Okonite Company Submarine Cable Paperweight
American: c. 1890s

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Okonite Company Submarine Cable Paperweight
Okonite Company Submarine Cable Paperweight
Okonite Company Submarine Cable Paperweight
American: c. 1890s
Cable inset in brass/bronze and glass
1.75 high, 4.5 inches diameter
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

A promotional paperweight comprised of a cross section of an Okonite submarine cable inset and sealed in a circular brass (or bronze) decorative casing with tapering in-curved base, and visible through a round beveled glass top.  The cable overall incorporates three smaller central bundled cables within an outer ring of armor wires enclosing them.  An inscription in block letters on the brass side gives the manufacturer's name and the specifications for the cable: 500,000 circular mil (254 square millimeters) with three tubes, made of 1/8"-thick lead, encasing the 3/32" copper communication wires.  This cable was either used for undersea communications transmission or power transmission (most likely the latter given the configuration).

A paperweight such as this apparently was produced in quantity, intended for promotional purposes at the time of manufacture.  For example, an account in an 1894 trade publication describes representatives of The Okonite Company handing out promotional paperweights on the exhibition floor at a meeting of the National Electric Light Association:

"Okonite" was as well as ever to the front. Its corps of representatives included Captain Candee, George T. Manson and George A. McKinlock, the latter from Chicago. These busy men found time to distribute a very handsome paper weight, representative of a section of "Okonite" cable.

The Okonite Company was founded under another name in 1878, and by 1892 had main offices in New York and London and manufacturing facilities in Passaic, New Jersey, and Manchester, England.  They produced "every form of the highest grade of insulated wire, from the smallest used in telephone service to the largest used in submarine cables" (King).  In its early years, the firm sold cables to Samuel F.B. Morse for his telegraph network and to Thomas A. Edison for the nation's first generating station in New York City.  In 1889, the company built a large plant in Passaic, New Jersey, and reorganized under the name of The Okonite Company.  Over the years, Okonite has pioneered the materials and fabrication for many specialized wire and cable products, and is still operating today.

Inscription on base: The Okonite Company. 500,000 C.M. 3 Condr. Submarine Cable 3/32" Wall Okonite 1/8" Wall Lead & Armor.

References:

King, Moses. King's Handbook of New York City.  Boston: Moses King, 1892.  p. 866.  Online at Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=cKkUAAAAYAAJ (30 December 2011).

"Proceedings of the 17th Meeting of the National Electric Light Association, Washington, D.C. Feb.-March 1894. The Electrical World. Vol. 23, No. 10. New York: W.J. Johnston, 1894. p. 326. Online at Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=cWJNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA326 (31 May 2013).

"Welcome to Okonite."  Okonite Company.  http://www.okonite.com/welcome.html (30 December 2011).