Dear Jack: 

I thought I'd let you know of a couple of good ones I came up with a while back that I haven't heard about lately -- a couple of white U-274, 0. P. Co. 

I bought a fellow's extras, and he wanted me to evaluate his porcelain and tell him what they were and so forth. After about a year I made an offer to him, and he took it. Boy did I raise some eyes at the show in Maumee (Ohio). I've kept one and sold the duplicate. 

Just thought I'd let your readers know there's good ones to be found yet. 
Michael T. McLaughlin 
Warsaw, Indiana

Dear Jack: 

I recently traded for and bought three U-780 Lapp #588A insulators in white with blue markings. I haven't seen white Lapps before and wonder if they occur in other designs? Also, have you or any other collectors reported U-780's with Lapp marking? 

These evidently came out of an Illinois Power Company substation near or in the Galesburg, Illinois area. The two men I got these from were members of the same substation crew. 

I have located a line which had U-401's and U-401A's all installed (as regular cable insulators) without clamps. The line has been wrecked, and I think almost all of them have been dumped in a landfill. I was fortunate to secure one specimen of each, but no more. I have offers out to the linemen involved, but so far no other specimens have turned up. I guess that is why many insulators are so scarce!! 
Jim Woods 
Galesburg, Illinois

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Dear Jim: 

Yes, others also have U-780's with Lapp markings, but I can't recall having seen them in white before. These were a Lapp catalog item in the 1923-1928 period, and Pinco also made and cataloged the same general style.

Practically all the smaller pin types made by Lapp also came in white, and some styles were made in blue.

Lots of luck in trying to come up with some of the U-401 and U401A's -- still very scarce items. (When it comes down to U-401's in a landfill -- have backhoe, will travel!)

Some of these old Fay Clamp Insulators could still be in use somewhere as ordinary cable insulators, but we probably have little hope of ever coming across a batch with the clamping arrangements as originally sold.

Jack

Dear Jack:

I'm enclosing sketches of an unusual reversible wiring cleat we have with Sept. 1, 1891 patent date, and wonder if this one has been reported before. We also have an identical one but which is embossed "GEC 9172 / USA".

We also have this #69010 item which has one large, corrugated conductor groove such as one-wire cleats, but also the slot in each end. Would this be some form of one-wire cleat?

We are out of the winter deep freeze now and are both out looking for insulators. We've come across several other cleats which have manufacturer's markings we can't decipher, and maybe you can help on these.

One is a B & D No. 2 one-wire cleat (Pat. 8-13-95) with a Circle-K marking embossed on one corner of top surface.

Second is a B & D No. 2-1/2 one-wire cleat (Pat. 8-13-95) with a 'U. E. P." marking on the mating surface.

Lastly, a B & D No. 4 one-wire cleat with "O P CO", and would this be Ohio Porcelain Company?
Anthony & Emma Almeida
Shrewsbury, Mass.

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Dear Anthony & Emma: 

The G.E. #9172 is an unusual cleat. There were many of these in the old porcelain plant dumpage at Peru, Indiana, and I've also seen them in junk boxes at flea markets. Also unusual is the fact that the 9-1-91 patent date is incorrect on it, being for an entirely different cleat -- and which I have never seen yet. The correct patent is #518,301, April 17, 1894, Herbert C. Wirt (Boston), assignor to G.E. Co., also Boston (!). The small sketch above is from the patent drawing in the Official Gazette. 

Your G.E. #69010 item is part of a rack insulator arrangement, and I1ve shown at the right the drawing from the patent -- #678,042, July 9, 1901, Howard H. Sargent, Schenectady, assignor to G. E. Co., New York. As with similar Fletcher assemblies, it must have been quite a frustrating job to install these. 

Yes, the "O P CO" marking is for Ohio Porcelain Company. The Circle-K marking is for "Kan't tell you", and the "U. E. P." marking is for "Unsolved Embossing Puzzler". If you want to play the initial-matching game, you could try Union Electrical Porcelain Co., Trenton, N.J. (1959-current); before that it was Union Electrical Porcelain Works.

Jack

Dear Jack:

....Do you know if anything interesting has been written on porcelain strain insulators? I happen to collect these as a sideline and have about 120 different. Does anyone else out there happen to save these dudes, instead of throwing them away? 
Don Fiene, 
Knoxville

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Dear Don: 

You're just part of the crowd. I really don't know any porcelain buffs who don't also collect other line insulators such as strains, rack spools, wireholders, etc. Some even collect all types of line insulators -- arrestors, switch and bus items, etc. 

