I started collecting insulators when I was young and considered myself a general collector. Around 1984 I was invited to go on my first insulator hike on the Military Telegraph line near Fort Apache, AZ. It was on this trip that I found my first insulator that the collecting hobby commonly refers to as the "Blobtop", the CD126. Although our goal for the weekend was to find EC&M's, I was happy to find the upper half of an olive green blob still attached to the telegraph wire that was installed in the late 1870's. Over the next several years my son Dave became interested and we were able to find more blobs on this line, the most notable being a yellow olive with amber swirls. Ever since then my interest in blobs has grown. My collection now leans toward this style.

Photo by Chris Seamons.

There is not a lot of information readily available for the CD126 or its close cousin the CD126.1. Most of my observations are from ones in my collection or from conversations with other collectors. In no way would I consider this study complete because it's continually growing as I am always adding to it as I learn more. Any insight would be welcomed. I am providing this information along with some photos of the better-colored and character pieces to help document and show the variety available for this unique style. I also must add that not all these pieces reside in my collection. 

When you review all the embossings that are recorded for these two styles, you find 55+ for the CD126 and only one for the CD126.1. The origin of the CD126.1 is solely Brookfield. I will discuss this style later. The majority of the CD126's were also Brookfield, but some exist that have unknown manufacturers. These are the ones that are categorized as no names or no embossing. The no embossed unit [010] has a large round dome which has a shape unlike any Brookfield piece I have seen. There is also a drip point at the top of the pinhole, which is not a characteristic of a Brookfield piece. Now the no embossed [020] with a MLOD is definitely Brookfield because of the shape of the dome and the swirled threads along with the mold line over the dome. I have not seen the Pennycuick [030] style or the no name [010] with a 7 {large number}. The skirt embossed RD149959 origin also remains unknown. What is known is that all non-Brookfields are considered scarce to rare.

Cover Photo

Overall Brookfield embossings vary greatly. The collecting hobby will probably never fully identify and record all the slight variations that exist. All embossings make reference to the location of New York. Generally speaking Brookfield blobs can be categorized into four groups. The two dome embossed versions that either contain "55 FULTON ST" address, or the "45 CLIFF ST" address, the skirt embossed "W BROOKFIELD NEW YORK", and the ones with no embossing. Production started with 55 Fulton, changed to 45 Cliff when the company moved and ended around 1908 while they were still located in New York and while William Brookfield was still alive. 

When comparing blobs you find that the dome size and shape along with the over all height varies greatly in the earlier two piece mold dome embossed styles. The tops of the dome can be flat or pointy. One thing I have noticed on all blobs is that due to the shape of the dome the flat part at the top of the pinhole is reflected when backlit and appears to be a bubble. The number of threads also depends on how much glass was put in the mold. Occasionally you can find examples that have had extra glass to the point where the skirt is only about a half inch deep. The threads can have 11 revolutions in these. That might be a record. The typical skirt depth is around 1" to 1-1/4" inches with 7 threads.

Embossing is typically weak. The later skirt embossed styles are shorter more uniform and were made from three-piece molds. Their height varies up to a quarter inch, which is due to the amount of glass that was formed below the skirt's mold line. Embossing tends to be weak on these too.

You can find at least 10 different patent date combinations on the Brookfield CD126's. Not all of them are correct. Embossings typically contain one, two, or three dates. The mold engravers would occasionally mix them up. Brookfield also liked to use quotes " instead of duplicating the months and years when multiple dates were embossed above and below each other. Besides the patent dates you can occasionally find a "backward S" in the abbreviation for street. PAT abbreviated with two T's or an "I" instead of a "P". Cauvet misspelled with a "D" instead of a "C". The "k" left out of Brookfield, and Brookfield misspelled with an "E" instead of a "B".

The correct patent dates that are consistent with other styles:

And the wrong ones with the noted error, some are unique to the CD 126:

Colors can range from the common, light blues and aqua ones, to the outstanding greens, yellow greens, olive greens and yellow olive amber ones, to the unbelievable purple, dark red and yellow ambers. There are only a handful of the purple ones with even fewer of the ambers.

The purple blobs were primarily found in Utah (and some in the southern states). During 1982-1985 two purple and three yellow olive amber ones were found on the Military Telegraph line near Ft. Apache, AZ. At the Y2K National a purple CD126 was brought in that was bought at a local antique store. The only known red amber is believed to have been found in Canada, as were many of the deeper greens and olives. At the 2000 Eastern Regional a gray/green tint un-embossing blob surfaced. It was purchased off the Internet. This unusual color is similar to the silvery ice green CD143's and is believed to be Canadian. 

