Letters to the Editor

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", February 1985, page 26

Dora,

I just recently picked up a very interesting item that I thought you and the readers might be interested in. Am enclosing a photo copy for you. It's a neat little Hemingray trade card, and probably dates from the turn of the century.

A few years back I saw another Hemingray trade card, but can't remember exactly what it looked like.

Finding old catalogs, letterheads, envelopes, and other related material from insulator manufacturers is pretty tough, and I thought this one, with the illustration, was especially nice. The guy I got this one from said it was found with several others in a bookstore. Apparently they belonged to a salesman or representative and were never used. Needless to say, I purchased a number of them, as I felt certain other collectors would want them, especially to go with displays at shows.

I have a fairly large collection of insulator, glass company, and telegraph related paper, and have copies of items in other collections, so I'll be sending a couple articles on collecting these items in the near future for the enjoyment of the readers.

Trying to assemble a collection of insulators embossed with a name on them with a matching trade card, letterhead or other paper collectible is a real challenge, and I think would make an interesting display at a show. There are lots of possibilities, matching glass with paper from glass companies, telegraph supply houses, or the telegraph, telephone and electric companies themselves.

Will be sending more to you shortly. Happy collecting to all in insulator land.
Ray Klingensmith

Dear Dora,

Found this old picture I took in North China in 1945. Notice the eight crossarms with the insulators. Wood of any kind was rare at that time. The poles were steel reinforced concrete and the crossarms were metal. The Chinese lineman I saw climbing this pole later was using two small platforms with a rope loop. Sure did look funny, but he was just as fast as we were on wooden poles and standard climbers.
George J. Welch
Cincinnati, Ohio

Dear Dora,

It was a great honour as well as a great pleasure to have a visit from Marilyn and Bill Albers. What a wonderful and charming couple they are. With such people as that in the insulator collecting world I count myself lucky to "belong".  I look forward to my copy of Crown Jewels and I think you do a very find job. I enclose a few photographs of mine never published, which may be of use to you some time.
Yours sincerely,
W. Keith Neal

Editor's note: See picture below entitled "Langdons are Where You Find Them!". Keith says these were still around near Stoke-on-Trent in 1960. Also see cover photo. Thank you, Keith.

Cover photo by W. Keith Neal -- largest size Langdon, triple shed of porcelain, made
around 1900 by Taylor, Tunnicliff & Co., blackened by smoke of passing locomotives.