1987 >> April >> Porcelain Insulator News  

Porcelain Insulator News
by Elton Gish, NIA #41

Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", April 1987, page 8

We last published an updated list of the known Pittsburg date control markings in the February 1986 issue of CJ. A number of new reports have been made by observant collectors. We will continue to track these reports and will add them to the list with the hopes that someday we will have enough information to decipher the code. We urge that you check your collection for new date code markings A revised summary of all reports follows this article. Here are the new reports.

Scott Janz (NIA #2969) met a collector who had a U-600 with the following mark:

MAR 17 P.M.

Mike Guthrie (NIA #3297) has the sin U-171 pictured at the right that he acquired from Idaho. It is 4-1/8" tall and 3-5/8" wide with a dark reddish brown glaze and the following mark:

NOV 26 P.M.

This is the first report of a marking that is only one day different (NOV 25 PM.). This may not be significant as there must be hundreds of other marking dates for almost every day of the year for each marking code. Most of these will never be found or, worse yet, reported.

Bob Lanpher (NIA #487) had a U-746 at the Saratoga Springs National with an almost black glaze and the following mark:

OCT 6 1922

Now, this is one and one half years later than the oldest previously reported date of FEB 17 1921. Pittsburg was wholly owned by Westinghouse by 1922 with the insulator line included in the 1921 Westinghouse catalog. The late date marking must be quite uncommon. I would have bought it then but I was already too loaded down with goodies. Another two pounds would have split my luggage.

Also at the 1986 National, Larry Emmons (NIA #1407) had a beautiful cobalt blue multi (pictured below) under his fantastic truck display with the following mark:

APR 23

The mark was deeply incused without a sign that the year was ever included. We will not include this one with the others due to its obvious lack of year.

Ray Klingensmith had three multis with the following markings:

SEP 20 1913
AUG 24 1915
FEB 15 Rec'd

and a U-746 with a new marking. I hesitated to report it because the year was illegible but it did have a different month and day:

JAN 27 1111 (illegible year)

Fred Collier (NIA #2933) , not to be outdone, found a large four-part Pittsburg multi (pictured below) at an old substation in Shipman, Virginia. The substation was being rebuilt and he found the 10-1/2" tall insulator propped up in the corner of the wire fence. It is absolutely mint with the following mark:

DEC 3 PAID


KNOWN PITTSBURG DATE CONTROL MARKINGS

APR 6 Ans'd   

JAN 16 Rec'd

APR 13 Ans'd   

FEB 15 Rec'd

MAY 25 Ans'd   

APR 11 Rec'd

JUL 26 Ans'd   

AUG 12 Rec'd

NOV 30 Ans'd   

SEP 20 Rec'd

   

JAN 18 Ent'd

   

NOV 15 Ent'd

JAN 17 PAID   

 

FEB 16 PAID   

APR 21 A.M.

JUN 26 PAID   

SEP 20 AM.

JUL 8 PAID   

 

AUG 26 PAID   

MAR 17 P.M.

OCT 18 PAID   

APR 12 P.M.

OCT 27 PAID   

APR 16 P.M.

NOV 15 PAID   

JUL 7 P.M.

NOV 21 PAID   

NOV 25 P.M.

DEC 3 PAID   

NOV 26 P.M.

 

KNOWN PITTSBURG FULL DATE MARKINGS
  (DAY)

APR 22 1913   

(Tue)

APR 30 1913   

(Wed)

MAY 2 1913   

(Fri)

MAY 6 1913   

(Tue)

JUN 5 1913   

(Thu)

JUN 17 1913   

(Tue)

SEP 20 1913   

(Sat)

MAY 2 1915   

(Sun)

JUN 20 1915   

(Sun)

AUG 24 1915   

(Tue)

NOV 7 1915   

(Sun)

DEC 6 1915   

(Mon)

AUG 16 1916   

(Wed)

DEC 11 1917   

(Tue)

JAN-9 919   

(Thu)

FEB 171921   

(Thu)

OCT 6 1922   

(Fri)

JAN 27 1111   

(Illegible year)


 



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