Does anyone remember the skit on Saturday Night Live where two actors would stand facing the audience/cameras and all they would say was, "What the hell is that?" Is that what you're asking right now? Well, these are telephone pole insulators. Way back when telephone lines were above ground, the telephone companies placed these glass or ceramic caps on the telephone poles. They would wrap the telephone wires around these insulators. Neat, huh?
Apparently, Irma thought so too, so she saved a few of them when the poles in her neighborhood were taken down.
I usually have these on a windowsill. I love the way the light comes through them. What I hadn't noticed until I took these pictures was the wonderful scalloping on the bases of these insulators.
And you gotta love the raised lettering. I'm so glad Irma thought they were worth keeping.
9 comments:
It sounds like Irma was an interesting woman! I'm excited to see more of the wonderful things she passed down to you.
I have three of these as well but mine were from an op shop not passed down to me-can't wait to see what else she collected!
I have a few of these myself, situated in front of a window. I don't recall where I got them. Maybe from my Grandfathers garage?
I'm looking forward to seeing what else Irma left behind.
I have a collection of these, too! Irma does sound very interesting. Please continue sharing her/your treasures.
Many years ago my husband build us a bed at our get-away cabin. It had insultators screwed all over the frame in an artful manor of course. Was lovely to wake in the morning with the sun shinning through. When we sold the cabin the people who bought it asked us to leave the funky bed, and we did. Thanks for the memory of those hippy dippy days.
Bev Longford, Peterborough, ON
such lovely greens...emerald?
my grandpa collected these! i have a few of them and, years ago, i lived in a house that had a delapidated old barn...the barn was torn down and i found several clear insulators buried in the dirt...thanks for bringing back good memories...your quilt on sew, mama sew! is absolutely gorgeous...
Hey there. I just saw somewhere, someone(I wish I could remember where)did something really interesting with these insulators.
They turned them upside down, wrapped them in (rusty) steel wire, put votive candles in them and hung them from the wire.
I thought this was a neat idea.
Malka,
I was so extremely impressed with your site and work the other day, that I'm back again and again; already! I posed questions regarding your knowledge of dying and then found this page where you shared the books for information. I also see your glass electric globes, of which I have about fifteen of. I LOVE them. I have them (now) in a wooden pop-bottle crate, sitting amidst my garden, with painted pots that I did myself. I love watching the sun play on them - they're so unique. I've also used them for candles and that's really cool too.
Thanks for sharing everything!
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