While perusing Google books I ran across this digitized Western Electric catalog from 1898. This is just one bit of all the cool stuff in it. You can even download it as a PDF and print it out. Search "Catalogues of Electrical Supplies" in Google Books. For an even more tantalizing adventure, search for "electric light and supply catalogue" and check out the Electrical Supply Company's brochure from 1892. Who knows, you just might learn a thing or two about fluid insulators!