Here's the Real scoop on the subject folks...from a glass insulator
Expert that I sent the first 2 postings to, to get his comments.
>From: David Whitten
>Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2007 12:53 PM
>Subject: Re: Red Glass Insulators - Myth or Truth?
>
>Hi Carol,
>There are several red glass insulators in existence, but all
>are either "special order repros" or one-of-a-kind samples
>made for special occasion (i.e. a Pyrex insulator that was
>made in red glass, one specimen known, and it was evidently
>made for a company official.) NO ruby red glass insulators
>were ever made for actual use on electrical lines.
> The most commonly seen red glass insulators are the so-called
>"VTS ponies"
>and they were made in Korea as a salesman's souvenir item, (I
>think it was an electrical supplies firm in CA that had 200
>hundred or so made) or something of that nature. They were
>made in the early 1970s. I think there is an article on those
>somewhere on the web.
> In any case, no true glass insulators in red exist that
>could possibly have been in existence anywhere in Arizona
>during the late 1800s or early 1900s.
>
>There are also red commemoratives made for Insulator
>conventions.......these are not true insulators, of course.
>
>There are some very rare Canadian insulators in a strange
>'cranberry red'
>color, but nothing like a ruby red. These are also totally
>out of the
>realm of possibility of what is being mentioned in the tale.
>
>There ARE a few types of insulators in strong red amber, such
>as Whitall Tatum red amber CD 154s, and maybe a handful of
>others........don't remember CD numbers off the top of my
>head. Looking at a shard of glass at a certain angle, and in
>late afternoon sun, could produce a color tint getting rather
>close to red......but not actually attaining it.
>Oh.........The CD 162 made by Hemingray in the 1890s and
>1900s in a red amber glass. I don't think those types ever
>saw service in AZ. They are most commonly seen in Kansas and Missouri.
> This is also true of many of the ''export beer''
>bottles........they sometimes were made in a dark reddish
>amber, that would look sorta red under the right lighting
>conditions. The thick heavy base of a red amber beer bottle is
>probably the most likely culprit (or original source) of this
>story, if indeed someone ever actually found some points made
>by Indians in a color approaching red. (Remember that beer
>bottles of this type were exported in large quantities to the
>west, especially at forts).
>
>Although it is often repeated that gold is required in the
>making of red glass, this has not been true for many, many
>years. Selenium is the main element used in making modern ruby
>red glass, such as used for traffic signal lenses and other
>industrial items. The book "Modern Glass Practice"
>by S.R.Scholes (1946 edition) on page 189 gives a recipe for
>ruby red glass including selenium, cadmium sulfide, borax and
>zinc oxide included in the batch. It has to be cooled and then
>re-heated to the proper temperature to achieve the color.
>However, gold is indeed considered to be capable of producing
>the most "perfect", intense ruby, although I'm not sure if
>there is that much of a difference to the average viewer.
>
>I have read about, or seen pictures of projectile points made
>of aqua glass from telegraph insulators. I have no doubts this
>did occur, but I am 100% sure no Indian-made points were made
>of a true red glass (unless an Indian got ahold of a ruby red
>glass goblet or compote? and I'm sure every fort had some of
>them lying around? ;-) ) There also could be a SLIGHT
>possibility that an Indian was able to obtain a red glass
>railroad signal lense. Not sure if any red lenses were in use
>at that time in AZ, but that's an idea, anyhow. They are
>probably thick enough to have been a usable source for
>producing red glass points.
>
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