Saturday, June 4 will bring the 25th annual Hawkeye Insulator Swap Meet to the Hotel Pattee in Perry from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and visitors are sure to be amazed by the rich colors and dazzling variety — and sometimes high cash value — of insulators.
“Perry was chosen because of its rich railroad heritage and the community’s commitment to the preservation of architecture and art,” said Skip Lowe of Grinnell, one of the show’s co-organizers and a longtime insulator collector and train buff. “We’re expecting 40 to 50 collectors and hundreds of attendees at the swap meet, with collectors coming from across the country to educate, sell and buy insulators and related items.”
Lowe and fellow Hawkeye Insulator Association members Thomas Murphy, Dave Shaw and Ben Tucker organized the free event along the lines of the Antique Roadshow, with the public encouraged to bring in their insulators, railroad lanterns, telephone equipment or related signage and any other communication-related items for a free valuation or to sell at the event.
Lowe loves to talk about insulators, which he said were originally made to allow electrical currents to span across the country in the 1850s for railroad telegraph and other means of communication using the Morse code. As the technology progressed, insulators also came to be used by telephone and electric companies to transmit communications and electrical power to customers.
“There are collectors from all walks of life and demographics,” Lowe said. “As historians for insulators, it is important to preserve our history and to make sure the next generation understands this history as well as the value of these unique pieces of glass. They are beautiful to look at on a window sill or in a lighted case. Insulators are often referred to as crown jewels of the wire.”
He said that insulators range in value from $1 for a common piece to as much as $30,000 for the extremely rare examples. Some 99% of all the insulators produced are either buried in the ground or have been shot off by hunters, Lowe said, which makes the ones in existence rare and sometimes valuable.
“Most insulators were produced in aqua, pastel aqua and clear,” Lowe said, “but there were colors produced in purple, cobalt blue, yellow, orange and many others. To date, there has never been a red insulator produced or found by collectors. The rare-color insulators were many times leftover glass from dishes, jars or other glassware items at glass manufacturers. So if you have ever seen depression glass dishes, you can also find depression glass insulators out there. Some insulators are also made of porcelain and are bringing premium prices for rare ones.”
Insulators come in many shapes and sizes, but most are around four inches in height, he said, though high-voltage glass insulators can be as tall as four feet. Some insulators have value because they have streaks of milk amber, bubbles or even misspellings. Some aqua insulators appear to be common but can fetch $1,000 or more because of their age and shape.
“You never know what you have until an expert looks at it,” Lowe said.
He said the hobby of collecting insulators started in the mid-1900s by linemen who worked for railroads and telephone companies. Linemen would find a rare colored insulator and replace it with a newer “common” color. The linemen then began trading and buying rare insulators for their collections from other linemen, and thus the hobby was born.
There are now hundreds of insulator collectors across the U.S., and the National Insulator Association acts as a historical preservation group as well as to make sure that fake insulators are not introduced into the market. There are regular auctions, shows, websites and even an eBay site that has insulators for sale.
“We hope you will join us on June 4 at the Hotel Pattee to share your stories, and be sure to bring your glass and related items for us to appraise or to buy onsite,” said Lowe.
Dealers wishing to reserve a table should contact Lowe at 641-751-6856. Table fees are $25.
