Locke Specialty "pigs"

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", November 1976, page 36

Editor's note: The "pigs" mentioned above refer to another "goodie" that changed owners at Berea. See write-up below.

This heavy, hand made sculpture created from porcelain shows nine pigs sitting around a trough. This article could have been made to be used as a desk ornament, a card holder, a holder for paper clips or the like. The name, Fred M. Locke, Victor N.Y. is embossed on the front.

To those who are familiar with the early struggles of Mr. Locke, in the in the insulator business, the story of his losing the control of his company is well known.

It can, I think, be well imagined that someone who knew this story of his losing control, might have been trying to depict, in this artifact, the group of directors of the company sitting around the board table; deciding his fate.

Each pig is different, both in size and color. They are all done in brown and white of varying degrees. Could it not have been the intent of the sculptor to show the different characteristics of each of these men as they decided to oust Mr. Locke? That is, in reality, they were sitting as a bunch of pigs around a trough awaiting a feed.

The theory here stated is not entirely original with me. Mr. Rodney Wing, from whom I acquired this interesting article also advanced such an idea. Mr. Wing had bought it from an antique shop where nothing was known of it's origin.

Perhaps the history of this artifact is lost forever; but it certainly makes a beautiful symbol to all porcelain insulator collectors.