CD126 Blobtops were as popular in the late 19th century as Hemingray 42's were in the mid 20th century. They were popular out west and can still be found just about anywhere in the United States and Canada. They were typically used along railroads and early telegraph lines and were also used as replacement glass for lines that were originally strung with EC&M's and CAL ELEC WORK insulators.

Which came first -- the CD126 or the CD126.1?

Having recently acquired my CD126.1, I wanted to investigate how these straight skirt blobtop variants fit in the Brookfield production. First thing I did was go to the embossing variations listed in the McDougald's 1999 Price Guide. I am suggesting the following knowing that it is pure speculation on my part. Still, I think I have some worthy points. I am going to continue researching my finding by looking for clues that either support or disprove my opinions. 

There is only one embossing listed for the CD126.1. Note that the 1870-year patent date is abbreviated as 70, and that there is also a number reference (NO) to the 55 Fulton street address. What other styles has these characteristics? The number reference occurs often, but the abbreviated date does not. There are only three styles with 70. The CD's: 127, 126.1, and 126. Why only these three? What do they have in common? Embossing variations had to have been kept fairly consistent from year to year on all insulator designs being manufactured. The only exception would be if a specific customer had a specific request. I think that this is unlikely, because it's too consistent with all the other standard Brookfield embossing, (company, street address, and patent dates).

Review the listings for the CD127 and CD126. Each has several listings with 70. Different listings means multiple molds equaling lots of insulators being produced. Now look at the CD126.1, which is considered kind of scarce. Only one is listing with two color variations. This would suggest that the production run was very limited, why? Perhaps experimental pieces during a design review?

Duane Davenport took this photo of me next to one of the 
iron poles that were placed in 1883 to replace the aging wood poles.
 The cross arm is where the lineman stood to service the line.

I believe the CD 127 is the older design being produced first. For some reason there was a need for a design change. The dome was reworked increasing its size along with the wire groove. The straight skirt shape was left alone. The CD 126.1 was born. The customers or engineers were still not satisfied. In reviewing all CD's there are not that many that have straight skirts with larger domes. After a short production run the design was changed again with a flared skirt, the "mighty" CD126 Blobtop. This new design proved so successful that the original CD127 design was eventually dropped. The CD127 was discontinued and never produced after the company changed addresses to 45 Cliff St.

The blobtop succeeded.... millions were made.

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I would like to thank Dwayne Anthony, Tommy Bolack, Fred Collier, Bob Fuqua, Jim Meyer, Daryl Richardson and the John McDougald for supplying some of the exotic pictures that I will only dream of having and Kevin Jacobson who photographed the insulators in my collection used in this article.

Light green, amber strings.	Light green, amber tones.

Blue aqua with amber swirls -  Jim Meyer.	Green aqua with large amber streak - Dwayne Anthony.

"Milky Way" of skirt snow.	Fizzy green aqua.

Light green with snow, bubbles and amber.	Bubbly green aqua - Bob Fuqua.

Emerald green.	Dark yellow green.

Chartreuse.	Yellow olive - Fred Collier.

Yellow olive amber with the original tie wire.

On his first hunt, Steve located the upper half of 
an olive CD 126 "blobtop" still attached to the tie wire.

Yellow olive - Tommy Bolack.	Dark olive amber - Dwayne Anthony.

Only one of these RED AMBER beauties has ever been found. And, this CD 126 pinnacle piece is in the collection of Dwayne Anthony.

	This unembossed CD 126 has Canadian origins and was purchased in an eBay auction last year by Daryl Richardson. It has a mold line over the dome and the grey green color is similar to unembossed CD 143 MLOD Canadian beehives.

Purple -  Tommy Bolack.	Dark purple -  Dwayne Anthony.

Light aqua with no embossing and MLOD.	Blue aqua with no embossing and large round dome.

RD 149959 in aqua - Tommy Bolack.	RD 149959 in jade green milkglass - Jim Meyer.

The CD 127 pre-dates the later "blobtop" style.	Transitioning the early telegraph style (CD 127) and the CD 126 is the CD 126.1 style which saw an increase in the size of the dome and wire groove, but retaining the straight skirt.

Dave Kelly joins his dad on many hunts. Here
he proudly displays a blob top that had 
its surface etched by blowing desert sands.