UNBELIEVABLE INSTALLATION: Inside a substation in Illinois, linemen found installed over 50 of the carnival CD 233 Pyrex insulators using only twine to attach the 4-ought copper wire. Installers then coated the twine with shellac to seal the connection.                                               

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: This CD 155 Armstrong has a penny molded into the glass that surrounds the pinhole. Part of the threading of the pinhole was broken out when the mandrel was dropped into the mold. Part of the actual penny is visible, but is securely wedged into the pinhole glass.

PRIVY PRIZE: A CD 145.6 Boston Bottle Works in rootbeer amber was dug in Michigan.

SEEDIEST: A CD 134 American Insulator Company and an unembossed CD 149.

EAST COAST GEMS

BEAUTY CONTESTANT: M-2636 unmarked with turquoise glaze, a product of Lima Porcelain.

LIGHTNING STRIKES: Some nice colors of lightning rod insulators including an small amber style, milky olive green and milky purple saddle styles, and a cobalt sidetab.

One aspect of this hobby that Mrs. Mac and I really enjoy, is traveling. And, on most trips, we have been fortunate to have been able to attend insulators shows/swap meets and stop to see the collections of many collectors across the country. 

What often happens, Believe It Or Not!, is we take pictures and haven't had the opportunity to share with you some of the really neat pieces and stories we have heard. 

This month's column features one of three Mac s Believe It Or Not! full color articles that will be appearing in this issue and upcoming months.

Unbelievable Installation: Jim Crandall brought this unusual carnival CD 233, still coated with grime and laced with twine to the 2000 national show in Minnesota. Jim was able to remove at least this specimen from a substation where he discovered their installation. Upon return to the cache at a later time, he found that all the pieces had been broken. Thank goodness, he was able to salvage an example!

A Penny For Your Thoughts: Mrs. Mac saw this piece on Rick Soller's table at the Eastern Regional show in Corning, New York in the fall of 2000. One would have thought that the penny would have caused an internal fracture upon cooling, but this one survived.

Privy Prize: Out of the "bottle works" of an old privy in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Ernie Griffin shared this CD 145.6 Boston Bottle Works in rootbeer amber which had surfaced as a "show and tell" item at the Huron Valley Bottle and Insulator Club's March 2001 meeting. A little light tumbling restored the luster of this rare, historic insulator. Believe It or Not!, I only live 350 miles from HVBIC headquarters, but had to fly to the Cayucos, California show to see it in person for the first time! Butch and Eloise Haltman are the proud owners now.

Seediest: Bob Fuqua, lucky enough to be a telephone lineman when early New England pickings and change-outs were commonplace, has put together a wonderful collection of "things I picked myself' that include the CD 134 American and an unembossed CD 149. Mark Lauckner (CJOW, July 2000) indicated "tiny 'seed' bubbles are the result of incomplete glass ingredient melting. The alkali which dissolves the silica in the melting action creates small gas bubbles. These bubbles take a long time to rise to the surface and pop, and usually become suspended in the molten glass." I know Bob is glad the glass house was in a hurry to produce these neat pieces!

East Coast Gems: Regional collectors tend to fall in love with "local" insulators. Shown here is a dark yellow-green CD 134 T-HE CO. signal; an honey amber CD 134.4 (Oakman product); a CD 160.7 American Insulator Co. "snow cone" in light olive green; a CD 104 Brookfield in yellow, olive color; a brown amber CD 740.3; and a CD 726 in purple. 

Believe It Or Not! the color of the CD 740.3 (owned by Alan Klapaska) is not visible until you shine a bright light from underneath. Adam Hamel picked up the CD 104 Brookfield in an eBay auction and Bob Fuqua just "picked" the T-HE CO. signal!

When the CD 726 in purple appeared at the Yankee Pole Cat Insulator Club show last spring, Ross Baird (now how did a Texan fall in love with East Coast glass?) made an offer to the gentleman from New Hampshire that had found the piece at a yard sale. It was not for sale. The following month, Mrs. Mac was in Texas at an insulator show and stopped to see Ross's collection. There sat the CD 726 in purple on his display shelves! Seems the gentleman reconsidered and accepted the offer Ross had made. Now, here is the Believe It Or Not! part -- In May, Mrs. Mac and I flew to California to attend the Cayucos show in California, then drove to Oregon for the Western Regional. Along the way, we stopped to visit Paul and Kathy Greaves. Paul does a great job of repairing insulators and stabilizing internal fractures in glass. "Let me show you a neat insulator I am working on right now," Paul said. There, receiving a fracture treatment, was the purple CD 726. Saw it first in Connecticut, next in Texas and then in California. Not sure who travels more, Mrs. Mac or Mr. Purple 726!?!

