FROM MY MAIL BOX

Dear Marilyn,

I tried to take some pictures of the insulator in question the last time I wrote you. This insulator came from Bill Heitkotter in Fresno, CA. I'm not sure on the correct CD number but it is close in size to CD 655. I would appreciate it if you can tell me the CD number for this insulator.

Embossing: (F-Skirt) L’ELECTRO VERRE (R-Skirt) 98
Approximate measurements: (Width) 3-3/8" (Height) 6-1/8"
Color: Champagne bottle green

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you,
LeRoy Niemi of Green Bay, Wisconsin

Dear LeRoy,

Your 'L’ELECTRO VERRE 98' is CD 656. I recently acquired one of these from Pat Patocka of Penryn, California, same color and measurements as the one you have. It's a couple whiskers shorter and narrower than the FOLEMBRAY insulator to which this CD was originally assigned, but not enough difference to warrant a new number.

This is a beautiful piece of glass and a new listing since "Glass Insulators from Outside North America" was published. Your photos and sketch of the insulator along with measurements really helped to identify the piece. The upcoming price guide for G.I.F.O.N.A. will definitely include this new embossing, so watch for it! Thanks for writing - any time.

Marilyn,

Hello, enjoy your articles in Crown Jewels. Looked at back issues and couldn't find this one although I didn't have all back issues.

I'm not much of a drawer, but picked this porcelain insulator up in Portland, Oregon. I think it's a foreign piece. Any information okay. Put it in Crown Jewels if it's a different one. Would also send it to you if you'd like to see it.

Yours,
James Dennis of The Dalles, Oregon:

Dear James,

Your white porcelain insulator is definitely foreign and is shown as U-1801 in the 1986 Supplement to "Worldwide Porcelain Insulators". I have enclosed a photo and scale drawing of the exact same insulator in my own collection. Thanks for your sketches of the piece, including height measurement and the incuse markings.

The marking IFÖ 56 on the unglazed top indicates that the insulator was made in 1956 by a company called IFÖWERKEN or IFÖ Works, established in the 1920's and presently located in Brömalla, Sweden. (IFÖ is a word in itself, but I don't know what it means.) The company also operates an insulator factory in Frauenthal, Austria. Both plants are technically advanced, and as part of a larger group of European insulator manufacturers known as CERAM, they are considered to be among the world's leading manufacturers of high voltage insulators.

The U-1801 is not particularly scarce, but the shape is interesting. I would value a mint specimen at about $10-$15. There is also a larger version, U-1809, with a base diameter of 3-1/4" and a height of 4-7/8". You might have to pay a few more $$$ for that one. The white glaze is common to both styles, but the IFÖ catalog shows the U-1809 in a brown glaze as well. Hope this helps you.

Dear Marilyn,

Hopefully, you may be able to answer my question on a Brazilian unipart insulator. Last week I found an insulator along a utility right of way being taken down for road improvements. The piece is underglazed in light blue as follows:

It looks as though the closest U-number is U-660. The dimensions match, however, the crown is slightly different. It is a standard light gray skytone with black radio treatment both on top and in the pinhole.

I am very much in the dark on foreign porcelain, so this may be a common name, but I would like some information. Hopefully it is a piece no one has ever heard of, thus generating a new case to research. In any event, I thought I would call it to your attention. And, since we are on the subject of foreign porcelain, is there any book listing the U-numbers and M-numbers of these pieces? Your foreign glass book is a very nice part of my insulator reference library, and it seems fit to have one on porcelain also.

Thank you very much,
Patrick Scott of St. Louis, Missouri

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Dear Patrick,

The full name of the company that produced your insulator is Ceramica Santana Sociadad Anonima, or Santana Insulators, Inc. With two manufacturing plants, both located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, it is the largest producer of porcelain insulators for electrical purposes in the Southern Hemisphere, and one of the biggest in the world, producing more that ten thousand different types of insulators for low, medium, high and extra-high voltage up to 800 kV. Santana's Electro-Mechanical Laboratory is equipped to perform tests according to A.B.N.T., ANSI, I.E.C. DIN and other internationally known standards. Established in 1941, the company has had 55 years of experience in production, development and service and is completely dedicated to research and quality. The Santana sales office is located in Miami, Florida. Their insulators are being used on power lines right here in Texas, as well as in other parts of the U.S. and Canada.

Much of this information, including copies of several pages from Santana's catalog, was sent to me by Mark Miner of Longmont, Colorado. After going through all of them again, I think I have found your insulator! According to the description you gave me, the style and dimensions on the enclosed drawing are a match.

Enclosed are photos of two Santana insulators in my own collection. On the small suspension type, 'Santana' appears in raised letters on the metal cap. You see it again in underglazed black ink along with the date '84' on the top ring of the porcelain body. The large pin type is a cemented two piece insulator with black radio treatment both on the crown and in the pin hole. It's tiny but perhaps you can make out 'Santana 88 - Brasil' underglazed in black ink on the top shell of this piece. I have recently acquired a near dead ringer (not shown) to this insulator except that it is made all in one piece and weighs considerably less. A very interesting variation! The trademark is underglazed in light blue ink on the bottom skirt and dated '1995 03', followed by the number '5015'.

As for books on foreign porcelain insulators and whether or not these styles will be assigned U-numbers or M-numbers, the Worldwide Porcelain Insulators books already include foreign unipart insulators with U-numbers. My co-author Jack Tod was always reluctant to include the foreign multiparts and felt that they should be a separate group for someone else to tackle. Elton Gish and I have had some discussion about these foreign multis and how to handle them, but no decisions have been made at this time. If they should be classified with style numbers, they will not be M-numbers but FM (Foreign Multipart) numbers. At the top of the list right now is the task of combining the two Worldwide Porcelain Insulators books into one updated volume. And it will be a fat one. I have a huge box full of drawings waiting to be assigned U-numbers! Please write again when you have questions.