IOTW CD 187
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CD 187 - Insulator of the Week on Wed, 30 Apr 2008
Nickname
Brown's Pony; Duplex Insulator; Through Hole; "Mine Insulator"
Related Patents
Utility Patent 353120 issued to Robert G. Brown on November 23, 1886
Details
Embossings
California: Found in shades of sage green, smoke, purple and citrine/yellow. All are considered scarce. PicturePoster #129671567
Greeley N.Y. Patented Nov. 23rd 1886: Light aqua. Considered to be relatively rare. PicturePoster #38006430
No embossing: Light aqua. This listing contains a 5/8" pinhole and appears to be quite rare.
PicturePoster #98449546 (5/8" pinhole comparison)
Pat'd: Green. Lacks the patent date that is found on the following listing.
Pat'd Nov. 23d 1886: Clear & light purple (very scarce to rare). More commonly found in shades of aqua and green. Values begin to escalate as the green shades become deeper and pick up olive and amber tones. Very dark shades, nearing blackglass, of olive and amber are highly prized and quite scarce. There is a considerably scarce light aqua variant with two segmented threads, thought to have a connection to the National Insulator Co and Lawrence Gray. Most, if not all (excluding the segmented thread units), were likely manufactured by Brookfield.
Vertical bar: Mostly found with a straight skirt in shades of aqua and green. Most are relatively common. A tapered skirt variant can be found in green aqua.
PicturePoster #177547005 (straight & tapered skirt comparison)
Comments
These were specifically designed for use on a crossarm (and similar applications) with a duplex pin (having threads at both ends), to double up or add lines without adding additional crossarms. The duplex pin was installed through the crossarm, with a conventional insulator installed at the top thread and a CD 187 or 188 installed on the lower thread.
PicturePoster #76691301 (duplex pins)
Duplex sidepins were also made available for doubling up lines where sidepin applications were desirable. Some collectors have been known to refer to the Brown's ponies as "mine insulators", because they have also been found in mines. This was evidently a secondary use, not their original intended application as clearly stated in the patent design information.
The molding process required a slug or thimble of glass to be punched out after each insulator was manufactured. This is evident by the roughness usually found at one end of the threads.
PicturePoster #118983110 (slug & thimble still in place)
There is much more that can be shared on these two closely related and interesting CD's. 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 187 & 188 Brown's ponies!
Questions
None
