Help w. Insualtor Collection

[RIBottleguy]

A friend of mine has about 500 insulators that I recently went through. Here are what I thought were the interesting ones. I know there is a lot but any info would be great! Thanks in advance.

1. A.T. & T. Co. (unusual style?)
2. New Eng. Tel. & Tel. Co. (backwards N)
3. Am. Tel & Tel Co. (on top) older looking than most ATTs
4. A.T. & T. Co.

1. Patented Oct. 8th 1907 (screw thread style on body)
2. W. Brookfield 45 Cliff St./ Pat. Nov. 13 1883, Feb. 12th 1884
3. W. Brookfield/ Pat. Nov. 13 1883, Feb. 12th 1884
4. Hawley Pa. USA

1. Pat'd Nov. 23 1886
2. embossed star
3. No. 38-20
4. G.E. Co. (really crude)
5. Lynchburg No. 38? Made In USA

1. F.M. Locke Victor NY Pat. May 22 1894
2. Locke Victor NY No. 14 Pat. May 22 1894
3. N.E.G.M. Co.

 

[BillinMo]

First photo, L to R:

AT&T - this is the bottom half of a two-piece transposition, CD 192. Here's a link to a photo of both pieces together: http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=339970634 It's not unusual to find only one half, and over the years I'm sure many got pressed into service as individual insulators as Bell dismantled lines and re-used salvaged insulators. Book price for a whole unit, both pieces, is 10-15 but keep in mind most collectors will only pay for an entire unit. As yours is, it looks like it might have some surface abrasion, so maybe a few bucks.

NET - CD 104. New England Tel used a lot of these telephone ponies so most don't sell for much, maybe a few dollars, but the backwards N is better, about 10-15.

Am Tel & Tel - CD 121 (last two). The crown embossed version is earlier, probably 1890s. Bell used these on local and long-distance lines ("long distance" in that time was usually between cities, not coast-to-coast as we think of it today). Crown embossed is in the book as 5-10.

Skirt embossed AT&T (not the more common AM TEL & TEL CO) books for 3-5, but I think that's a little high. I'd say one or two dollars.

Second photo:

These are all Western Union telegraph styles.

CD 147, Pat Oct 8, 1907. The spiral groove was supposed to make changing out a broken insulator an easier process. Jim (Botlguy) is THE world-leading authority on these so I'm sure he'll be happy to share a boatload of info.

The other three are CD 145, what most of us call a "beehive." Brookfield made millions of these for WU and other companies and even today they're pretty easy to find. Most crown embossed versions are a couple dollars at best, but look for unusual character in the glass, misspellings. There are a couple people who collect these by the crown shop number so they may be willing to pay more if you have something they're looking for.

The Hawley marked one comes from Harloe Glass Insulator Company in PA, early 1900s. Not as common as the Brookfield type, but not too exciting, either, so maybe 3-5 dollars.

 

[BillinMo]

Third Photo:

CD 187, duplex pony, also known as a Brown patent. The patent covers an insulator mounted on the underside of the crossarm using a "duplex" pin, as shown here: http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=76691301 Book price is 15-20.

CD 102 Star, telephone pony. General Electric marketed these, made for them by other companies. Generally they're pretty common, in the couple dollar range. Bryan (Brains) is much more into Stars than I am, so maybe he can share more.

CD 164, No 38-20. Probably an unmarked Gayner (maybe Lynchburg) product from 1920-1922. This style is typically used for secondary electrical service distribution, such as a service drop to a house. Book price is 3-5.

CD 134 GE. As you can guess, General Electric, and most believe these predate the Star marked insulators. I'm not familiar enough with these to tell from the photo, but a close inspection can show clues as to what manufacturer made these for GE. I believe most are Brookfield, and some of those have the T-H E Co blotout visible (for Thompson-Houston Electric, a GE predecessor). Most varieties book in the 5-10 range.

CD 164 Lynchburg 38. A few people left the Gayner company to form Lynchburg, taking the molds with them. Lynchburg produced insulators from 1923-1925. The whole Gayner and Lynchburg story is a bit of a messy story. I can provide some links if you want to read up on the whole thing. Smooth base is better than the sharp drip point version, about 5-10 in aqua.

 

[BillinMo]

Fourth photo:

I think that's a CD 287.1. It could be a 287 -- it's tough to tell from the photo angle. Does it rest on the innermost skirt, the middle skirt, or the outer skirt?

If it's a 287.1, Hemingray produced this for Fred Locke in the early days of his career.

Locke is one of the more interesting characters in insulator history. He began his business as a jobber, selling insulators and other line equipment, including glass insulators made to his specifications. He had a great interest in porcelain insulators and his factory in Victor became a center of porcelain insulator innovation a few years later. He seems to have been a bit obsessed with filing patents for just about anything he could think of -- sometimes a sound idea that worked well, other times a grossly impractical idea with no advantage, but I guess he really wanted that patent. His insulators often show markings for multiple patents, often irrelevant to the actual insulator. You have that here... the May 22, 1894 patent is for a telephone transposition. This is a power style, used for primary distribution at fairly high voltages (not high by today's standards, but about 10,000 volts according to the old catalogs).

CD 202 Locke, telephone transposition. This is the insulator actually related to the 1894 patent! Judging by the color, Brookfield produced this for Locke in the early 1900s, probably after 1904 when the board of directors forced Fred out of his own company (hence no FRED in the embossing). Book price is 5-10.

 

[BillinMo]

Whoops, forgot the last one. CD 162, NEGM, for New England Glass Manufacturing. They only appear in the Boston Directory in 1899 but it would seem they produced a ton of insulators in that short time. An aqua signal like this is listed for 3-5.