Dear Jack:

Enclosed is a sketch (below) of an insulator we found, and we wondered if anyone else has reported this before. Also we would appreciate any information regarding the markings on it, etc.                               
Anthony & Emma Almeida, 
Shrewsbury, MA

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These insulators are pictured in Cranfill's "Dictionary of ..." and are listed as Gem Wire Holders. The listing indicates they were also made with split glass bushings instead of porcelain. (see Cranfill, page 36)

The patent involved is #368,284 of August 16, 1887, so the August 18 on your specimen is an error. The Fletcher is for John R. Fletcher, the inventor and also the sole owner of the (J. R.) Fletcher Mfg. Co., 302 Canal St., Dayton, Ohio originally. He sold all forms of pole line hardware in more later years and had many patents on specialized insulators of various types.

I think most collectors would feel that any very early insulators such as this are "goodies".

Jack

Dear Jack:

... Also, I recently bought a brown U-388 at our local Goodwill store. It was a real bargain (I hope!) at only $.79! The thing that puzzles me is a prominently incuse-marked N on its crown. Any info on this one would be appreciated.

In your book, you show the markings on the P.P., Inc. dry process ponies and exchanges. I have a U-56 exchange with the embossed marking around the crown and, although I'm not 100% sure, this exchange looks like it's wet process! It has no mold line and it just looks like a wet process item. Is there any sure way to tell the difference between wet and dry process insulators?
Mark Willke, NIA #916 
Silverton, Oregon

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Dear Mark:

Your U-388 with the "N" is a new report, and your foil of the marking shows the N to be from the same type font as the "S" found on other Thomas U-388's found in your area. They could be trimmer operator identification marks, but we'll probably never know. I wouldn't be surprised if other letters show up on these in the future.

The very heavy chocolate brown glaze on those P.P., Inc. ponies covers up traces of any mold lines, but if you get them in the light just right, you can see an irregularity where the mold line was, especially in the wire grooves. The mold lines only go to the start of the crown curve and not over the top.

You are so right that some items such as these do look like wet process insulators. The difference is that they are good quality dry press, not grainy as with many poorly made ones. On such well made items, the only foolproof way to tell if they are wet or dry process is to section them with a lapidary saw, polish the surface and examine it with a high degree of magnification. The great majority of dry press insulators do exhibit graininess on the unglazed surface, especially when viewed with a magnifying glass.

Jack

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE

Correction. UPS advised me that, due to restrictions in their I.C.C. charter, they cannot transport any First Class matter in competition with the Postal Service. Items such as invoices may be placed in the parcels, but no "letters". Letters may be taped to the outside of the parcel if a $.13 stamp is affixed. More on UPS below:

Dear Jack:

UPS at Denver tells us that any article which cannot be replaced is uninsurable. This includes antiques. So unless rules are different at different locations, collectors should be warned about this.

I suppose that if one told them you were sending insulators, they would not realize what they really were, but you might have quite a time collecting on a claim. Maybe HEM-42's would go, for they sure are replaceable.
Gerald Brown, 
Two Buttes, Colo.

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I querried the Phoenix UPS office about insurability in detail, repeatedly and emphatically. They just as repeatedly and emphatically gave the following answer.

The item is insurable if, upon loss or damage, there is a basis for establishing the value of the item. Naturally this is possible if there is an invoice (sale vs. trade) or if the shipper can produce catalogs or the like showing a recognized valuation. The value of nearly all porcelain or glass pin types can be established in one way or another.

If you sell some oddball wiring cleat to someone for $5, there's no problem because there is an invoice for that amount. If you send it on a swap for some other oddball, you may have a claim problem since the oddball isn't listed as a priced item in catalogs. If you swapped it for a $5 pin type that is in a priced catalog, and you have the letter showing the swap, then that should establish the value as $5.

I know from experience that Gerald's comments are true to the extent that if you even mention the term "antiques" they won't insure insulators or anything else. You can instead tell them that they are insulators with an established catalog valuation, or that they are insulators sold on an order and that an invoice is included within the parcel.

Admittedly you're going to get static at some UPS counters due to that clerk's interpretation of the "replaceable" and "antique" parts in their rules (and this has happened to me). One alternative is to just pack well and give them a declared value of "zero" on the ticket. Another alternative is to ship by Parcel Post or some other method.

We have had a criticism from one reader that the tone of the description of UPS. made it sound like a free ad for them. Well, I guess it might be construed that way. If we find a TV repair shop an the other side of town which can do a better job at fair prices, should we also keep that a dark secret or should we tell our neighbors so they can also give that business a try? And if we can't inform subscribers of a shipper that might work better for them, then let's also quit publishing the tradenames of oils, glues, acids etc. that work best to restore or beautify our specimens.

Assuming your parcels are packed well, and that the higher rates are tolerable, the only remaining fault of the U.S. Postal Service is the occasional excessive slowness in delivery. Delivery can be satisfactory at times, and even being spectacularly fast in instances, such as when parcels are flown in pre-Christmas mailings. The Parcel Post also has the advantage that mailing stations are usually much closer than UPS parcel counters. I send nearly all my Parcels by Parcel Post because it's only a one mile trip vs. a seven mile trip to the nearest UPS counter. My parcels are packed well, and I do not insure them.

