Variety is never lacking when it comes to collecting porcelain insulators. I thought surely we would have rounded up most of the remaining new unipart styles with the collector surveys sent out to those who helped me compile the Value Guide for Unipart and Multipart Porcelain Insulators. Eighty-six new unipart styles were illustrated in that book which were assigned after Jack Tod's 1988 3rd edition book, Porcelain Insulator Guide Book. Would you believe that 16 new unipart styles have been identified since the Value Guide was published in mid-1995! Strangely, we haven't reported any new unipart styles in PIN since November 1995. We report a few this month and start off with a super new Jumbo style!

I wasn't able to make the London show last November. Steve and Lois Blair (NIA #248 & #247) have a reputation for putting on one of the best shows each year which rivals the quality of the annual NIA National Show. In many respects it is like the shows of years gone by because the atmosphere is relaxed, informal, and there is a lot of trading and activity going on all weekend. Many new finds and rare insulators make their appearance for the first time. The show last November was no exception. Many people reported to me that there was a lot of activity with porcelain insulators of all descriptions. A light blue Mickey Mouse (U-395) traded hands! 

(cover photo)

Jack Snyder (NIA #241) walked in with a very different style of U-407 Jumbo. Thanks to Marilyn and Bill Albers (NIA #541 & #1276) for taking photographs for me and jotting down a few selected dimensions so I could make a scale drawing (by remote control). Normally we like to get a shadow profile, but occasionally I can make a drawing from a photograph and dimensions if the style is not too complicated. I have assigned this new Jumbo style U-407A and it quickly found a new home. Crown Jewels of the Wire features a nice color photograph of U-407 and U-407A on the cover of this month's issue to highlight the find. Here we will show the scale drawings of the two styles so you can see how they are different. Note that the crown on U-407 A is round with straight sides and a cable groove formed in the top rather than cut out to form "ears" as on U-407 (something like putting ears on the dome of CD 140 to form CD 269).

The next three new unipart styles are not nearly as exciting. U-238C is one I added to my collection last year. It has a unique glaze that is light blue with some dark blue specs. You might recall this glaze description in CJ 5-95-14 where we discussed this glaze on U-376 with LIMA, N.Y. marking and on U-4 N-N. This glaze might be characteristic of Lima production. Another characteristic that is common with all three insulators (and this glaze color) is a dime-size impression in the top of the fully-glazed pinhole. Two other insulators I have with the same characteristics are U-243 and U-600. The U-243 specimen has a very light blue glaze (almost gray) with lots of dark blue specs and the U-600 specimen has a darker light blue glaze with dark blue specs. Unipart insulators with the Lima marking are very rare so we may never be able to attribute the unmarked insulators, with this unique glaze, to Lima with any greater certainty. You might have another style in your collection with this unusual glaze, fully glazed pinhole, and dime-size impression. Please send a photograph and description if you do.

U-238C has a unique light blue glaze with dark blue specs.

Bob Stahr (NIA #4186) has been actively collecting dry process porcelain for a number of years. There are many unusual, unmarked dry process styles and a very interesting collection can be put together at minimal cost with new additions easily available at shows. I doubt that all the various styles and colors have been reported. Bob reported a new style which has been assigned U-269B. Specimens have been found in dark metallic tan, bluish gray, and an odd mottled very light blue with darker blue areas where the glaze is thickest. If the glaze is not thin (on the gray and blue ones), a mold line is visible only across the wire groove (see photo) indicating that the wire groove was not formed by trimming. The threads are well formed and totally unglazed and the top of the pinhole is slightly concave. This later feature alone rules out any chance they were manufactured by Thomas. So far we cannot attribute a manufacturer to U-269B.

Dry process porcelain U-269B with light blue glaze (left)
 and dark metallic tan glaze (right).

Another puzzling insulator reported by Bob is the new style, U-600B. On the unmarked specimen I have, the dry process porcelain is finely made except for a few vertical cracks in the porcelain around the tie-wire groove. The transparent white glaze is finely crackled all over which indicates that the glaze formula was not properly "fitted" to the porcelain (indicative of very early manufacture -- perhaps before 1910). The threads are fully glazed with a firing rest on the extended skirt. We are unable to attribute a manufacturer to this style. We know that Akron HP Porcelain Co. produced dry process pin-types from 1903-1907 (until about the time Ohio Brass took control of the company) and a few styles with the unique teat rest feature can be attributed to that company. We suspect that Akron could have made some of these odd dry process insulators, but the pinhole characteristics (and glaze colors in some cases) are somewhat different from those currently attributed to Akron. It is almost as if a heretofore unknown company produced them.

