Books about Porcelain Insulators
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Below are books about porcelain insulators to help the collector. The first two books are needed to get you started in the hobby. They will help you identify styles (with U-numbers), manufacturers, markings, and values. Click on the links to learn more about the book. All books are AVAILABLE now and may be ordered directly from Elton Gish by sending payment to 5415 Lexington Circle, Lumberton, TX 77657. You may send a personal check, money order, or use PayPal. For inquiries, write .
2nd Edition Collector's Porcelain Guide Book for Porcelain Insulators
This 2019
SECOND EDITION book is the newest
Porcelain Guide Book for unipart (one-part)
pin-type porcelain insulators. It is like no other book about porcelain
insulators. This is the culmination of more than 45 years of research and
nearly 5 years of work to write and photograph all known unipart styles.
21 new U-number styles have been added. The 1028 pin-type styles in the
U-Chart are shown in COLOR using reference photographs of
actual insulators. The Unipart Chart has been reduced by 20% by removing
most of the trimmer variants and styles assigned from catalogs that did not
match actual insulators.
All the new U-numbers assigned since the first edition was
published in 2015 are included in the 2019 second edition. It has a very detailed history of each
manufacturer with nearly 500 historic and other photographs many of which are in
color. Every aspect of unipart pin-type porcelain insulators is discussed
as well as examples of 286 types of markings that have been reported. Mike
Spadafora wrote an Appendix section summarizing his decades of hunting and
researching Fred Locke insulators and digging in the Victor plant dump. He
tells how you can determine the approximate year of manufacture by glaze and
manufacturing characteristics.
The book is 278 page book is spiral bound so it will lay flat when opened. The size is 8-1/2 x 11. The book is available NOW.
Price is $45 plus $8 U.S. shipping. (Canadian orders please contact me for shipping cost) If paying with credit card or Paypal, shipping will be added automatically.
Canadian orders for the Guide Book and Value Book combined, please contact me for shipping cost).
You may send a personal check, money
order, or use PayPal. $45
NEW
just released: Value Guide
(4th edition) for
Unipart and Multipart Porcelain Insulators
This new 188-page VALUE GUIDE is self-contained. There is no need to refer to the Porcelain Guide Book for the U-Chart!!
For the first time, the Value Guide has:
The new 4th ed. Value Guide is $45 plus $7 shipping.
Multipart Porcelain Insulators 2nd edition book:
This 379-page book provides drawings and photographs of 568 different styles of multipart porcelain insulators identified with M-numbers. In addition, it contains a wealth of information on old power lines, historic photographs of insulators in service, the history of electrical power, company histories, markings found on multipart insulators, patents, value guide, and much, much more. The soft cover book ($25 plus $5 shipping, plastic spiral bound so it will open flat) has a beautiful color photograph on the cover showing old insulators in a beautiful mountain scene. The limited edition hardbound book ($35 plus $5 shipping) will be available while supply lasts. The author is Elton Gish. To order, send payment to Elton Gish, 5415 Lexington Circle, Lumberton, TX 77657. You may send a personal check, money order, or use PayPal to send payment.
$25 for spiral bound
or $35 for hardbound.
Fred M. Locke: A Biography
This 343-page book gives a detailed history of Fred Locke, the father of porcelain insulators. There are many historical photographs as well as photographs and scale drawings that show all of the porcelain and glass insulators he produced. You will be fascinated by his involvement with Pyrex glass, Corning Glass Works, Fry glass insulators, and many of his other glass patents. The author is Elton Gish ($25 plus $5 shipping). You may send a personal check, money order, or use PayPal. $25 plus $5 shipping.
Three one-of-a-kind catalogs of porcelain insulator companies were reproduced as close to the original as possible:
Reprint of the 1912 Brookfield Catalog (Sold Out)
H. Morgan Brookfield reprinted the original catalog his uncle, William Brookfield, owns. It is an embossed hard cover book that is stitched together and has approximately 167 pages printed on slick magazine quality paper. He added a 24 page dedication to the Brookfield Glass Company Founding Fathers and 3 different cross references in the back. The dedication section includes several Brookfield patents, family photos, factory photos, company stock certificate and seal, and family history. This is the only book available with detailed mechanical drawings of almost every Brookfield Insulator. If you are a serious glass insulator collector or just a casual Brookfield insulator collector, you will want one of these books for your reference library! It is beautifully published to last several lifetimes.
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