GoKawiilP ORCELAIN I NSULATOR P AGE
Welcome to the Porcelain Insulator Collector's World of Mud!
CONTENTS
Similar to their glass counterparts, porcelain insulators date back to before the Civil War for telegraph wires. In North America glass was always the predominate material for communications insulators but porcelain has become the standard for power distribution due to its greater strength and surface resistance.
Porcelain insulators did receive the same level of interest as glass in the early years of insulator collecting, but have been gaining popularity in the last ten years. They are equally historically significant as their glass counterparts and available in as many colors and significantly more styles. Within the last 10 years or so a number of factors have contributed to the rapid increase in interest in porcelain:
More information has surfaced about the porcelain insulator business and a number of dedicated individuals have written books, articles, and reprinted catalogs that have significantly increased collector knowledge and interest in the porcelain side of the hobby.
Glass prices have been on the increase in recent years, making porcelain an attractive and affordable alternative. Porcelain insulators are now much more available at insulator shows.
More and more early "classic" porcelain has been taken out of service as utilities increase distribution voltages and collectors go "mud hunting"
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