Years ago as you drove along the highway, you could look at the top of the telephone poles and see green and white insulators. Well, they are mostly gone now, and many people now collect them.

In 1844, a patent for the insulator was first applied for and was issued to Ezra Cornell. With the telegraph being invented in 1832, this would mean that the insulators came before the patent.

The first insulators were not threaded on the inside as you see them today. This caused a problem because the insulator would separate from the peg and fall off the pole.

Around 1861, L.A. Carevet invented an insulator with thread on the inside. The insulator was then screwed onto the wooden peg, thus preventing it from falling off the pole. Since glass, porcelain and ceramics were least expensive and stopped the leakage of current, they were used and are still used today but with a different design.

Between 1850 and 1900, millions of insulators were manufactured. The Louisiana Treasures Museum has many of these insulators on display. Come by, visit with me and view the collection of insulators.

Wayne Norwood is a lieutenant with the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Department and owner and operator of the Louisiana Treasures Museum located at 10290 Highway 22, West Pontchatoula.