IOTW CD 151
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CD 151 - Insulator of the Week on Thu, 15 May 2008
Nickname
Those with the "N.A.T.Co." embossing are often simply referred to as "Natco's".
Related Patents
?
Details
Embossing: We will only cover the H.G. Co CD 151 in this installment of IOTW. There are three primary embossings. The first, and the one with the least amount of embossing, is the "H.G. Co." on the front and "Petticoat" on the rear (some also have the blotted out patent date). These are usually found with a smooth base, but there is a SDP listed in aqua (anyone have one they can post a pic of?). Second is the "H.G. Co Pat'd May 2^nd 1893" on the front and "Petticoat" on the back. These are always found with sharp drip points, with or without small sharp drips on the inner skirt. The third primary embossing is the same as the second, with the addition of N.A.T.Co. to the dome (North American Tel Co.). There are several variations, including blot outs and errors involved within the three primary embossing listed here.
Colors: A spectacular array of colors can be found in the H.G. Co. CD 151s! The most popular of all with collectors seems to be the peacock blue shades. Although a bit pricey when found in mint condition, the peacock blue CD 151s are plentiful enough to be steadily available. Most are found with the NATCO embossing. Aqua, green and shades of electric blue and the rare cobalt blue (only two or three known) can also be found in the NATCO version. The very deep, yet vibrant shade of peacock blue is often erroneously referred to as cobalt blue. The true cobalt blue NATCOs are actually a lighter cobalt blue shade, much like what is found in the lighter cobalt Hemingray CD 162 signals. Another SDP favorite is the ice aqua with purple swirls. Most of these were found in Central California. A few other SDP colors are: Hemingray blue, snowy aqua, milky aqua, dark yellow green and yellow olive amber. A very long list of colors exist in the smooth base types, with m! any shades of aqua, blue and green. Some of the more fabulous colors are: bubbly clear, cornflower blue, depression glass green, jade green milk, forest green, shades of dark yellow green to yellow olive green with amber, orange brown amber and purple. I'll leave the locations where many of these colors have been found for ICON participation. Please share!
Comments: This style was introduced primarily for telegraph and railroad communication use. Occasionally there are reports of H.G. Co CD 151s with round drips, or some having both sharp and round drips. These are most likely the result of underpoured or underdeveloped sharp drips.
Some super CD 151 H.G. Co. pics can be found at the two following Crown Jewels of the Wire links:
PicturePoster #144343420 (bubbly light jade)
PicturePoster #98493689 (true cobalt blue)
PicturePoster #142426334 (cornflower blue)
PicturePoster #53203220 (ice aqua/purple)
PicturePoster #138730058 (ice aqua/olive amber)
PicturePoster #142426631 (true green sdp)
These brief comments on the Insulator of the Week are not intended to be complete and are presented to encourage discussion and additional information from ICON. Now it's your turn to share info and/or post photos of your favorite CD 151 H.G. Co.s!
Questions
None
Discussion
Bill Meier commented on Thu, 15 May 2008
Patent Information: ?
While there is no explicit patent information for this style, it is the insulator shown in the patent drawing for the May 2, 1892 drip point patent.
Utility Patent 496,652 issued to Ralph G. Hemingray on May 2, 1893
It should be noted that the patent says that
"We find in practice that a single row of these teats arranged on the lower edge of the insulator is sufficient, but when desired, of course the inner shield D could be provided with a similar series of teats"
The patent drawing of the CD 151 only shows the "teats" (drip points of course) on the outer petticoat.
In reality, it seems the version with drip points on both skirts were the most common. Ones with just drip points on the outer skirt are uncommon. In addition, those embossed with N.A.T.Co. on the crown (just above the upper wire ridge) are also uncommon.
All four combinations, with and without N.A.T.Co. and with and without drip points on the outer skirt only, are known to exist. The least common variation is the one with N.A.T.Co. and with drip points only on the outer skirt.
Another item to note is that all the peacock and electric blue colored ones are embossed N.A.T.Co., with the exception of the less common non-N.A.T.Co. version.
Brent Burger commented on Thu, 15 May 2008
" ... Another item to note is that all the peacock and electric blue colored ones are embossed N.A.T.Co., with the exception of the less common non-N.A.T.Co. version."
Huh ?
You mean, ALL of them are, except the ones that are not ?
Bill Meier commented on Thu, 15 May 2008
> Huh ? > > You mean, ALL of them are, except the ones that are not ?
Exactly! Al of the trees are green except for the red ones! :-)
The "common" ones in the noted colors are all the N.A.T.Co. embossed ones... it is rare to find a non-N.A.T.Co. embossed one in peacock blue.... How many of the latter have you seen?