Beauty Contestant: As the story goes, Believe It Or Not! . . . a collector found a group of porcelain insulators owned by a local beautician. In the back of the shop, the collector was led to a room where there were a lot of porcelain pieces. The non-collector stated that she thought they are all "painted", but would take $100 for the lot. "How 'bout I give you $100 for just five?" That worked.

Lightning Strikes: If this is the first time you have seen lightning rod insulators, you will have to agree they are small and beautiful.

Watch for more color rarities in upcoming issues, Believe It Or Not!

On to the new finds of the fall. . .

The Consolidated Design system developed by N.R. "Woody" Woodward has proven to be invaluable in having consistency in describing styles of insulators. It is the language of our hobby. And, Woody has always been willing to look at "new vocabulary" as insulators are introduced to him. Such was the case at the recent Springfield, Ohio show last month.

Preparing to leave for the show, I had Mrs. Mac take along an insulator that I had always wondered about, as far as its CD assignment was concerned. 

The PATENT - DEC. 19, 1871 listing under CD 104 looked like it might be a candidate for new listing, but in order to be sure I thought it was important to take the actual piece to show Woody in person. 

Most CD designations, when one or more manufacture is represented, can demonstrate a grand array of mold designs. Even when only ONE manufacture is involved variations occur. And, the CD system is one that makes room for variations even when only one drawing is presented to represent the assignment. 

For example, here are some Brookfield CD 104s which can vary in shape according to the time in which their manufacture took place and the molds that were typical of that era.

And, within the CD 104 made for New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, there are multiple variations.

From a short, squatty version (on the left); a more "typical" style 
piece (middle); to one that looks very elongated (right).

The PATENT-DEC. 19 1871 piece (assigned CD 104) was one of Hemingray's early "No.4" styles. CDs 124, 124.2, 124.3 were assigned and drawn, and I have always questioned why the CD 104 might have been assigned "out of the sequence" of the other "old 4's." Even the CD 124.5, known as the "winged Chambers companion" is embossed with the "4" on the dome and looks like it might have been a rework of an old CD 124.3 mold.

At the last minute, I had Mrs. Mac pack a CD 104 and a CD 124.2 "old Hemingray 4." On Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mac showed Woody both pieces. And, after careful study, he said he thought it should probably receive a new CD and he would consult his paperwork back in Houston upon his arrival home and drop me a note. He thought that he might never have seen an actual specimen of the "old 4" before now.

With much excitement, Mrs. Mac shared with Bill and Jill ("M/M Hemingray") Meier that she was hopeful there might be a new Hemingray CD assigned very soon. Bill said, he thought he might get a new one assigned on Saturday. That "I'll tell you, if you tell me" look came over everyone's eyes.

Believe It Or Not! Bill and Jill had brought along an assortment of CD 104s and the CD 104 Patent - Dec. 19 1871 from their collection. Sure enough, like minds. . . 

After checking his paperwork in Houston, N.R. "Woody" Woodward send along the following new CD assignment. . .

	New CD 124.1 showing the front dome embossing, PATENT / DEC. 19, 1871 and rear dome embossing: 4

Another interesting item looking for a "name" was a sleeve that is embossed BROOKFIELD on the skirt. This piece recently surfaced in an old Ohio collection where it had resided for nearly 30 years. The sleeve was dug in the New Philadelphia area of the state along with a threadless hat. Neither piece had been to an insulator show for many years.

The sleeve is severely fractured internally and has not been reglued. With N.R. Woodward, Elton Gish and Jim Fruistieri coming to the Springfield, Ohio show, this was the time to get some opinions. 

Brookfield's 1912 catalog (see page 52 for ordering information) shows glass multiparts. Jim Fruistieri's display had the only known example of a CD 338. Most of the sleeve has been reconstructed according to the dimensions shown in the Brookfield catalogue. The CD 338 is embossed BROOKFIELD on the top of one ear.

The sleeve embossed BROOKFIELD (left) measures 4-5/8" across the base and stands 4-1/2" tall. It most closely resembles the measurements of the CD 347 as pictured. Reports of other pieces of sleeves embossed with the full name BROOKFIELD have come from those who searched the Brookfield dumps on the east coast, but this is the first complete sleeve to have been reported and the only existing part of a CD 347.

Elton Gish documents the use of glass 
sleeves in his book, Fred M. Locke. A Biography.

Jim Frustieri had a sleeve in his display that had only the letter "B" embossed on the skirt. 

It was similar in height to the Brookfield-embossed sleeve, but narrower through the skirt. This "B" sleeve was used with a porcelain top (U-942) which did not have threads in the porcelain shell. Instead it had a large opening which measured 2-3/4" with five grooves around the inside to make a better cementing surface when joined with a glass shell, Believe It Or Not!