Matching Molds

LEFT: CD 121 Hemingray [098] / RIGHT: CD 121 Hemingray [096]

The person who engraved this Hemingray CD 121 mold forgot to put the crossbar in the "A" of "MAY". The [096] embossing on the right has the added bonus of being a smooth base (which kind of defeats the purpose of being embossed with the patent date for drip points!) The [098] specimen is also a currently unlisted Hemingray Blue.

LEFT: CD 124 Patent Dec. 19, 1871 [010] / RIGHT: CD 124 Hemingray [010]

On the left is the earlier Patent, Dec. 19 1871, manufactured in the 1870s, with a distinct solid circle on the dome. On the right is the later Hemingray embossed piece with a prismatic style embossing, likely manufactured around 1895. The specimen on the right has a bit of a sunken dome from when the glass was still hot. It may seem like a different insulator, but they in fact came from the same mold.

LEFT: CD 124 Patent Dec. 19, 1871 [020] / RIGHT: CD 124 Hemingray [050]

This pair is very similar to the previous set, but these do not have the solid circle on the dome. On the left is the earlier Patent, Dec. 19 1871, manufactured in the 1870s, and on the right is the later Hemingray embossed piece with a prismatic style embossing, likely manufactured around 1895.

LEFT: CD 124 Patent Dec. 19, 1871 [030] / RIGHT: CD 124 Hemingray [060]

The insulator on the left was manufactured in the 1870s. Then, around 1895 or so (as indicated by the prismatic embossing style), Hemingray added their embossing on the back, and the patent date on the front with drip points added to the base. The wire groove lips also appear to be slightly bigger, which would indicate that they retooled that part of the mold. These are both uncommon embossings.

LEFT: CD 133 Hemingray [030] / RIGHT: CD 134 Hemingray [080]

This is perhaps the most unusual set found to date: the same mold spanning two different CDs! Hemingray CD 133 and 134 are very similar in design; The main difference is the CD 134 has a wider dome. Therefore, it came as a surprise to me when I ran across a CD 133 and CD 134 with absolutely identical embossings. The CD 133 on the left was produced first, and then it seems they retooled the top half of the mold, essentially turning it into a CD 134. They also changed out the base plate: the CD 133 has 33 drip points, while the CD 134 has only 30.

LEFT: CD 133 Hemingray [015] / RIGHT: CD 133 Hemingray [020]

Here we have two CD 133's with identical embossings, but one has sharp drip points (SDP) and one has round drip points (RDP)! The round drip points are perfectly round, so it cannot be attributed to an underpour. The drip point count is even different: the RDP specimen has 29, while the SDP specimen has 28. The RDP version also has a thicker skirt, so it's clear they used a different plunger and base plate. My best guess is they had a special order for these years later, and the RDP version was the result.

LEFT: CD 162 No Name [030] / RIGHT: CD 162 Hemingray [250]

On the left is the rare No Name CD 162 attributed to Hemingray, which is mistakenly embossed "Petticoat" on both sides of the insulator. Hemingray caught and corrected this, blotting out "Petticoat" on one side and embossing Hemingray / Patent May 2 1893 over it. This is the [250] embossing. Both pieces have 37 drip points.

LEFT: CD 162 No Name [020] / RIGHT: CD 162 Hemingray [020]

The CD 162 embossed with just "No.19" has been attributed to Hemingray. They likely just forgot to add Hemingray to the front of the insulator. Well, they evidently corrected it later on, because a mold mate has been found. Here, they added Hemingray to the front of the insulator, and a large backwards "1" on the dome. The drip points were also modified.

LEFT: CD 162 Hemingray [010] / RIGHT: CD 162 Hemingray [040]

Whoever embossed this mold didn't use a guide rule, because the embossing is all over the place! That made it pretty darn easy to identify its mold mate. The specimen on the left was made first, probably around 1900-1905. Then, once Hemingray started adding "Made in U.S.A." to all of its insulators in the 1920's, this mold was modified as well, and drip points were added. Both pieces have a huge backwards "1" on the dome.