CD 113, HEMINGRAY, Lavender

A pony style of insulator known as an exchange insulator which were produced for open wire telephone distribution. Telephone exchange insulators which have double grooves were commonly used around residential areas. The upper groove was for the main line and the lower groove for the drop wire to the residence. This insulator was produced by the Hemingray Glass Company in Muncie, Indiana. The CD 113 Hemingray style insulators were produced in the c1890's-1940's.

This was the very first insulator that I found for my glass insulator collection. Around 1967-68 my best friend and I were broadening our horizons when we came upon a huge telephone glass insulator dump. All the insulators were the small pony style of insulators and there were hundreds of them, but most were in bad shape. After searching around for a while I noticed some off to the side sticking partially out of the ground, so I decided to check it out. After digging for a while and finding CD 113s in better condition about 8 inches down in the ground this nice lavender Hemingray CD 113 came rolling out of the ground. I immediately grabbed it with a few other insulators and went home to clean them up. This lavender insulator turned out to only have one drip point partially chipped and some rust in the wire groove. Not bad for finding your very first insulators for your collection. Also, this dump was found right along the famous Lincoln Highway, so it's likely this insulator was used along the old Lincoln Highway which gives this insulator some historical value to it. As for sentimental value, this insulator would be at the very top of the list for my entire glass insulator collection. Today, this dump area for the last few decades has been a used car lot. For those interested, I geotagged on the satellite map the exact location.

Embossing (F-Skirt) HEMINGRAY/HE No 12/[Upside down 'No' blotted out] {Note extra 'HE'} (R-Skirt) PATENT/MAY 2 1893
Index # 110