A Shocking Find

Sandy’s insulator (Sandy Calderon)

While helping a friend clean up some land around her 1910s-era house in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Sandy Calderon picked up a beautiful piece of aqua antique glass. Her nephew is a lineman who works on electric lines and told her it was likely some sort of insulator. She read Dario DiMare’s article, “Glass Insulators: Conducting Fascination for Over 100 Years,” but didn’t see hers. “It doesn’t match any of the photos,” Sandy said. “All I know is it’s pretty!”

Sandy’s insulator (Sandy Calderon)

Fortunately, Dario had an answer for her. “That is a Lightning Rod Insulator,” he said. “It dates back to about 1880 or 1890. It had a metal ‘cap’ that went around the flared-out skirt. The cap was screwed into the side of a house or barn. The lightning rod wire ran down the side of the house and kept the lightning from burning down the house.”

Lightning rod insulators from Dario’s collection, some with the caps on them (Dario DiMare).

See more of Dario's insulator collection ›

Learn about a beach-found insulator worth thousands of dollars ›

This article appeared in Beachcombing Volume 40 January/February 2024.