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Late 1800's Tab Style Lightning Rod Insulators

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nittygritty1…'s likes8 of 15A Few More Metal Detector FindsAnother Item Dug From The Old Dump
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    Posted 12 years ago

    packrat-pl…
    (310 items)

    Here is an area of collecting that not many people are familiar with. These are lightning rod insulators, I found them out scrounging around this weekend. Back in the old days lightning was a constant fear. You would put a lightning rod on each end of your house and barn, and run the rod down the side of the structure to a grounding rod stuck 3-4' in the ground. These insulators were used to insulate the rod from the structure as it traveled down the side to the grounding rod. They come in a variety of colors and designs and these date from the late 1800's. I have included a link so you can see how pretty a lot of these really are. These are a lot harder to find then regular insulators and really look nice in a display.
    enjoy
    http://www.nia.org/general/g_lri.htm

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    H.G. CO. 1893 PETTICOAT ROOT BEER AMBER GLASS TELEPHONE INSULATOR
    H.G. CO. 1893 PETTICOAT ROOT BEER A...
    $58
    Vintage Glass Insulator Stained Cobalt Blue With Stars Decorative Glass Antique
    Vintage Glass Insulator Stained Cob...
    $36
    CD 135 WONDERFUL BLUE W/ MILKY SWIRLS CHI. INS. CO. SB GLASS INSULATOR
    CD 135 WONDERFUL BLUE W/ MILKY SWIR...
    $52
    2 Vintage Glass Large Insulators Colorized Violet Purple Antique Deco Glass
    2 Vintage Glass Large Insulators Co...
    $44
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    H.G. CO. 1893 PETTICOAT ROOT BEER AMBER GLASS TELEPHONE INSULATOR
    H.G. CO. 1893 PETTICOAT ROOT BEER A...
    $58
    See all

    Comments

    1. mnglass mnglass, 12 years ago
      Very cool Packrat.....Insulators are my #1 hobby......Thanks for posting
    2. Manikin Manikin, 12 years ago
      Nice post Pack ! If you lived in a farm like me we remember these :-)
    3. packrat-place packrat-place, 12 years ago
      Thank you very much for the kind words Manikin & mnglass.
      Thank you very much for the love mikielikesigns2 & mrmajestic1.
    4. walksoftly walksoftly, 12 years ago
      I've never seen these, we have lot's of lightning rods on the old building, but they never put insulators on the ground wire.
    5. packrat-place packrat-place, 12 years ago
      Thank you very much for the kind words BELLIN68 & walksoftly. These actually were quite common many years ago, but are getting harder to find all the time. If you go to the site I posted, you will see some beautiful ones.
    6. walksoftly walksoftly, 12 years ago
      I did check it out so that I would know what they looked like if I came across some, nice link.
    7. packrat-place packrat-place, 12 years ago
      They really are pretty. One nice thing about them is that they do not take up alot of space!

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