On Saturday I made the 80 mile pilgrimage to Springfield, Ohio for the third year in a row. This time I took my son Wyatt with me because kids need new experiences. Normally when I mention insulators he rolls his eyes but watching him at the show I could tell he was impressed with the many shapes, sizes and colors of antique glass insulators all gathered together under one roof here in the Buckeye State. With the age demographic of insulator collecting being what it is I could tell many of the exhibitors were happy to see a young face in the venue. One astute dealer noticed Wyatt's enthusiastic reaction when he recognized a pile of threaded wooden pins for sale. The dealer was quick to grab a pin and an insulator and screw the two together as a little demonstration. We had a good time and I was proud that he seemed to stay interested the entire time as we made our way up and down the isles.
I did not take a lot of pictures this time around but I did find a couple interesting things to document. To ogle some pretty glass from last year's show click Here. The following pictures from the display area show how insulators were used for other purposes besides holding telecoms and power wires.
This is a fantastic collection of porcelain insulators on display. Although not one of my interests these glazed and fired pottery pieces sure do look nice all lined up together. In the collecting world these pieces are referred to as "mud". They did start out as lumps of clay after all. The artsy looking glazes on the insulators reminds me of old coffee cups in my grandparents kitchen that had a very similar look.
My goal is to one day have a nice collection worthy of display at Springfield and spend the weekend talking insulators and hanging out with the great people in the hobby.
We headed towards home in the afternoon but not empty handed. I found a few California's to add to the collection even finding two new CD numbers that I didn't have yet. Stay tuned for more insulator fun!
I never knew of such a hobby until I started reading your blog. Neat!
ReplyDeleteHi Norm, 3 years ago I had no idea this hobby existed either. I discovered it during an internet search while I was reading about telegraph keys and Morse Code because of amateur radio. Your right it is a neat hobby full of interesting folks.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Norm's comment. Fascinating stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting Chuck! Yea I think these insulators are much too interesting to keep to myself. Makes a great blog topic and photo subject.
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