I found a "treasure" today......

[Valerie]

I was out picking things up out of the pasture waiting for the farrier to arrive and I saw what looked like glass, maybe a bottle...buried in the dirt....close to a tree stump.

Lo and behold it's an old blue/green glass insulator.

Does anyone know anything about these things?

I can't find my camera, once hubby is home, I will ask him where he put it & then update this with a picture, but this is what I can tell you so far about

this insulator.

On one side it says Hemingray #9 and on the other side it says Patent May 2, 1893.

It is measuring over 3 inches in height and 2 inches across on the top & a little over 2 inches across on the bottom. It's rounded on top & at the bottom it

has these little raised up bumps....ok, they look more like teeth.......and not a single one of them is broken...who-hoo.

I don't see any cracks....I do see a couple of "pits" or tiny chips on the top?...but I can't really tell exactly what they are from....they look like itty bitty snake bike, they are that small & close together.......

Anyway, I wasn't even "treasure hunting" today......but if anyone knows anything about these things, can you please clue me in?

Is there somewhere I can take this to get it looked at by someone that knows about these things? Any ideas?

Of course my sister told me, if you have one in your pasture there are probably more.....I said, well, thanks but no thanks, I am not going around digging up the pasture.......if they want to be found they will make themselves appear.......... that is what happend with this one....I cannot tell you how many times I have walked that pasture & never found anything.....

Apparently today was my lucky day, who knew? Darn, now I wish I had bought a lottery ticket.......haha.

 

[Miniv]

Neat! And yes, you may find others.......probably some pieces of others. If you ever find colored glass, you'll know where they are coming from.

People do collect them, but I don't know how much they're worth anymore. The fact that you have a name and date on it, probably will give it more value. I've seen them from anywhere from $5 to $50, depending on the color, condition, and name on them.... I think you're in for doing some homework.

 

[Seashells]

That's neat!

There are a ton of them for sale on ebay...on average....$5 to $10...but some for much more. Check it out and perhaps you will see one on there like yours.

 

[Gizzmoe]

I found something neat today myself but no where near as neat as your find lol. I went over to the other property to help my mom because the pump for the well wasn't working. I ened up looking down and one point and found something metal so I picked it up. It was a 1984 Rabies Vaccination Tag. I am keeping it because it's a neat little find that I wasn't expecting.

 

[Bassett]

It is a telephone pole insulator from when telephone lines were above the ground. The old line went right below our house along the railroad track and they just threw them on the ground. Just google telephone insulators. Hemingray are the most common ones. I have way over a hundred of them. The trouble is trying to find someone who wants to buy them. I put them in my flower beds.

 

[Bunnylady]

I can remember seeing rows of those things on top of telephone poles alongside train tracks when I was a kid. Most of them were blue or green, a few were clear glass. To me they are sort of "Oh, how neat!" but I find it amazing that people will actually pay money for them!

The previous owner of our property had a gun club shooting range here about 40 years ago. As a result, there are several places that are virtual "glass mines." I have probably hauled hundreds of pounds of broken glass out of the pasture. Occasionally, I find something intact, like a couple of milk bottles from now-defunct local dairies. I have turned up bits of things that are considered highly collectible now, like Depression glass. Maybe one of these days I'll find a treasure like that!

 

[Karen S]

Hi Valeria,

Yes, what you have found is the old telephone insulator. I have a few at home that I turned into candle holders. I made a heartshape wire stand that hold the insulator up. I also had one made with dried flowers in it that I hung on the wall.

Karen

 

[NoddalottaFarm]

Since many have told you what you have already, I will just add my 2 cents. My husband had a couple of these when we got together, and when I finally convinced him to get rid of them, we found out that one of them was worth about $200 to a collector. I was very amazed. Depending on the color, style and if it is "threaded" or not "threaded" inside.... it could be worth something to someone. My husband would *LOVE* to "clean up" your yard.

He's a metal detecting, ditch and creek searcher and finds like old bottles send him over the top.

Do some research online before you get rid of your bottles and insulators. You might be surprised at what you have.

 

[SaddleTrail]

Isn't it great when you find something like that? We have several of them as well.

My hubby is a freak about finding things and wants a new metal detector. He didn't like his old one so I gave it to the son in law for christmas hehehe.

He wants to go gold panning but he can't breath to walk very far and I can't walk that far. soooooooo we are going to ride our bikes down someplace when it warms up and the water flow is pretty good.

Always check ebay when you find things, it seems like there is always another one of what ever it is you find and you can get a idea of how much it is worth.