This was my first National display since 1996. Titled "Undercover Hemingrays", this was essentially a rebranding of my 2005 Cayucos Show display, which focused on insulators manufactured by Hemingray that aren't actually embossed "Hemingray" or "H.G.CO.". Since my 2005 display, I had acquired a couple dozen additional pieces, which required me to add a second display cabinet for spools and wall tubes. I was very grateful to win the First Place award for the Specialty category!
Undercover Hemingrays
At first glance, this may look like just your average display of Hemingray insulators. But look again! Not a single insulator here bears the iconic name “Hemingray” or even “H.G.Co.” Did you know that out of 170+ CDs attributed to Hemingray, only about 60% of them identify their manufacturer by name?
Flash back to the year 1871—December 19th, to be exact. On this day, Robert Hemingray was granted a patent for a glass insulator molding technique (U.S. Patent No. 122,015). Almost all of Hemingray’s earliest pieces are solely embossed with this patent date. Hemingray also manufactured insulators for A.U., B&O, Chambers, Seilers, T-H.E.Co., W.E.Mfg.Co., and W.U.
In the 1880s, Hemingray began embossing their insulators with “H.G.Co.” During this time period, they also manufactured insulators for other companies as well: F.M. Locke & Co., New Eng. Tel. &Tel. Co., S.S.&Co., and S.B.T.&T.Co. are some notable examples.
1893 was another significant year for Hemingray: on May 2nd, Ralph G. Hemingray and James C. Gill were awarded the patent for drip points (U.S. Patent No. 496,652). Hemingray began embossing virtually all of their drip-pointed products with the May 2, 1893 patent date. Beginning in the 1900s, Hemingray used stamped lettering, making embossed products easily recognizable from this point on. In the case of styles that were produced by both Hemingray and Brookfield, such as the CD 121 Am.Tel.&Tel.Co. and CD 147, the embossing style will give away a Hemingray every single time.
In 1933, Hemingray became a division of Owens-Illinois. Consequently, any insulator bearing the Owens-Illinois logo was manufactured by Hemingray. In the 1940s, Hemingray produced a line of insulators bearing the “Lowex” trademark, which stood for Low Expansion—Low Expense, a reference to a new type of glass being used. The trademark appeared on several Hemingray-embossed styles, but also appeared on its own. And finally, in the 1950s, Owens-Illinois’ Kimble line of power insulators was manufactured at the Hemingray plant in Muncie, Indiana.
Despite all this talk of embossings, many insulators manufactured by Hemingray were never embossed at all! For example, the majority of Hemingray’s break knob spools and floor/wall tube insulators were never embossed, despite catalog drawings showing the contrary. There are also many Hemingray insulators considered to be “no names” due to an engraving error. For instance, the CD 154 No Name in which “Made in U.S.A.” appears on both sides of the insulator. These types of embossings are often quite scarce and demand a premium over their correctly-embossed brethren.
Put all of these insulators together, and you have quite a wide variety of styles manufactured by Hemingray from the 1870s to the 1950s that never even mentioned the glass company that produced them. These are the Undercover Hemingrays.
| MAIN DISPLAY CASE: | ||
| Row 1 CD 124 Dec. Pat. 124.2 Dec. Pat. 124.3 Dec. Pat. 127.1 No Embossing 126.4 W.E.Mfg.Co. 125 W.U. [060] 126.3 A.U. 116 A.U. 121.4 A.U. 134 Dec. Pat. 106 Patent-Other 120 Dec. Pat. |
Row 2 145 No Name [010] 131.4 No Embossing 136 B&O [040] 132 Dec. Pat. 132.4 Dec. Pat. 317.5 Chambers 133 Dec. Pat. 133.1 Dec. Pat. 134 T-H.E.Co. [010] 133.4 Dec. Pat. |
Row 3 185 Mine Insulator 1090 No Embossing 185 Jeffrey Mfg. Co. 122 No Embossing 142 No Name 118 No Embossing 142.4 No Embossing 147 No Embossing 144 No Embossing * 210 Postal [030] * |
| Row 4 162 No Name [030] 121 Am.Tel.&Tel.Co. 167 Owens-Illinois 162 No Name [020] 113 No Embossing 257 Patent-Other 112 S.B.T.&T.Co. [010] 104 N.E.T.&T.Co. [075] 162 S.S.&Co. 160 S.S.&Co. 133 No Emb. [020] |
Row 5 190/191 Am.Tel.&Tel.Co. 137.5 No Embossing Bushing No Embossing 219 No Embossing * 1052 No Name 1052 No Embossing 1052 St.Louis Malleable 154 No Name 100 Surge 100.6 No Embossing 190/191 Two Piece Tran. |
Row 6 230 No Name 230 Lowex 231 Kimble 239 Kimble 231.2 Kimble 216 Lowex 287.1 F.M.Locke {Tall} TABLE, Left Side: 283 V.G.Converse 304/310 No Embossing 317 Chambers |
| SMALL DISPLAY CASE: | ||
| Row 1 CD 1073 S.B.T.&T.Co. 1110 B.E.L.Co. [005] * 1106 No Embossing 1104 No Embossing |
Row 2 1087 No Embossing 1104.1 No Embossing 1094 No Embossing 1080 No Embossing 1080 The E.S.G.&Co. 1085 No Embossing |
Row 3 1049 Owens-Illinois 1053 No Name 1045 No Embossing 1032 Owens-Illinois 1085 S.B.T.&T.Co. |
| Row 4 24 National Battery Co. 1140 No Embossing 1138 No Embossing 24 US Light & Heating |
Row 5 No.132 Floor Tube No.124 Floor Tube No.122 Floor Tube |
Row 6 No.130 Floor Tube No.129 Floor Tube No.126 Floor Tube * Suspected but unconfirmed |
