Hemingray-95's In Service
by Robin Doody
Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", May 1977, page 4
Several years ago when my brother and I first started collecting insulators,
we discovered that many insulators were still in use in our area, mainly for
electrical connections to houses. At this time we had no books on the subject,
but from the beginning we had seen a lot of odd insulators around town. We
wondered what they might be. There was one type we were especially intrigued by.
These were what we called "cylinder insulators" because of the shape.
We learned from our first books by John Tibbits that they were coal mine
insulators.
On September 25, 1894, patent No. 526,498 was issued to David N.
Osyor, assigner to Joseph A. Jeffrey, for an insulator "specially adapted
for use in coal mines". There are insulators embossed with Jeffrey Mfg.
Co., which would be the oldest of this type. The Hemingrays were probably first
made about 1915, unless they acquired the use of the patent, which is doubtful.
The oldest Hemingray mine insulators were marked HEMINGRAY on the front and No
95 on the back, and were mainly aqua in color. This insulator is quite scarce,
indicating that there was not a great demand for this type. About 1920-21, most
styles of Hemingray were manufactured with "MADE IN U.S.A." on the
back. The 95's were also made this way, and have HEMINGRAY-95 on the front and
MADE IN U.S.A. on the back. The ones with this later embossing are almost always
electric blue or Hemingray blue, at least all those that I have seen. But these
aren't common, either, and Mr. N. R. Woodward says not many of them were made as
recently as 1925. Few collectors have this type in their collection, and even
fewer have had the chance of seeing them in service. Being born and raised in an
old city like Wilmington, not much missed my eyes when we started collecting.
The 95's are almost as common as the HEMI-19's around here. Indeed, they were
quite popular with our utility company. I have four of them in my collection,
three different; but I know of five variations of 95's as of now. I'll list
them. (The "x" means we have it.)
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1. |
F- HEMINGRAY, B- No 95, S.D.P.,
aqua.
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| |
2. |
Same as above, but smooth base, only about 5 known to exist.
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|
xx |
3. |
F-
HEMINGRAY-95, B- MADE IN U.S.A., S.D.P., electric blue. |
|
x |
4. |
Same as above,
except R.D.P., electric blue. |
|
x |
5. |
F- HEMINGRAY-95, B- MADE IN U.S.A., S.D.P.,
electric blue. On this one the "HEMINGRAY" part is centered, the
"-95" almost reaching the mold line as if added on. On the back, MADE
IN U.S.A. is over "No 95" partially blocked out. |
The last one is an
interesting one that indicates a changeover from old to new. The ones marked 3,
4 and 5 above
are shown from left to right in the photograph at the left.
All four are
perfectly mint or very nearly so. Two end specimens are identical.
In using
these insulators, they were mounted on wall brackets made to take a
double-ended pin, much like a CD 188 Brown Patent Design, which is also quite
common here. The top insulator is almost always a signal type, mainly
Brookfield, Hemingray, Gayner, or Lynchburg. Several styles of brackets and
pin setups were used for different walls and roof structures. The most common is
the one in the second photo, a corner-of-wall style. In most cases one set was
enough to install the wires, but I have seen as many as eight sets used where
wires ran along the back of a row house. In that one, there were eight
Hemi-19's on top
and eight Hemi-95's on the bottom!
Another thing I found interesting is that
when the 95's were mounted, of all those I've seen in use (about 50 in all),
every single one was put on with the drips up! This was the main reason I was
unable to identify them when we first saw them listed in books, as I was not
able to see the tops from below and supposed them to be smooth based. But this
was natural, because of the way the insulator was made with the drips up when
in the mold. The other end is smaller in the pinhole, so it could go on only
with the drips up. Note, however, that if it is put on the top, the drips are
down like any other insulator.
Also, these insulators seem to never be the
same height. You will notice in the first photo the variance in height, as well
as the height of the wire groove from the base. The change-over specimen is the
tallest at 3-5/8 inches, while the R.D.P. one is only 3-1/4 inches. The middle
two are 3-1/2 inches. But all four are the same width.
I think all collectors
will find this information interesting, and I hope I have shed some new light
on this type; but most of all I wish more of you could have the opportunity to
see these beautiful Hemingray-95's doing the job for which they were intended -
before modern times put them out of the way, as has happened to many of our
beautiful glass pieces.
Well, I can't say they were intended for this use; but there wouldn't be
nearly as many if they were only "mine insulators"
Because of the
weather I couldn't get pictures of the insulators in use. But I have made a
drawing to show you how they were used, always drips up!
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