The U.P.S. description was given so readers could consider it as another shipping method which might be advantageous to them for any one of various reasons.

The insulator here was first reported in Crown Jewels, Nov. 1975, page 33, and with updated info April 1976, page 16.

At that time, we were very curious about the large pin hole and the reason for the groove inside the pin hole.

In the first writeup of this item., we even used the term "threadless" in connection with it, for all reasons, because it didn't have threads, and I had considered adding this item to the Universal Style Chart as U-975.

Recently when I was going through my card file of insulator patents looking for something else, I came upon the one shown below which may fit this insulator.

Without going into detail, the patent does appear to fit this insulator specimen. I wrote to Doug Henderson (Canada), who has this item and reported it to us, and asked if he might be able to find some connection between Booker and the party in whose estate the insulator was found.

If the insulator does fit this 1904 patent for a special insulator, it naturally isn't a "threadless" per se, Also it is apparently of Canadian origin, and the specimen may have been only a patent model or a sample of something that was never put into production, especially so because none have ever been found in the field by collectors. For these reasons I have decided it shouldn't be included in the Universal Style Chart which is restricted to U.S. insulators.

The fact that this insulator is not a "threadless" per se does not diminish its importance or value as a new find, nor its desirability as a collector item. Any specimen relating to patents for specialized pin types are very desirable.

We have been carrying this marking on the unattributed list for some time, and it is seen on various standard porcelain items, usually #334 type wiring cleats.

As one step above the game of "initial matching", I believe this is Akron High-Potential Porcelain Company, Barberton, Ohio (suburb of Akron). In the circa-1903 Akron H-P catalog they show the name "H P. Co." on each of the insulator cuts, including, all the pin types, and they label items in the form "H P. Transposition Insulator" and the like -- inferring they used the initials as a pseudonym, one which could have originated from its convenient use on standard porcelain dies.

Akron H-P was formed about 1900 for the manufacture of general ceramic products but soon thereafter was reorganized by another group as Akron High-Potential Porcelain Company for the manufacture of standard porcelain by the dry process. Soon thereafter (most probably 1903) they commenced manufacture of wet process porcelain insulators, including a complete line of pin types. Ohio Brass Co. took Akron's output and ended up owning the company by outright purchase in August 1910.

Since standard porcelain items with the H. P. Co. marking are relatively scarce, it appears Akron H-P abruptly dropped dry press manufacture when they became involved with O-B in the manufacture of wet process pin types.

Dear Jack:

A friend of mine is going over to the Holy Land next month, and I was wondering if you could tell us what kind of insulators they have and what shapes they may look like! Also do you have any idea where he can find any? I guess we are feeling in the dark but any help you give us will be sincerely appreciated.
Clyde Turrell, 
Hawkinsville, Ga.

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Dear Clyde:

I don't know what insulator types are used in the Holy Land, but they might be mostly porcelains. Anything in use there would be good collector item over here.

My suggestion is to go to any telephone company or electric utility that he can locate. Insulator collecting is almost exclusively a U.S. and Canadian fad, and workers or companies there would be so intrigued with the novelty of anyone wanting to make a collection of insulators that they would probably bend over backwards to accommodate by giving or selling specimens of anything they have on hand. As your friend departs with his box of goodies, he'll probably hear in the background some conversation that starts out with the sentence, "That guy must be nuts...."

If he did buy any insulators at a utility company or elsewhere, it might be wise to get a receipt for use when coming back through customs.

Jack

Dear Jack:

I recently acquired a porcelain SURGE insulator which is identical with the patent drawing in CJ, but it has a different marking from the one reported in the Nov. 1971 CJ column. It is white and has an unglazed base rim and pin mounting slot. Any info on this one other than what has already been printed in CJ would be appreciated. Still scarce? Desirability? Value?
Randy Puchalski, 
Chicago

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Dear Randy:

Nope, no further information. I would think these SURGE electric fence insulators in porcelain are indeed desirable, just as the glass counterparts are. Whereas the glass ones are rather abundant, the porcelain ones must be rare, since we've had only one each of the various porcelain ones reported thus far. I've never seen one in the flesh. It's futile for me to hazard a guess as to value on such items that have not been bought or sold in insulator circles as yet.

(For related information see: Crown Jewels, Jan 1975, a related SURGE porcelain; CJ, Feb 1975, two Surge design patents; CJ, April 1975, letters patent 2,311,779 on the above Surge insulator.)

Jack

Dear Jack:

I recently ran across an insulator which has puzzled me for some time now and thought I should write to you for further information.

It is a brown colour and has no apparent unglazed firing surfaces (stool fired). I have sketched (above) the marking which appears on one crown ear. Could you help me determine which company produced this insulator, and furnish any information as to its rarity?
Jim McLeod, 7 Flanders Dr. S.W. 
Calgary, Alberta T2T 5K9, Canada

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Dear Jim:

The marking on your insulator Sim U-506 is similar to ones I've seen on other insulators but, even if I was told at the time what country or what company it was, I can't recall it now. Readers please help us out on this one?

I rather think this cable style is very modern, if not current or nearly so. Readers, help here too?

Jack