Pics for Kyle...

[JOETHECROW]

Kyle,....These are the two Brookfields I have w/ similar embossing,..I think I was mixing the two up in my head,...I regretably don't pay them as much attention as bottles,...The darker one I "pole picked" back in the day when they weren't all shot off....The lighter one I found while canoing in the local creek near the old road.
These are probably fairly common in the insulator world....This one has on reverse...(in arch) PATD NOV 13th 1883, then below that in a straight line FEB 12th 1884....

 

[JOETHECROW]

Lighter one...

 

[JOETHECROW]

Brookfield side....

Embossing...(In arch) "W. BROOKFIELD
55 FULTON ST.
N.Y.

 

[JOETHECROW]

ORIGINAL: JOETHECROW

Lighter one...

Please fill me in on the embossing over here.."CAUVET'S PAT. JULY 25 1865
PAT JAN 25 1870
PAT FEB 22 1870
So...who was Cauvet, and why was Brookfield using his patd?.... Thanks for looking . Joe

 

[nydigger]

Thats the same one I found yesterday. Except mine was also embossed E.R for the Erie Railroad. Even with the chunk out of it it will display well with the chunk facing backwards lol

 

[143Tallboy]

Joe: Cauvet was the fella that invented/patented the threading process for insulators in 1865. I'm guessing the patent was good for 10 years or so and any company that wanted to use threading on thier insulators would have had to pay a royalty. Brookfield had the Cauvet patent date on a bunch of their insulators.

Insulator nerd,
Chris

 

[BillinMo]

ORIGINAL: 143Tallboy

I'm guessing the patent was good for 10 years or so and any company that wanted to use threading on thier insulators would have had to pay a royalty. Brookfield had the Cauvet patent date on a bunch of their insulators.

US Patents are good for 17 years, not ten.

The Cauvet patent's considered a major event in insulator history, since it represents the change from threadless to threaded.

The problem with Cauvet's patent, though, was it describes the concept of threads, but didn't describe a practical way to produce them. That's why there are subsequent patents from others (like the December 19, 1871 Hemingray patent that turns up on lots of insulators), or the Jan 25, 1870 Homer Brooke patent (that's the second one on your piece, Joe). The third date, Feb 22, 1870, is a re-issue of the Cauvet patent, probably done because some lawyer forgot to word things a certain way.

The patent dates you see on the beehive were issued to Samuel Oakman. November 13, 1883 covers the inner skirt, and Feb 12, 1884 is the design patent for the beehive style. I find Oakman a fascinating character and I've been researching him for years.

 

[143Tallboy]

Yep, that's why I said "10 years or so", because I didn't know exactly.

I've been seriously collecting insulators for over 10 years. I'm Canadian and only collect Canadian glass, so I'm not as versed in American insulators. I'm also a member of NIA, CJOW subscriber and have been on ICON for over 10 years.

 

[Bixel]

Ya Joe, you dont have anything that you can retire on, but still some nice old pieces of glass! We dont really see either of those embossings up here in Canada as they seemed to be used primarily on US lines. We see a few of the smaller style, but very few. While they dont have much value, I still enjoy the history attached to old insulators.