CD 106 Retooling Identification Guide

Identifying mold numbers on pieces without complete lettering

Lynchburg constantly tweaked their insulators to correct various problems or to improve the design. One problem on some styles, mainly CD 106 No. 10 and CD 162 No. 36, was a lower skirt that was too thin and so easily chipped under stress. The solution was to machine the mold around the bottom of the skirt to increase its thickness. One of the side effects of this retooling was the loss of parts of the lettering since the machining removed the mold surface that contained the lettering. On some pieces, the loss was minimal, with only the lower edges of the letters affected. On other pieces, the entire name LYNCHBURG on the front and U.S.A. on the reverse was removed, as well as parts of MADE IN and often the mold number.

This retooling apparently was done in the last weeks of Lynchburg's production. -1- Presumably, if Lynchburg had remained in business, the lettering would have been replaced. Since it did not, we are left with pieces with only remnants of lettering, which makes identification difficult when the mold number is not easily identified. However, since each mold was re-tooled in slightly different ways, the remnants of lettering provide clues that can help us identify most pieces.

The information below can assist in identifying mold numbers for retooled Lynchburg CD 106. There may exist other retooled molds that are not listed.

Identification Guide, CD 106

Mold L1.1 [Not yet confirmed]

Mold L2.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - lower portion of all letters except U are weakened and partially removed, most noticeable on L, C, R, and G.
Reverse: MADE IN - lower portions of all letters are weakened and partially removed. U.S.A. - totally missing.

Mold L3.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - all lettering is very weak; the lower 1/4 to 1/2 of most letters except L is missing, with increasing loss to the right.
Reverse: MADE IN - lower part of MA is removed. U.S.A. - mostly missing; top right tip of U, part of upper and right side of lower curve of S are visible; period following S and A. are intact.

Mold L4.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - letters are mostly removed; only the very top and various traces of most letters are visible.
Reverse: MADE IN - lower portion of all letters partially removed. U.S.A. - totally missing.

Mold L5.1 [Not yet confirmed]

Mold L6.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - lower portion of all letters are weakened and partially removed
Reverse: MADE IN - lower portion of A and D partially missing. U.S.A. - mostly missing: tip of the left stroke of U, part of the period after S, and the tip of A remain.

Mold L7.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - totally removed; only the L logo remains
Reverse: MADE IN - M is partially removed, A is weakened at bottom. U.S.A. - mostly missing; upper tip of S is very faint, shallow outline of A visible.

Mold L8.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - only the bottom curve of G shows some loss.
Reverse: MADE IN - is not affected. U.S.A. - mostly missing, upper tips of U, the upper curve of S, and the upper half of A visible.

Front: LYNCHBURG - extreme bottom strokes of letters are slightly weakened.
Reverse: MADE IN - lower half increasingly weak. U.S.A. - mostly missing, only upper tips of U visible.

Mold L10.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - Complete letters.
Reverse: MADE IN - complete letters. U.S.A. - mostly missing, upper half of U, traces of S, and upper half of A are visible.

Mold L11.1 [Not yet confirmed]

Mold L12.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - Weakening of bottom of letters increasing from left to right, with URG showing most effect.
Reverse: MADE IN - Intact, but off center to the left. U.S.A. - Weakening of bottom of letters increasing from right to left: A is weakened at the bottom and its period is clearly visible; lower half of S and most of its period are gone; most of the U is lost along with its period.

Mold LA.1

Front: LYNCHBURG - only traces of LYN and small bits of other letters visible. There is no L logo.
Reverse: MADE IN - shows increasing shallowness toward the base with the very bottom of some letters barely visible or missing. U.S.A. - totally missing

Notes

1. It is possible that the retooling was done at Birmingham, Ala., by Birmingham Glass Works after they bought the molds from the defunct Lynchburg company. Many of the pieces made after the retooling occur in the clear tinted glass that some have linked with Birmingham production. However, some retooled pieces also appear in light and ice blue colors that were characteristic of the last days of production at Lynchburg. At this point, we do not have enough evidence to determine whether Lynchburg or Birmingham made the modifications, or if perhaps the process was begun at Lynchburg and continued at Birmingham. See Birmingham.