ChiefsPlanet Old Electric Insulators

Over Yonder · 03-19-2017, 06:44 AM

My uncle recently purchased a piece of ground. It has a hillside beside what appears to be an old road. May not be but who knows. Anyway, the hillside is covered with these. I'm talking possibly thousands. Me and my brother walked through it yesterday. He filled his side-by-side with em to use as yard ornaments. They are mostly 2 different styles. I have only found 1 pic that is similar to 1 of the styles

https://www.google.com/search?q=elec...Z2pNL0AlsSM%3D

Is there anywhere on the internet that I can possibly look up the numbers and see what we have? I'm not having any luck. Somebody has obviously dumped off a load of them so I assume not worth much.

Edit:The first image is what we found. Not sure what I did to link all them pictures.

displacedinMN · 03-19-2017, 07:05 AM

People used to kill for those things. There was a high demand and price. Good luck. post a pic when you get a chance.

oldman · 03-19-2017, 07:09 AM

Those could be telephone insulators used on open wire. I never had to put any up except in training, but there could have been as many as 10 on each cross arm and multiple cross arms on each pole. Spinning the ones on pin 1 and 10 were a real thrill because you had to unbuckle your strap and thread it under the brace opposite the side you were working on and over the brace on the working side. I'm not very tall, so I was pretty much at a 45 degree angle stretching out. Then you had to pull yourself back upright, unbuckle and do it again for the other side.
I don't know about now, but they were in demand for decorations back in the 80s and were going for as much as $5 each, depending on the color and condition. Since open wire is pretty much gone, you might be sitting on a gold mine.

Over Yonder · 03-19-2017, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

People used to kill for those things. There was a high demand and price. Good luck. post a pic when you get a chance.

I do have a couple of pics on my phone. But I cant get them to upload to my computer. I am an old goat, no smart phone. Still use an old flip phone

displacedinMN · 03-19-2017, 07:15 AM

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/s...ators&sort=rel

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/a...986677484.html

Anywhere from 3 to 60 bucks.

**Dave Lane** · 03-19-2017, 08:13 AM

I have dozens of them I put on top of my fenceposts at my farm just for decorative purposes. They aren't worth anything. Maybe a $1 each if you can find someone that wants them. There are rare varieties but the reason they are rare is because there aren't any of them.

stumppy · 03-19-2017, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

I have dozens of them I put on top of my fenceposts at my farm just for decorative purposes. They aren't worth anything. Maybe a $1 each if you can find someone that wants them. There are rare varieties but the reason they are rare is because there aren't any of them.

I just wish I had $1 for every one of them I shot up as a kid.

oldman · 03-19-2017, 10:09 AM

I'll bet they are worth something more than $1 a piece. If you want to go to the trouble, you can hit a swap meet and see just what they would bring. The old Boulevard Drive-In in KCK has a meet every weekend. I don't know what it costs to set up a table now, but my friend used to do it a few years back and it was around $10 per day.

**Dave Lane** · 03-19-2017, 10:20 AM

If you do any good with them let me know. Theres still a few hundred across the street I could get for you. And mine are all blue which is the most popular color.

listopencil · 03-19-2017, 10:54 AM

I used to use them for BB gun target practice as a kid. They made such a satisfying sound when you'd hit one on the pole.

stumppy · 03-19-2017, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by listopencil

I used to use them for BB gun target practice as a kid. They made such a satisfying sound when you'd hit one on the pole.

Pump the ol' Sheridan up 8 times and they made a nice shattering sound.

patteeu · 03-19-2017, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

There are rare varieties but the reason they are rare is because there aren't any of them.

Thanks for the info.

Over Yonder · 03-19-2017, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

I have dozens of them I put on top of my fenceposts at my farm just for decorative purposes. They aren't worth anything. Maybe a $1 each if you can find someone that wants them. There are rare varieties but the reason they are rare is because there aren't any of them.

I'm guessing neither of these types are rare. If they were, I could un-rare them in an afternoon of gathering. lol

I was mostly wondering if anybody knew how to look them up by the code in the glass. Worth is kinda secondary here. I'm really mostly interested in why so damn many ended up in this spot. It's pretty obvious they were dumped. But what year, what manufacturer and so on. This kinda thing interests the crap outta me. I guess I have a mental problem

Over Yonder · 03-19-2017, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumppy

I just wish I had $1 for every one of them I shot up as a kid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by listopencil

I used to use them for BB gun target practice as a kid. They made such a satisfying sound when you'd hit one on the pole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumppy

Pump the ol' Sheridan up 8 times and they made a nice shattering sound.

