Yellow-Colored Californias (Fake or Real)
by Dora Harned

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 1970, page 29 


From Southern California we have word the yellow Californias are being turned yellow from S. C. A. (Sun colored amethyst) Californias through a heating and cooling process in a kiln. For many of us this warning comes too late, but perhaps we can save others from paying too high a price for a beautiful yellow insulator that was once purple and not worth near the price that is being asked for the yellows.

We are sorry to see this happen, but I guess we all knew it was bound to happen someday as our hobby became bigger and bigger and the demand for different insulators increased. It seems that there is always some unscrupulous person or persons with big ideas waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting. Not only collectors, but some dealers have fallen victim to these yellows and have paid a pretty price for them for resale. This is truly a shame, since it may cause many hard feelings against people who are quite innocent of deceit. Still, no matter what, we feel we have to expose this matter of yellow Californias in the interest of keeping our hobby as clean as we can.

There is still, however, one question in our mind. Are all the yellow Californias fake, or are some a natural turned yellow glass? It was our understanding that some of the California helmets were found in the tops (under the roof) of long sheds where the sunlight never penetrated and that these were yellow instead of purple. Another story was that some of the yellow helmets were found in an abandoned sub-station. Perhaps the sunlight never reached these, either. From our own personal experience with the California helmets that we had, which were about the dirtiest insulators I have ever had to clean, there was approximately one inch of soot built up around the bottom of the insulator and when it was scraped and cleaned off, the bottom part was a light yellow, while the ears were purple. There are still many unanswered questions in our minds. Will these yellows turn back purple if exposed to strong ultraviolet rays? What advantage is there in turning a helmet yellow when they sell or trade for approximately the same price? You would be taking a chance on breaking a hundred dollar or over insulator  just to turn it yellow to sell or trade at approximately the same price a S. C. A. brings. Or have I been missing something?

The ten and twenty dollar purple Californias turned yellow are selling for over a hundred dollars or more. A few have sold for over two hundred dollars. Yet I received a letter from a lady in Portland, Oregon, who wrote to say she bought a yellow CD 112 at a sale for $2.00. Any California insulator for $2.00 in any color is a bargain. A few days ago a very honest and reputable collector friend stopped by and told us about a friend of his finding a light yellow C. G. I. on a tree a few miles from our house. (Darn, how did Don and I miss that? Guess we were looking too far afield.) Now the big question. If there are natural yellow glass Californias and fake yellow glass California insulators, how are the collectors to tell the difference? It seems to me, the price is higher on the fakes, and this is just a suggestion, but I would think twice before buying or trading for a lemon yellow California with an outlandish price tag on it.