Customer Reviews

Insulators - A History and Guide to North American Glass Pintype Insulators Price Guide

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The latest, 2007 edition of INSULATORS: A HISTORY AND PRICE GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN GLASS PINTYPE INSULATORS, is widely available. For the uninitiated, "glass pintype insulators" are those little inverted-jar dinguses that adorn the cross-posts of many a North American utility pole. The "pin" (usually made of wood) attaches to the cross-post and extends up into the insulator. And the whole works keep telephone or telegraph-type "live wires" from dragging the ground and causing damage, but without posing a shock hazard to the linesmen.

While glass insulators are not nearly so commonly used as in the past, they still abound in the millions and many of us like to hunt them out--in an abandoned railway right-of-way, say, or as an item of "junktique" that winds up in many flea markets and antique stores. Perhaps even better, although these types of insulators serve a limited and residual function today, in the past they were legion. From before the civil war on up into the early 1970s, glass insulators were constantly evolving--to serve the frontier, to carry extending railway lines and telegraphy, and to carry long-distance calls on AT&T "long lines", which saw their heyday in the 1920s long before satellites, microwave towers and fiber-optics.

One storied glass firm, Hemingray (note the "R") was founded after the Civil War, churned out its BILLIONTH insulator in 1937, and lived another 30 years under different ownership. But how to distinguish an insulator that is quite literally common as glass from one that is more precious and commands a higher price? It isn't just history: rare patterns are worth more, favorite sizes are worth more, and perhaps most interestingly insulators left out in the sun for decades that turn bizarre colors like purple or "root beer" are rare and can be extremely expensive.

The McDougalds' book in earlier editions had a reputation as the "bible" for insulator collectors, and the legend continues with this new revised volume IMHO. I keep mine handy whenever I buy, sell or contemplate doing either. Forty-five dollars, I do realize, is quite a price for less than 300 pp. of line drawings, prices and spiral-binding, but it's worth it for practically all of us who have been led to (or stumbled across) this beautiful glass and the history it represents. In fact, collecting glass insulators (and often ceramic and plastic ones, too), has become over the past 30 years a full-fledged hobby with clubs, conventions, info sites and blogs, not to mention thousands of listings any day on eBay.

This book does presume a few very basic technical terms regarding insulators (many of them common to all manufactured glass). For the basic vocabulary, log onto insulatorsinfo dot com; for the real lowdown on prices and values, buy INSULATORS the book. It is not likely to be discounted anytime soon, so interested or would-be collectors might as well order it thru Amazon and have it shipped for free or for cheap.

This is the best by far. I've been collecting for years and really didn't have a good resource that would keep me up to date. Well worth the investment.

This product was not only delivered promptly but in excellent condition...just as specified. I appreciated the pleasant experience with this supplier and will look for them again in the future.