The Whitall Tatum Company, or Whitall Tatum, was one of the first glass factories in America. Located in Millville, New Jersey, it was in operation from 1806 through 1938. Whitall Tatum produced bottles, jars, and vials throughout much of the 19th century.

What is a vintage insulator?

Vintage Glass insulators were first produced in the 1850s for telegraph lines, then for telephone and power transmission lines. They insulated and protected the wooden poles from the electricity coursing through the wires. They are made from glass, porcelain, or composite polymer materials (non-conductive materials).

What were glass insulators used for?

A: Insulators are those glass or porcelain things you see on the tops and crossarms of telephone poles. Their purpose is to insulate the electrical wires they carry, so that electricity (or telephone calls) don’t all leak into the pole and into the earth.

What is a Hemingray insulator used for?

A. Hemingray insulators were used for a variety of purposes, but the primary goal was always the same: to insulate an object from another object, whether that was a telephone pole, telegraph pole, power line, lightning rod, or battery platform.

Are old insulators worth anything?

Similarly, having markings from less-common manufacturers can make insulators more valuable thanks to their rarity. If you’re thinking about buying or selling some old glass insulators, you’re probably going to be looking at spending/receiving about $20 per insulator, give or take.

What are the rarest insulators?

“The rarest are glass insulators in purple, light green, deep amber and those that are threadless,” says Judy Tackett of Attic Delights in Orange, who collects insulators. Threadless insulators made between 1850 and 1865 are valued into the hundreds of dollars.

How do you date Hemingray insulators?

This can be found on all Hemingrays right up until they stopped manufacturing insulators in 1967. In this version the mold number is to the left of the dash, and the date is the two digits on the right side of the dash opposite the mold number.

When did Whitall Tatum make No 1?

Whitall Tatum druggist bottle in teal green, circa 1880s, and two CD 154 glass electrical insulators marked “WHITALL TATUM CO. NO 1”, in peach and purple-colored glass. The insulators date from the 1920s.

Who owns whitwhitall Tatum Cork Company?

Whitall Tatum was purchased by Armstrong Cork Company in 1938. Armstrong had long used an “A in a circle” as a trademark. It is likely there was a gradual changeover on bottle and jar molds starting around 1938, but that transition probably occurred over several years time.

Where were the Whitall Tatum glassworks?

There were two locations used by Whitall Tatum, first the original site (upper works) located in Millville proper, and later the “lower works” in South Millville (formerly known as Schetterville). Eventually the South Millville site would become the center of activity for the glassworks.