Lapp Museum
While doing research for my book, Fred M. Locke: A Biography, I traveled to the Victor, NY area in May 1993. I had arranged ahead of time for permission to visit the Lapp Museum, which was set up by Brent Mills. Details about Brent Mills and his association with Lapp can be found in his book, Porcelain Insulators and How They Grew, published in 1970. John S. Lapp once worked for Fred Locke at the Victor, NY plant. Details of his leaving Locke can be found in my Fred Locke book. John Lapp started the Lapp Insulator Co. in 1916 with the money he won in the suit against Locke. Brent Mills was a young electrical engineer when he joined Lapp as a salesman and worked his way up to President and Chairman of the company. One of Mills' accomplishments was the development of the post insulator.
Mr. Mills was part of the porcelain insulator industry almost from the start. He was very interested in the history of porcelain insulator manufacture and sought to preserve that history with the publishing of his book and setting up a museum at the Lapp plant. The museum exhibits are around the walls in the company's conference room. The Lapp plant at LeRoy, NY is still in operation but no longer makes pin-type insulators. I can only assume the museum is still intact.
I was given access to the museum and thought I had plenty of time to set up the tripod and take some detailed photos. First I went around the room photographing the cabinets through the glass. Just as I started getting set up to photograph individual insulators, there was a knock on the door. A group of people were gathering for a meeting in the conference room. I quickly took one more photo, packed up my equipment, and left. I still regret not getting the chance to photograph some of the key insulators in detail such as the spiral and helical. The guy who let me in the museum did not tell me I had a limited amount of time. Below are the photos I took in May 1993. You might recognize many of the insulators that were pictured in Brent Mills' book.
