Insulator Collector of the Month

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", November 1978, page 32

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

Joe Egerer, a teacher at Pacifica, has a hobby collecting the items which helped put the Pony Express out of business -- telephone line insulators. Joe has been collecting for about 12 years, and has over a thousand glass domes of various shapes, colors, and sizes. The colorful insulators -- the oldest of which date back to 1871 -- are described in terms of shapes, such as "petticoat," "pleated skirt," or "mickey mouse." Joe, who keeps a large collection at school, uses the insulators as timelines in the teaching of history. One green glass classic bears a date which corresponds with Abraham Lincoln's presidency. 

Egerer's collection includes insulators from the U.S., Mexico, France, Australia, and Canada, and come in shades of blue, green, aqua, amber, cobalt, milk glass, and carnival glass. Joe has found the insulators in old trees where telephone lines once ran, on the desert, and at swap meets, where he once bought an insulator valued at $300 for a dollar and a half! Although insulators are made primarily of glass, some are made of rubber, polyethylene, or composition. Sometimes, the extra effort of a student in the class is rewarded by the gift of an insulator, and the idea of a hobby has taken hold with pupils who see the insulator collection.

Unfortunately, as more and more telephone lines go underground, finding old insulators will become (like the Pony Express) a memory of the past.

The above item is reproduced from "Concerning Curriculum", a bi-monthly newsletter of the Oceanside Unified School District (California), Vol. 1, No. 3