Yea, I shot up a couple back in the day as well

**Buehler445** · 03-19-2017, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Over Yonder

I'm guessing neither of these types are rare. If they were, I could un-rare them in an afternoon of gathering. lol

I was mostly wondering if anybody knew how to look them up by the code in the glass. Worth is kinda secondary here. I'm really mostly interested in why so damn many ended up in this spot. It's pretty obvious they were dumped. But what year, what manufacturer and so on. This kinda thing interests the crap outta me. I guess I have a mental problem

.

We took down all the poles on a railroad right away so we could now it because the trains kept burning it down. We ended up with a couple trailer loads of them.

I'd guess something similar happened.

03-19-2017, 06:44 AM
Over Yonder MVP Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: North Missouri Casino cash: $4791400	Old Electric Insulators My uncle recently purchased a piece of ground. It has a hillside beside what appears to be an old road. May not be but who knows. Anyway, the hillside is covered with these. I'm talking possibly thousands. Me and my brother walked through it yesterday. He filled his side-by-side with em to use as yard ornaments. They are mostly 2 different styles. I have only found 1 pic that is similar to 1 of the styles https://www.google.com/search?q=elec...Z2pNL0AlsSM%3D Is there anywhere on the internet that I can possibly look up the numbers and see what we have? I'm not having any luck. Somebody has obviously dumped off a load of them so I assume not worth much. Edit:The first image is what we found. Not sure what I did to link all them pictures.
Posts: 11,676

03-19-2017, 07:05 AM	#2
displacedinMN It was not a fair catch Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Correcting papers Casino cash: $2962630	People used to kill for those things. There was a high demand and price. Good luck. post a pic when you get a chance. __________________ #investigatecarlcheffers
Posts: 36,258

03-19-2017, 07:09 AM	#3
oldman Curmudgeon Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North by Northwest Casino cash: $5836784	Those could be telephone insulators used on open wire. I never had to put any up except in training, but there could have been as many as 10 on each cross arm and multiple cross arms on each pole. Spinning the ones on pin 1 and 10 were a real thrill because you had to unbuckle your strap and thread it under the brace opposite the side you were working on and over the brace on the working side. I'm not very tall, so I was pretty much at a 45 degree angle stretching out. Then you had to pull yourself back upright, unbuckle and do it again for the other side. I don't know about now, but they were in demand for decorations back in the 80s and were going for as much as $5 each, depending on the color and condition. Since open wire is pretty much gone, you might be sitting on a gold mine. Last edited by oldman; 03-19-2017 at 07:14 AM..
Posts: 5,319

03-19-2017, 07:15 AM	#5
displacedinMN It was not a fair catch Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Correcting papers Casino cash: $2962630	https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/s...ators&sort=rel https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/a...986677484.html Anywhere from 3 to 60 bucks. __________________ #investigatecarlcheffers
Posts: 36,258

03-19-2017, 08:13 AM	#6
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	I have dozens of them I put on top of my fenceposts at my farm just for decorative purposes. They aren't worth anything. Maybe a $1 each if you can find someone that wants them. There are rare varieties but the reason they are rare is because there aren't any of them. __________________ Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about RICO, espionage, sedition, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.
Posts: 40,584

03-19-2017, 10:09 AM	#8
oldman Curmudgeon Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North by Northwest Casino cash: $5836784	I'll bet they are worth something more than $1 a piece. If you want to go to the trouble, you can hit a swap meet and see just what they would bring. The old Boulevard Drive-In in KCK has a meet every weekend. I don't know what it costs to set up a table now, but my friend used to do it a few years back and it was around $10 per day.
Posts: 5,319

03-19-2017, 10:20 AM	#9
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	If you do any good with them let me know. Theres still a few hundred across the street I could get for you. And mine are all blue which is the most popular color. __________________ Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about RICO, espionage, sedition, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.
Posts: 40,584

03-19-2017, 10:54 AM	#10
listopencil Immanentize The Eschaton Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: In Partibus Infidelium Casino cash: $2245880	I used to use them for BB gun target practice as a kid. They made such a satisfying sound when you'd hit one on the pole. __________________ Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has...it has stolen.
Posts: 55,927