Call Of The Open Road
Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", November 1977, page 31
In our house "Call of the Open Road" means going to an insulator
show. Before I explain what an insulator show is, I'll tell you what an
insulator is.
My father has a hobby of collecting glass insulators. Insulators
are those things on top of the power poles, and they prevent the electrical
current from reaching the ground. This could cause blackouts or any number of
hazards. The insulators you see probably aren't worth anything more than cost.
The ones worth collecting are telegraph insulators - for the simple fact that
they're the oldest and scarcest (even some of these are worthless). The
insulators really worth something are threadless ones, because these are the
'very' oldest.
Just as with any other hobby so it is with insulators, there are
magazines - including, among other things, ads for insulator shows. Now an
insulator show is where collectors gather and swap, sell, or buy insulators.
An
ad could be such:
August 28
Levittown, Penna.
Greater Northeast 1st Annual
Insulator & Bottle Show
Oxford Valley Mall
In August we (my father, mother,
sister and I) combined a trip to this insulator show in the suburbs of
Philadelphia with visiting my father's dad and family. It was a long trip but I
didn't mind it very much this time. This is true because the show was in a
mall, therefore it wasn't necessary for me (or mom and my sister) to spend
boring hours sitting at the show. Besides that, I hit it just right, one of the
hobby shops (there were two) was having a model railroading sale - one of my
hobbies.
Insulator shows aren't the only reason dad travels. He also goes
insulator hunting. This can be done by walking along railroad tracks, whether
in use or abandoned, and searching the ground around the base of the pole or
climbing abandoned poles. Antique shops are a good source too. Actually the
hunting came before the shows.
Whatever the case may be, insulators are almost
always connected with traveling in our family. However, the rest of us,
excluding dad, would rather spend a vacation in Maine. We did make it there once
for a week. We planned to go the next summer but dad went the wrong way - to
Cleveland for an insulator show. It's been another summer and we still haven't
made it to Maine.
"Call of the Open Road" it may be, but mom says
dad's "call" is more like "Congestion of the Highway" and
says "why don't we go to Maine to get away from traffic, people (two kinds
of headaches) and insulators!"
Mark Lavendoski
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