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Photos
Story - HistoryI have purchased all of these insulators through eBay. Most have come directly from Australia, but a few were bought from sellers in the U.S.A.
There are several points that make these insulators interesting. The first is that these were a direct copy of the American Hemingray 42, but they were made by the Australian Glass Manufacturing company between 1929 and 1930. Secondly, they are they only style of Australian insulator to have drip points. Thirdly, they are threaded to fit on a standard U.S. style pin, rather than the typical metric threaded pin used in Australia and common to all the other AGEE insulators. According to the GIFONA book, they were produced for a special order from the South Australian government and may have been used side by side with American made Hemingray 42 pieces.
The AGEE quality control was usually quite good, but even in this small sample of this style, I have two that stand out. One has a significant underpour on it, which flattens out 5 or 6 of the drips points (with 3 missing completely) and shortens the inner skirt by almost a quarter inch. Another one has what feels like pieces of broken glass embedded in the top of the dome. It is very rough with with small chunks sticking up above the surface. It seems like there were fragments of broken glass in the mold when the piece was poured and they didn't melt and amalgamate with the rest of the glass. (see photo below)
I also have two pieces that are two-tone sage green and green. It is my understanding that two-tone glass results from incomplete stirring of the glass batch. In the photo below you can see the division of colours most clearly in the domes. They are quite green down one side and lighter sage green on the other side.
Most of the CD 154 AGEE pieces are simply embossed with the word AGEE and a small mold number below that. There is one embossing variation that has the letter "S" embossed below the AGEE. These are less common and quite a bit more valuable. (see photo below)
My current inventory of CD 154 AGEEs includes four in gray, two in sage green/green two-tone, and one in gray with amethsyt tint. I have one AGEE / S piece in a nice amethyst colour.
More Photos
EmbossingThese insulators come in a variety of colours. The most common colour seems to be the gray, which is a nice blue-gray shade. They also come in sage green, green tint, two-tone sage green and green, gray with amethyst tint, and light amethyst. The ones with the "S" embossing only come in amethyst and dark amethyst.
The photo above of the four insulators are from left to right, two-tone sage green/green, gray, gray with amethyst tint, and amethyst.
ConditionThe condition of my examples of this insulator range from good to mint. One of the two-tones has a stress crack at the joint of the inner and outer skirt that goes completely around the insulator. A few of them have some minor dings and fleabites, but mostly they are quite presentable. The one with the underpour and the one with the chunks on the dome add some character to the group.
Market Place MusingsThese insulators come up for sale fairly regularly on eBay. The gray ones appear most often and usually sell for $15 to $25+ US. The two-tone ones appear less frequently and usually bring a slightly higher price. I have not seen the other colours in the plain AGEE embossing come up for auction yet.
The gray with amethyst tint colour is so close to the plain gray, that many people would miss the distinction. It wasn't until I put all these pieces together for the group picture that I realized that one of the "grays" was different than the rest. Closer inspection revealed a hint of purple tint to the glass, thus moving that piece up a category in the price guide.
The AGEE / S variation appears on eBay occasionally. I can recall seeing maybe 3 or 4 in the past year. They often sell for $60 to $100 or more. The increased value is attributable to the relative rarity of the embossing and the desirability of the amethyst colour. The one I bought was listed as "having a chip out of one of the ribs" and thus didn't attract a lot of bids. I managed to get it at a bargain price of $38 US. The "chip" turned out to be little more than a BB-ding sized spot on the upper wire ridge, that I had trouble even finding when I received the insulator.
Copyright © 2007 - Doug Netzke and Micro Solutions of Sudbury