Oddity "AM. TEL & TEL CO." insulator?

[MuddyMO]

Spirit,
Yours has a shop number or mold number on dome. There are many x's and number configurations. XO is common to see on these. Yours is referred to as smooth base. Never seen the breakdown you posted before.

Undoubtedly a Brookfield product. Like you found, many 121 types. Duquesne have 4 ribs on the lower wire groove. Pleated skirts are found here in Missouri to Kansas. There are so many AM. TEL. & TEL. variations. AT&T is the shortened version.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Thanks.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Base:

 

[iggyworf]

Bear have you ever checked out this site? Lots of cool info on insulators. http://glassian.org/index.html

 

[Robby Raccoon]

I'm not seeing how it pertains to me.... sorry..

 

[iggyworf]

Just cool stuff on insulators.

 

[BillinMo]

Yep, agree with the others that this is a Brookfield product. They produced these tolls for AT&T by the zillions. There's no way to be 100% sure, but I'd guess that at some point the mold was being used by one shop, say 11, then later shop 8 re-used the mold. Of course, it could be 8 had it first, then 11. Superimposed shop numbers aren't unusual in older Brookfields.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

".... Brookfield sometimes marked the insulators...." and "....thus leading me to believe it is Brookfield or another."
I was the first to suggest it is Brookfield.

I'm not trying to be rude, but it is lately becoming more and more probable that people avoid reading Everything. This leads the original writer to think about that.... I can give plenty of examples. Basically, it's retelling information as if the one who originally told it hadn't known. I'm not sure how that comes off to you all... but it's an observation that leads me to believe people skim-- or skip-- before doing research on their own/responding. I am assuming everyone looked at that I gave Hemingray sources, but Brookfield I stated a few times. Just a thought. My issue is that I can't not analyze items and people. You're saying the shop wouldn't try and work-out the old shop's number?Why is there a pair of loops in the 8 forming almost an X? Thanks for the responses, all. As of late, that's only happening on half my threads that I don't ask for responses directly.

 

[BillinMo]

".... Brookfield sometimes marked the insulators...." and "....thus leading me to believe it is Brookfield or another."
I was the first to suggest it is Brookfield.

Yes, you were. You received several confirmations of that suggestion. Is that a problem?

You're saying the shop wouldn't try and work-out the old shop's number?Why is there a pair of loops in the 8 forming almost an X?

Good question. The only way to really know for certain is to ask the guy who marked the mold… and I’m sure he’s passed on a long time ago. My guess: I’m sure the goal was to get the mold ready for production as quickly as possible, so precise, tidy shop numbers probably weren’t given a lot of time or priority. For blot-outs on insulators, we have lots of examples where you can look at two insulators from the same mold: on one, a blot-out is just about complete and you’d have to look closely to even detect it. On the other, the blotted embossing is clearly visible. Some people believe the material used to fill in the old numbers or letters worked its way out over time as they used the mold again and again. Another possibility - we know that most of Brookfield’s later products don’t have shop numbers, so from that we assume they stopped using them. But it’s entirely possible they just kept using the older molds and because the shop numbers weren’t of any consequence, they didn’t worry about how clear they were or how strange they may look. It's really tough for us today to look at an insulator and figure out what was an intentional marking and what was a stray tool mark that resulted in something that looks like embossing. We also often see "ghost" embossing, where molten glass squirmed around in the mold and picked up letter impressions that ended up elsewhere on the insulator. Combine those three possibilities, and you can end up with some pretty strange markings.

 

[BillinMo]

Regarding your other paragraph, I was hesitant to really say something, but I'll just offer this. I hope you understand what I mean. Internet group discussion means conversations are open to everyone. Chances are probably far greater than 50% that any given thread will drift a ways from the original post or topic. I’ve never been part of a forum or discussion group that didn’t engage in that. People like to post all sorts of random stuff, questions about sideline issues, who knows what. It can be frustrating, but attempting to control it will be an exercise in futility. It’ll be less painful to beat your forehead against the pavement. Please don’t take every response personally, even if you started a thread. Many times I’ve posted very elementary information not because the original poster asked for it, but because I feel this forum is about sharing and education. Anything posted here is open for everyone to read, and many (most?) of those readers may not know that basic background information. I’m sorry if that bothers you, or perhaps might come across as talking past you and not with you.