Victor Insulators, Inc. is the oldest electrical insulator manufacturer in

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History

Locke Insulator Manufacturing Company

Fred M. Locke, the company's founder, had been interested in designing and manufacturing insulators since 1883, when he was employed as a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator for the

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

. He noticed that the company's insulators would often become wet or damp, causing electrical leakage and line failure. One one occasion he was accused of falling asleep at his station due to the telegraph line going dead from faulty insulators and he became interested in designing a stronger insulator. In 1889 he was granted a patent for a triple petticoat glass insulator with an interior dowel. He licensed this design to companies such as E.S. Greeley & Company and the

Brookfield Glass Company Brookfield Glass Company was an American glass company based in Brooklyn, New York, from 1864 to , and in Old Bridge (unincorporated community), New Jersey, Old Bridge, New Jersey, from to 1921. it was known for producing industrial glassware suc ...

. Locke built a factory in

Victor, New York Victor is an incorporated town in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 15,969 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Claudius Victor Boughton, an American hero of the War of 1812. The Town of Victor con ...

, in 1893. He used the factory as a location for both his manufacturing operation, and as an office for his jobbing business. Soon after starting the company, Locke began to investigate porcelain insulators for emerging

high-voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant spe ...

power lines. After outsourcing dry and wet process porcelain from other companies, Locke began to manufacture his own wet process porcelain insulators at the Victor plant. A few years later, in 1902, the company was incorporated as the Locke Insulator Manufacturing Company. Locke retired from the company in 1903.

Victor Insulators

The Locke Insulator Manufacturing Company suspended operations in 1932 due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. A group of local investors came together to finance the start of a new company in 1935, securing all company shares in three days. The company was renamed Victor Insulators, which had previously been used as a

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

by the Locke company. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Victor branched into the production of sanitaryware, first for the

US Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

and then for wider commercial sale. The company's original

coffee mug A mug is a type of cup, a drinking vessel usually intended for hot drinks such as: coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cups such as teacups or coffee cups. Typically, a ...

design went on to become a diner staple. In 1953 Victor Insulators was purchased by the I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, a manufacturer of electrical distribution equipment. The following year, Victor began producing a high-strength switch and bus insulator line for rail systems and other transportation industries. The company's Victor, New York, plant was expanded during the 1960s and later drew criticism for polluting the local river. In response, the company installed a

waste water treatment Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...

and disposal system in 1970. I-T-E was purchased by Gould, Inc. in 1976, and the Victor operation was renamed the Gould Inc., Insulators Division.

Brown Boveri & Cie Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Baden bei Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlik ...

purchased the factory in 1981. In 1984, company employees purchased the company from Brown Boveri and resumed operating under the name of Victor Insulators. Victor Insulators filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

in 2008 after experiencing substantial financial losses from a variety of factors such as employee

pension plan A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "Defined benefit pension pla ...

costs, rising foreign competition,

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

costs, and increasing transportation expenses. After a reorganization, the company managed to recover and continue operating as one of only three porcelain insulator companies remaining in the United States.

Products

Coffee mugs

During World War II, the company responded to a request from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to develop dining ware that was sturdy and wouldn't slide easily on ship tables. The company developed a

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

and dual-wall coffee mug with the same porcelain used to make insulators. Victor won the government contract and later discovered an even larger secondary market when their coffee mug design quickly caught on in

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s and

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

s. The classic thick-walled, heavy duty "diner service ware", now considered an iconic design, is the result of that original Victor service ware. Their diner-style coffee mug was widely imitated and copied by other manufacturers. By the 1980s, Victor found they struggled to compete with the price of foreign counterfeits on the market. In 1986 they began to mark "Made in USA" on the base of mugs to set them apart from competitors, but demand continued to decline until the company was forced to cease production of the mugs in spring of 1990.

External links

Fred M. Locke web page

References

{{Reflist Electronics companies of the United States Companies based in Ontario County, New York Ceramics manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1893 Insulators