description.

I put thoughts about those two insulators in the back of my mind until recently when I acquired another early book. This one is Lynn Stuart's Insulator Guide, published in 1968. In it appeared a drawing of a CD 147 or CD 150 with the embossing BARCLAY and the patent date of Oct. 8th 1907. Many people had also disregarded this as a poor description. They thought Lynn had found out who patented it and mistakenly drew the embossing on the insulator. That thought prevailed until 1987 when Rob Lloyd actually found a CD 150 embossed BARCLAY, with sharp drips! Some of you may remember the Mac's Believe It Or Not! article about this in the September 1987 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire. Rob climbed a pole to get what turned out to be a one of a kind piece manufactured by Hemingray. Whether Lynn actually did see an insulator embossed BARCLAY or not, we will probably never know.

While looking through Lynn's book I noticed the HEMINGRAY-517 again! The drawing looked the same and the description was similar also. The mold number was 13-46. Again the 1946 date! It seems to me, that two different authors, having encountered the same style with different mold numbers, was promising. There may actually be a HEMINGRAY-517 out there! If any of the older collectors can shed some light on this story," I'd be happy to hear about it.

I would like to share one more Hemingray oddity with you. This insulator was shown in the Western Electric catalogs of 1915 and 1916. "Woody" Woodward believes that this insulator might have been produced and has the CD number of CD 224.5 reserved for it, if and when it is found. The Catalog lists it as their No. 41 "Long Double Petticoat" style. Unlike Brookfield, I believe Hemingray only catalogued items that were in current production. I have not encountered a catalog item that has not been produced except for the No._41. This yet to be found insulator has a good chance of turning up since it was actually catalogued for two years.

Woody states, "There are some similar styles in the Brookfield Catalogues that haven't been found. About the time those were produced, Brookfield registered its trademark in Cuba; and identical styles in some porcelain catalogs are listed as 'Cuban.' Hemingray did export to all parts of the world. If and when Cuba opens up I suspect we may find some very interesting things down there. Their economy being what it is, I doubt they have discarded even one insulator since Fidel took over." 

CD 224.5

Keep in mind that these Hemingrays may exist and that the "Spaceman" CD 181.5, a Combination Safety with drips, the CD 732.2 threadless Hemingray and the new no tie style CD 109.9 have all surfaced in the last few years. I encourage each collector to continue to be aware that many of those "old" finds of the early years of collecting may once again surface as "new" finds of the 90's!

I would like to thank Bill Meier, Elton Gish and N. R. "Woody" Woodward for helping me make this article possible.