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.
>