Today at the Flea

[Robby Raccoon]

Howdy, Jim. Thanks for the answers. Left-most, darkest: "B" on dome, "B" on front, "1" or "l" on back. The "1" must be the bump you mention. Damaged base. Right-most, lightest: "G" on dome, "B" on front, "B" on back. Base. Why such interest in the left-most one? Clicking blue words will take you to more photos.

 

[botlguy]

The one on the left is a bit unusual, not as commonly seen. I have dozens of the single "B" and a few that have the "B" on both sides plus other variants. The letters (it could also have numbers) on the top are "Shop" numbers, shops were the group of workers, usually 3 to 5, that made the insulators. The number "1" is perhaps also a shop number, I'm not sure. It is one that I am not familiar with but there are thousands of these types of variations. It was a quality control thing.That said, that variation is not particularly rare or desirable so it's value is the same as many others "B" beehives, $3 - $5 for Light Aqua, $5 - $10 for Light Green Aqua or Blue Aqua. FYI, this particular piece has had Embossing Identification Number (EIN) [035] assigned to it by the insulator collecting fraternity. There are a total of 15 EIN for the "B" CD 145 alone. Jim

 

[Robby Raccoon]

I expected them to be common. Just some new additions to the collection until I likely off them (that sounds really bad, lol) next month. Thanks for the extra information, Jim. [] I hope that you've been doing well.

 

[Skylark]

Very nice insulators. I don't know a whole lot about them but telegraph one is interesting. It looks skinnier than similar ones I've seen. When I get to work tomorrow I will check the museum database and see if we have any similar telegraph insulators.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Brookfield had a very similar one. A. T. & T. and Hemingray worked on this one together. I was surprised that it was telegraph-only so late in the years of telegraphy. I think that this insulator's shape is awkward. I like it. Canada has a number of other insulator brands. A few made their way down to Michigan, so we know there was an international exchange (I find shards.) I'm not sure how popular Brookfield and Hemingray was up there before air-freight and diesel locomotives took off, but the proximity of our areas suggests that this type of insulator would be seen up there.

 

[CanadianBottles]

We've definitely got a lot of Hemingray and Brookfield insulators up here. The only glass insulator I've ever found intact in the wild was a B.T.C. Canada insulator, but I've found a melted Brookfield. I have a hard time finding them in the wild as well, unless you count all the ones I've seen on standing telegraph poles and on top of houses that are out of reach (and in the case of the houses, probably still in use).

 

[Robby Raccoon]

LOL, yes. I want to climb the poles, but that'd be stealing them. So I just look after Winter for downed poles due to wind and snow-weight. I found a Dominion insulator's shards here. I think that Dominion was Canadian?

 

[CanadianBottles]

I'm not sure if it would qualify as stealing or not when the poles are obviously abandoned and unwanted. I think that legally speaking it's the same whether they're standing or falling down, which is probably that they could technically prosecute you, but almost definitely wouldn't, except you'd risk getting charged with trespassing. I tend to avoid walking on railroads for that reason. Climbing the poles can also be pretty dangerous, as they're often rotten and can fall on top of you. I think the people who seriously get insulators form poles use fruit picker-style contraptions to do it from the ground. I've never seen an insulator on a pole good enough to go after up close anyway, only from the window of a train (and even then I can't tell what they are, just that they're old). Yes Dominion was Canadian, it's basically the Hemingray of Canada, only with fewer nice colours. There are millions upon millions of them out there and very few of them are particularly interesting.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

It is railroad property though as it's on their land. If I saw something not in clear and wasn't a Hemingray 45 on a pole, I'd be very tempted to try and obtain it. There is one pole that I'm just waiting to fall down. It's in another town that I often go to. It has something other than a Hemingray 45-- looks like one of the smaller May 2nd types.Now if the poles were alone in the woods with downed lines, I'd definitely go after them. The woods around here contain everything from the top half to a 1940s bus to the ruins of homes to a pond with a ring of 1940s-style refrigerator parts around it. The Dominion shards were in clear. It had fallen from a pole and smashed onto the rock bed alongside the rails.

 

[CanadianBottles]

Yeah that's what I'm saying, it's on their land whether or not the poles fall down. But yeah whether it's in an urban area versus the middle of the woods makes a huge difference. Around here there's a line that runs through the suburbs where they put another rail line in next to the original one, half-burying the poles. I'm pretty sure they're low enough that I could just walk up to them and unscrew them, but it's a high-use line and fenced off, so I've never gone to try to get any of them. Those poles around there also have hundreds of turn of the century insulators like the ones you posted still on them (higher up, out of reach), which is the only place I've ever seen that. I doubt there are any really good ones left but I'm always a bit tempted to go take a look. But then I decide that I don't feel like getting arrested for trespassing, so I don't. And yep, those Dominions are almost always clear. They didn't come in that nice blue that Hemingray and Brookfield made, as far as I know. You can sometimes see them in that light aqua that you see on old bottles, but not that often and those ones are newer.