Is This A Fake/Altered Insulator?

[willong]

Thanks for the article! Yeah same, I only thought you could get two colours through irradiation. And I had heard references to it being reversible, but was never sure how true that was. I never would have imagined that it would reverse on its own, I guess that's probably because of the sun heating it enough to slowly undo the changes?

"...I guess that's probably because of the sun heating it enough to slowly undo the changes?"

That would be my guess, though I wonder if the color would revert even if irradiated glass was stored in a dark, cool place?

I had read about the color reversal process years ago. At the time, I got the impression that significant temperature (on the order of several hundred degrees) was required, but I can't say that I actually recall specifics.

Perhaps some physicist or chemist among the ranks visiting this forum will elucidate for us.

 

[DavidW]

As others have said, your piece was definitely irradiated to make it a very dark purple. It could have originally been in any of several light bluish, aqua or very light lavender shades to begin with (Yes this is confusing because some insulators DO come in those very dark purple shades - especially lots of Canadian insulators such as CD 102 Diamond ponies).

I was looking in the price guide to see what colors are known in the CD 121 type marked "W. F. G. CO. / DENVER COLO" (and the rear skirt has a "16" embossed).

I don't have the latest price guide and won't go into values, but that style of insulator is seen in: aqua, ice aqua, steel aqua, blue aqua, steel blue, steel gray, off clear, light lavender, purple tint, clear, delft blue, cornflower blue, straw, dark lavender, green, dark green, a few others. But NO very dark, deep or "Royal" purple.

Your insulator appears to have a very faint tinge of blue in the dark purple color which can indicate it was nuked.

 

[dario]

Usually that deep shade of purple is the result of treating century-old clear glass with UV rays to speed up the colour-changing process that occurs naturally when glass containing manganese is exposed to sunlight. In the case of insulators though, I suspect that shade of purple will happen naturally after sitting on a pole for long enough. I've seen glass which has naturally turned about half that purple from sitting on the ground for decades in places which are covered by snow half the year. I suspect that you would get that shade of purple if an insulator from that era sat on the pole in full sunlight for a century or so. I can't be certain though because I've never seen a purple insulator still on the pole and never seen any photos of one in situ that I can remember, but these ones sure show up in this deep shade of purple a lot, far more than bottles of the same era do. I wouldn't assume that an insulator of that era in this shade has been altered.

That is a CD 121 R. GOOD JR. / DENVER, COLO with a 16 on the back. They do come in royal purple. It is hard to judge color on a computer, but it looks real to me. The fake ones are a little darker and a bit browner/smokey yet still dark purple. It looks legit to me. If it is, it books for $250 to $300 in VNM to Mint condition. NICE PIECE!!!! Dario. Feel free to email me pics and I may be able to help more. I may also be interested in it if you decide to sell it. Dario dario@dariodesigns.com

 

[DavidW]

That is a CD 121 R. GOOD JR. / DENVER, COLO with a 16 on the back. They do come in royal purple. It is hard to judge color on a computer, but it looks real to me. The fake ones are a little darker and a bit browner/smokey yet still dark purple. It looks legit to me. If it is, it books for $250 to $300 in VNM to Mint condition. NICE PIECE!!!! Dario. Feel free to email me pics and I may be able to help more. I may also be interested in it if you decide to sell it. Dario dario@dariodesigns.com

Hi Dario, um, that's not a GOOD insulator. It's a W F G. CO. Not the same thing.

 

[Dan Riley]

Insulators come in the same varieties as people, some are old and faded and some are just fake. , keep the ones you like and discard the others!

 

[Lbrewer42]

I have done irradiation work/research for the National Insulator Association and once gave a seminar on irradiated insulators. I have handled many and reverted many to their original color through a couple different means.

Typically if an insulator turns purple fro gamma radiation it will be a blue purple in color as opposed to a red purple (such as the insulators in the hobby we know are natural and we call royal purple).

Another sign of an irradiated insulator is that when looking up through the pinhole, the color of the glass does not bass through the base of the skirt well but looks very dark.

Being familiar with having handled a lot of irradiated insulators, yours does, in the pictures provided, appear to have been irradiated. Sit it in the sun and it should revert. Sometimes the reversion is not to the original color, but most times it is. Even if it does revert to an aqua, sometimes it can take a year of exposure to turn back to the exact aqua it was.

Please also note that pictures of insulator colors can be deceiving. But there is no dark purple listed for this CD121

 

[Roy]

I have done irradiation work/research for the National Insulator Association and once gave a seminar on irradiated insulators. I have handled many and reverted many to their original color through a couple different means.

Typically if an insulator turns purple fro gamma radiation it will be a blue purple in color as opposed to a red purple (such as the insulators in the hobby we know are natural and we call royal purple).

Another sign of an irradiated insulator is that when looking up through the pinhole, the color of the glass does not bass through the base of the skirt well but looks very dark.

Being familiar with having handled a lot of irradiated insulators, yours does, in the pictures provided, appear to have been irradiated. Sit it in the sun and it should revert. Sometimes the reversion is not to the original color, but most times it is. Even if it does revert to an aqua, sometimes it can take a year of exposure to turn back to the exact aqua it was.

Please also note that pictures of insulator colors can be deceiving. But there is no dark purple listed for this CD121

Lbrewer42
Thank you. I don't collect insulators, just
bottles, but it always bothers me when someone has irradiated either one.

I'm wondering if most bottles that have been irradiated would also revert back to their original color simply by leaving them in the sun for a year. Roy

 

[Lbrewer42]

I would guess they would change back, but have never done it myself. Since the insulators I experimented were green glass and predate WWI, I would assume bottles of that era should also change back. Most insulators would turn a brownish-yuck-olive color.

 

[Roy]

I would guess they would change back, but have never done it myself. Since the insulators I experimented were green glass and predate WWI, I would assume bottles of that era should also change back. Most insulators would turn a brownish-yuck-olive color.

I generally don't even give the irradiated bottles a second glance but next time I run across an interesting one,I might buy it just to put it in the sun and see if it changes back to it's original color.
Roy

 

[Lbrewer42]

Please post here so we can all benefit from the knowledge! If I was still doing insulators I would post before and after.