Insulators at the Show
12th Annual Maryland Line, MD Insulator Show held March 3, 2001
Sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Insulator Club
 

Jeff Katchko brought this insulator to the show.  He found it using a metal detector along an old, abandoned trolley line. Strangely enough, the cap is made of brass but the upper body is made of iron.  The composition base is pushing itself out of the metal shell.   Inside the insulator around the pinhole was the embossing.

Fred Collier brought to the show a couple lightning rod insulators, including this lavender one with amber.  Steve Bobb remarked that Fred likes to get great pieces like this and torment him with them at shows. Fred indicated that he purchased this on eBay but that the picture was bad and he thought the amber was dirt and the seller neglected to mention the amber.  A lot of collectors are probably kicking themselves over missing the chance to get this piece

Here's the second LRI Fred Collier brought for show and tell.  Determining the color created quite a discussion but the consensus leaned toward calling it a two-tone insulator in steel blue with hints of purple. This lightning rod insulator is actually depicted upside down from how it was used.  The insulator is dropped into a C-shaped metal holder with the side-tab fitting through the opening in the "C."  The wide area at the bottom of the insulator as shown here keeps it from going all the way through the hole in the center of the "C."  The insulator is then twisted so that the metal holder is between the side-tabe and the wider area at the end so it will not come out.  The rod goes through the center hole.

Steve Bobb had this side-tab lightning rod insulator on his sales table.  It was surprising to see it for sale since Steve collects these but he said it was a duplicate.  The beautiful yellow green color had a lot of collectors taking a look at it but the $400 price tag kept many of the away.  Steve evenually sold it at a later show to a West Coast collector.