Have you ever looked at these strange items and wondered what the heck they are? Well, wonder no more. We’ve got the squeal on the deal!
… a really fun collectible
Glass insulators come in hundreds of distinct styles, shapes and sizes; and hundreds of different colors (in all colors of the rainbow)! What could be prettier than a glass “rainbow” in your kitchen window – with each different color glowing as the sun shines in? Insulators have also been made in porcelain, wood, rubber, plastic, and iron.
When you add to this the
amount of different embossings, base types (with or without drip points, different styles of drip points, etc.) there are literally thousands of different insulators available.If you don’t like large collectibles, you can go as small as 2 inches. If you
from Rainbow Riders Trading Postperfer BIG, many insulators are available in sizes over a foot across and a foot tall.
Many started the collections to put on a window sill to catch the sunlight. Then like many behaviors, the collection grew and soon becomes … well … a bit larger than you ever expected.
Some insulators date back to 1844, with the inception of the telegraph. (They were used to hold wires off the ground.) They are real pieces of history that you can hold in your hand and put on a shelf.
Some porcelain insulators are still being made (although most cities are putting most of the power and telephone lines underground without insulators), but production of glass insulators ceased in 1969.
Insulators have made it through wars (including the Civil War), being buried for years, or just being unnoticed for 100 years or more in a remote area. Many have survived the gunshots from cowboys of old and little boys of late
; and many wooden insulators were not destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire.
The early telegraph lines paralleled the transcontinental railroad, and insulators became an integral part of railroad safety.
from Rainbow Riders Trading Post
If you’re curious and want to know a wee bit more before starting your collection, this video below will definitely help.
When you’re ready to get started, or you want to add an insulator or two to your collection, stop in and see what we have. Yes sir (or m’am), we’ll be waitin’ for ya!
