CD 176.9 
The "Toadstool" --
if that means it's larger than a "Mushroom"

It has been several months since we have been able to announce the assignment of a new CD number for a threaded pintype from the United States, but this month we have one, with pictures. Actually the story behind this piece goes back nearly 15 years, and unbeknownst to me at the time, I was part of the history.

In the mid-1980's, I bought the collection of Steve Bunish from Marion, Indiana. Steve was a well known collector in the local area, but was not well known in the hobby in general and had not actively participated in the organized hobby for many years. I had gotten his name from Ken Roach of Muncie, Indiana who had been one of the early diggers in the Muncie dump. Ken was one of the big Midwest dealers back in the late 60's and early 70's, and Carol and I had a chance to visit with him for the first time in the late 70's, right before the old off-site Muncie dump was covered up. He gave us directions to the dump, and the Carol and I had fun with the kids picking up shards of old Hemingray products right off the ground. Ken had a great collection, not to mention the largest grouping of CD 232.1's ever assembled. Oh well, that's another story. Anyway, a number of years later, Ken suggested that I contact Steve Bunish as someone who might be interested in selling his collection, and I did. 

Steve had a very nice general collection, including a lot of experimental Hemingrays like the E-1, E-2, E-3, several opalescents and a number of other interesting dump specimens. The deal was closed, the insulators were packed, and on our way out the door, Steve said, "Oh, I might have one more piece you may be interested in." He opened a cabinet in his dining room and out popped a lead Harloe claw. It had a non-standard pinhole (it looked like the threads had been cut in as an afterthought, but the piece had been poured in the Harloe mold, without a doubt. The embossing was pretty clear, and the shape was unmistakable. After some brief negotiations, I was the new owner. I know, you're wondering when the new CD shows up - just hold on.

About this time, Bob Harding, Columbus, Ohio, was doing some serious digging and was specializing in Hawley/Harloe, in addition to some other areas of interest. He got wind of the lead Harloe I had acquired, and he just had to have it. Bob was a great trader, and so I suggested he bring up his traders and we'd see what kind of a deal we could make. Within a week, he was at the house (we were still in Ohio then) with the most unusual cross section of trading stock I have ever seen. 

Again, after prolonged negotiations, Bob left with the Harloe, and I looked at what had been left behind. There was a handful of nice color pieces, including a CD 164 McLaughlin in citrine. There was one of those Hemingray paperweights, about six inches in diameter with drip points in light aqua (I think two of them have shown up in the hobby - sorry, I don't have a picture) and a horribly damaged piece of glass that Bob had dug. It had a big "H" in a square on the dome, a threaded pinhole and chipping all around the exterior which indicated that a substantial portion of the "piece of glass" (I wasn't even ready to call it an insulator then) was missing.

I kept that piece for a number of years and finally sold it to Butch Haltman. I had never even thought of looking for a CD assignment since so much of the insulator wasn't there. Butch bought it on speculation that someday a whole one might be found, and the specimen might fill a hole in his CD collection. Several more years passed, and Butch tired of waiting for any sign of a new CD. The piece had many Hemingray characteristics, and Butch sold it to Bill Meier at the 1996 Long Beach National. Again, this was a speculation purchase on Bill's part, in anticipation of possibly confirming Hemingray as the manufacturer at some time in the future. 

More time passes, but on another front, Roger Lucas and Bob Stahr have turned up some interesting chards in the on-site Hemingray factory dump. They appear to be off clear versions of the Whitall Tatum mushroom (CD 176) on steroids. There were striking similarities between what Roger and Bob turned up in the dump and the piece that now resided in Bill Meier's collection. The major exception was color. Bill's piece was dark aqua compared to the very light pieces that were coming out of the dump. 

Again, a period of silence and then, out of the blue, several of us are contacted by a non-insulator collector who has an unusual piece. As pictures were exchanged and discussed, it became clear that this was the first complete specimen of the "Hemingray mushroom." As you can see from the comparison shots below, this piece is much larger than the Whitall-Tatum "mushroom". In addition, the comparison shot between the piece I once owned and the complete Hemingray mushroom shows that they were molded differently. The specimen has a flared inner skirt while the complete piece is much straighter. This piece went up for auction several weeks ago, and it now resides in the collection of a well known insulator specialist.

New Hemingray CD 176.9 and CD 176 by Whitall Tatum.

The new insulators went along with the pictures and the history to Mr. N. R. Woodward as this story was unfolding, and after deliberating, Woody assigned CD 176.9 to the new piece. 

In his response to me, Woody commented as follows regarding the comparison of the new piece with the CD 176 Whitall Tatum: "The L. T. Wilson patent covers the CD 176 Whitall Tatum No. 12. Although some of its features are the same, and probably some of the same people were working on the same theories, the L. T. Wilson patent finds a clever way to limit the size of the unit - the specification that the wire groove must be more than twice the diameter of the pinhole. The desire to make an insulator using a minimum amount of material is brought out in the 3 pages of text. The monstrosity made at Hemingray and tested on the rooftop test rack does not meet those requirements. You are right about the pinhole. Obviously it was intended for use as a bonded pair. I can't tell from the photograph if this feature was used in the rooftop test." 

New Hemingray CD 176.9 and original "specimen".

CD 176.9

I am always excited to recognize the addition of a new find to our growing list of insulator styles.

Many of the old timers in this hobby continue to remind us that we have just uncovered the tip of the iceberg with respect to the variety of insulators that have been manufactured. Finds like this continue to make a believer out of me.... Believe It or Not!