Dry process porcelain U-600B with white glaze.

The next insulator was also reported by Bob Stahr. The insulator, U-240, was found in the northwest and looks as though it was made by Pittsburg. It has a mold line completely over the insulator which has been crudely trimmed flush to the surface. What makes this insulator so unique is the very pale tan or buff-colored glaze which has a multitude of very tiny brown specs just like it was sprinkled with cinnamon!! I recently got two of these, but they do not have the same quantity of cinnamon sprinkles.

U-240 N-N Pittsburg with 
buff-colored glaze finely sprinkled 
with cinnamon-colored specs.

Fred Collier, Jr. (NIA #2933) is always coming up with interesting porcelain insulators we have not seen before (remember the U-500A shown in the Value Guide?). Fred reported the next insulator several years ago, and it has taken me awhile to discover something more about it. The white-glazed insulator is 2-3/8 inches in diameter and 3-1/4 inches tall. The pinhole is slotted all the way up and there is an enlarged area at the top of the pinhole. On the top of the insulator is the marking, PAT. APD FOR. I saw this insulator illustrated in a Pass & Seymour advertisement Bob Stahr found in the Electrical World dated March 4, 1893! It was not shown in either the 1899 or 1900 P&S catalogs, so Fred's insulator is probably more than 100 years old. Note the rare U-146 in the advertisement. Fred's insulator is illustrated with a metal pin that has a lug on one end and a metal clamp to secure the conductor wire on the other end. Evidently the slotted pinhole would allow the lug to pass through, and, by turning the pin 90 degrees, the pin would be secured and suspended from the lug. The metal clamp on the other end had two screws to securely hold the conductor wire. I suspect that a metal clamp was placed around the wire groove to support the insulator in place. It could have been used as a mine insulator or on a trolley line to suspend a low voltage power line.

Pass & Seymour white porcelain 
insulator shown with metal pin and 
clamp to secure the conductor wire.

Pass & Seymour advertisement in the Electrical World 
dated March 4, 1893.

Daniel van Beers (NIA #4492) tries to stay up-to-date on what is happening in the world of porcelain insulator manufacturing. He has a lot of contacts with various companies and he has agreed to let me print some of his findings from last summer (yes, I'm late with this "news" so hope it is still current). I will quote Daniel's letter with my comments in [ ]:

"I received some information about Chance [Parkersburg, WV] and Industrial Ceramics [Lima, NY and Derry, PA]. Seems that the management at Chance in Parkersburg [manufacturer of pin-types] had attempted to get financing to buy the plant away from Harvey Hubbell. But they lacked an acceptable business plan and the plant ended up auctioned off to a "Pacific Rim" buyer. The plant was, for the most part, dismantled and exported. I do not know who the "Pacific Rim" buyer is, but I do understand that the plant was never reassembled, at least as of yet.

"As for Industrial Ceramics, they have filed for bankruptcy. This was not so much due to an inability to pay creditors as much as it was in response to an aging plant [Derry, PA] and nagging disputes that never were resolved. So, they declared themselves "insolvent", closed the Derry plant, and are very much still in business in Lima, NY. Their core business remains specialty porcelain and things like suspension blanks for pole top switches and fused cutout bushings [they haven't made pin-types since 1987].

"Another interesting item that occurred recently, Locke [Baltimore, MD] has ceased manufacturing porcelain suspension insulators [Locke ceased manufacture of pin-types in 1971]. I'm not sure if this includes line post styles, but Locke does manufacture a line of polymer post insulators. They are now concentrating on their polymer line manufactured at their new plant in Virginia Beach, VA. 

"Lapp [LeRoy, NY] abruptly exited the polymer insulator market selling all their equipment to Hubbell/Ohio Brass. [Lapp ceased manufacture of unipart pintypes in 1957 and multipart pin-types a few years later.]

"Business at Victor Insulators Inc. [Victor, NY] is quite good now and they have developed a good export business, too, especially to Korea and Indonesia. Things look very good at Victor both near and long term."

It is good news indeed to hear that the old factory at Victor, NY is thriving after a period of stiff competition. As many of you know, this is the original site of Fred Locke's porcelain factory which was started in the summer of 1898. It has changed hands several times with the most recent the result of the formation of Victor Insulators Inc. in 1984 after a group of employees purchased the company. The plant continues to be an employee run business. Victor is one of only two U.S. manufacturers of porcelain pin-type insulators. The other company is Porcelain Products Co. [Carey, OH].

A special thank you to Phil Gillham in Laredo, TX for his support. Your generosity, Phil, is very much appreciated!