From time to time various insulator companies have been written about, but no one has really researched the Maydwell line. Ten years ago these insulators were somewhat easy to acquire on the West Coast, but no more. In southern California they were common on fire alarm circuits and secondary power construction.

Mr. Woodward tells us that Maydwell and Hartzell were distributors for electrical goods. They still are, and have offices in Los Angeles and Brisbane, which is near San Francisco.

What really motivated me to write this article was trying to order date nails. I am employed by General Telephone in southern California, and was going through the company catalog to order date nails for my truck. The supply catalog advised to order the date nails from Maydwell and Hartzell in Los Angeles. Well, if they're still in business, maybe, just maybe they have an old catalog kicking around.... No such luck. I received a letter from Mr. Jordan, Vice-President of operations in Brisbane. His letter stated, "Dear Mr. Wise, I am sorry to advise you that we have no literature on Maydwell Glass Pin Type insulators. I joined the company in 1948. and even then they were ancient history." Well, so much for that. Let's take a look at the Maydwell line.

Maydwell made a pony, a baby signal, exchange, two signals, a large double petticoat, three different tolls, a saddle groove power piece, and maybe (though I'm not convinced yet) a CD 206 castle, Maydwell insulators use the same number system (styles) as employed by Hemingray. Without a doubt, the milkglass number 20 is the most common Maydwell. They can still be seen in use in unnumbered hundreds in the Whittier and Pomona areas of southern California. I have seen numerous poles with three to the pole. I personally feel that the Maydwell 10 is the most difficult to find, with the exception of the castle, which I'll cover later. I have never seen Maydwell 19's in use on anything other than railroad circuits. There are three distinct Maydwell tolls. One is embossed "Maydwell 16W" I can only surmise that the "W" has something to do with the wire groove, as it is not as pronounced as the other two Maydwell 16's. The other two varieties have a wire ridge extended further out from the body of the insulator, On one variety this ridge extends straight out, and on the other it curves out The Maydwell 20 milkglass series has one interesting feature. It is found only on the variety with the large round drip points. On the reverse side under U.S.A. can be found what I believe to be a mold number. I have found these numbers from 1 to 7. 

Maydwell insulators, with the exception of the milkglass variety, are observed in off-clear colors. The Maydwell 62's seem to offer the greatest variety of coloring in an interesting S.C.A., a light green tint, deep straw. I have one Maydwell 9 with a large content of milkglass, and assume it was poured immediately after pouring a batch of Maydwell 20's.

Let's cover the CD 206 castle, which has been observed in the straw color. Here are two theories. First, I have read articles attributing this insulator to Maydwell because of the grill marks seen on the bottom of some of the castles. I have some milkglass that have this marking on them. However, I also have some McLaughlins with these same markings. Second, we know that when McLaughlin insulators were forced to an end, Maydwell and Hartzell were left without a manufacturer of insulators. When Maydwell made an arrangement to have insulators manufactured for them, a number of old McLaughlin molds were purchased. A great deal of trouble was expended in changing the McLaughlin molds to read simply "Maydwell". I currently have a Maydwell 9, 16, 19, 20, and 62 whereupon McLaughlin can be seen blocked out. Now the castle has never been observed embossed, so it seems unlikely that Maydwell would have gone to the trouble to change all the other molds, when it would have been quite simple to add the word "Maydwell" to an already unembossed mold. This is only my theory, and we will probably never know for sure.

If anyone has anything else to offer, I would be greatly interested in hearing from you.

John L. Wise
17800 E. Colima #824
Rowland Heights, CA 91748