"Commercial telegraph lines were introduced about 1878. The pony insulator was developed about this time and became widely used for telephone and telegraph lines. They were used for long-distance telephone lines after 1885. The first Canadian pony insulators were made in two piece molds. Since there are no embossings or recognizable characteristics on the [two piece mold insulators], the manufacturers of these insulators are unknown. Perhaps some of the MLOD were made by the Excelsior Glass Company of St. John, Quebec that moved to Montreal in 1880. This company was incorporated in 1883 at the North American Glass Company and eventually became the Diamond Glass Company in 1891."
[Insulators without embossings that were made in three piece molds] "were probably made after 1890, the year the three piece mold is thought to have come into use in Canada. The manufacturers of these insulators are speculative at best." "In 1986, Morgan Davis from Toronto, Ontario, Canada defined three mold styles of single diamond embossed insulators made by the Diamond Glass Company and the Diamond Flint Glass Company between 1890 and 1913 and a fourth mold style produced by the Dominion Glass Company after formation in 1913."
One need only pick up one of the small toy kaleidoscopes available in front of the display to view the rotating hues of the eighty-four Canadian CD 102 ponies included in the display.
"Insulators were made in many different colors. Naming these colors is difficult since no two collectors perceive color in the same way." Colors are in the eyes of the beholder.