I think most of us collect just whatever specimens that appeal to us and which we bump into in our travels. Except for collectors specializing in insulators of certain manufacturers, you usually don't see collectors running want ads for specific strains and rack spools like you would for pin type insulators wanted. 

It's a bit more difficult to mail trade strains, since there is no style chart for them, the variety is rather large, and most of the early ones are No-Names. Modern and current strains are generally standardized for size and style, and all are generally marked with a company name. 

Some porcelain books have scattered material on strains, and we've run bits and pieces on them in CJ, but there hasn't ever been any concentrated material published on them. Guess we just never seem to get around to covering all fronts. Maybe someday?? 

Jack

Ih the Feb 1977 Crown Jewels I ran an ad to sell a set of Cross Arms magazines 1972-75. They went instantly on the first long distance call, and there were a couple of other calls and several letters (some with checks) wanting them. If anyone else has a set to sell, a CJ ad would bring instant results. Likewise, those wanting to buy a set should place a wanted ad in CJ (and I suggest '1write first" wording!).

SHORT CIRCUIT. I recently sold an insulator for $5 (plus postage), and thought I should rinse off the dust before packing it to mail I accidentelly dropped it in the sink. The porcelain insulator survived, and I mailed it. In the same outgoing mail was my order to Sears for a new sink -- only $43 (plus freight). Oh well, can't win 'em all.

Dear Jack: 

It's been awhile since I last wrote you and after reading The Porcelain Corner in the April '77 CJ (re "segmented" threads in certain porcelain styles), I rechecked a few of the insulators in my collection and made some discoveries I wasn't aware of. 

Last summer I found several insulators in an old power-house in the Telluride, Colorado area. They were grouted onto steel pins with sulfur which were, in turn, embedded in concrete. They had special fittings clamped onto then which allowed a steel rack to be bolted to the fittings. Apparently the old style "cone type" lightning arrestors sat on this rack. 

Nearly all these insulators had already been broken by someone, and with difficulty I removed the remaining unit by breaking the steel pin. I later managed to remove the broken pin, and much to my surprise I found that the threads were segmented into four parts. 

These insulators were similar in style to the U-958 but were single grooved instead of crosstops, and the crown groove was larger. I an convinced that all these similar styles were manufactured with segmented threads for a definite purpose. Just what that purpose was is still speculation. I do have one theory, so I'll try it out on you. 

It's been my experience in collecting insulators in this area that these insulator styles were used primarily in powerhouses, junctionhouses, etc. for special purposes -- as on lightning arrestor mountings, or on routing of heavy conductors throughout the building. 

Some of the components of these early devices had to be aligned with other parts, and ordinary insulators, even if grouted onto pins, could become loose and accidentally rotated out of proper orientation. However, if an insulator with the deformed ("segmented") threads is grouted onto a pin, there is no way it could be accidentally rotated. Similarly, all these pins I have seen grouted into the insulators are either oval in nature or have grooves to prevent slippage. 

In summary, it seems to me that it fits together that these particular styles mostly have segmented threads, and they were styles favored as "equipment insulators" which were grouted onto pins -- much the same as sanded-hole insulators are currently used.

I recently found another insulator that I don't think is listed yet, and I've enclosed a drawing of it. At first I thought it was your U-954A, but it is quite different. The glaze color is brown, and I think the style and glaze type indicate it is a Thomas product. One of the enclosed photos (taken in 1913) shows a dozen of these in use on a line above Telluride. Needless to say, they have all disappeared. 
Phil Loos, 
Durango, Colo.

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Dear Phil: 

I'm almost certain you are correct in that the fluting of the threaded pin holes in these certain styles was for the purpose you described, and possibly our readers will agree that this looks like you've found the logical answer to this long tine puzzler. 

I agree with you that the above glazeweld looks like a Thomas item, and how 'bout U-954B for it in the Style Chart?

Many thanks for sending the old photos from your collection for me to see, and I'm returning them per your request. They accurately record the construction detail in the powerhouses and lines in your area in the early days. Insulator detail shows clearly with a magnifier, but it wouldn't come out meaningfully if we printed them here.

Jack