Farmgirls look at many items thinking, “How can I re-purpose this?” I love finding new, clever ideas for ordinary or discarded objects. Often bitten by the “collector” bug, one of my favorite things to re-purpose are old glass insulators. While I’ve loved these colorful, shapely pieces of glass for decades, I never really knew the exciting history behind them.
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Debbie Bosworth
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
Rebekah Teal
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
Cathi Belcher
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
Mary Murray
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
Alexandra Wilson
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Nicole Christensen
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
The insulators reminded me of my husband’s distant relative who had a pit behind her farmhouse in Iowa full of discarded insulators. She would paint them with aquarium paint, fire them in her oven, glue them together and add a ring of marbles to the joint to create large candle holders. I had them for years when I had a large dining table and remember them fondly.
Hi Adrienne! That sounds beautiful, and very creative, too. (Also, Iowa is one of those places I want to visit someday). Thanks for commenting. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
My dad used to make home made chimes for the front porch. The “chimes” were some sort of silver (maybe galvanized) pipe of varied lengths. He drilled a hole at the top of an insulator and hung it from a small chain inside the chimes. The insulator was the part that clanged against the pipes to make them chime. A square piece of plexiglass hung from one of its corners from the bottom of the chain to catch the wind. I may still have one of those somewhere. A sweet memory of my dad.
Terrie, How neat! That’s a great idea your dad had. I may challenge myself and try to make something like that, too! If you still have one, you should hang it up…when the wind blows and the chimes make sound, you will think of your dad. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
What an interesting post; I never knew all the history of these insulators. I have several that I’ve collected through the years. Some of my uncles worked for the railroad, so a few were passed down to me and the others I’ve picked up along the way at yard sales or flea markets. I love the tealight idea, so I’ll be sure to try that one.
Thanks, Rebecca. I didn’t realize that some of the ones I have are so old as they are until I spoke with my friend Mary and did some research on them. Very cool that you have some that were passed down to you from relatives who worked for the railroad! Thanks for commenting, Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I have several insulators also! When our local power company was moving power to underground (no poles!), I asked if I could have a few. I came home to find a few blue/green and clear ones on my fence along with a couple of brown porcelain ones! The porcelain ones now sit on my dining room table, upside down, with candles in them. It is a very old town and I have no idea how old they are.
Hi Nancy! Lucky you… I myself do not have any of the porcelain ones…yet. There are lots of websites devoted to helping collectors identify their age and make of the insulators. Google “Glass Insulators”…you will be surprised what comes up! Thanks for reading and commenting, Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
How interesting! I have a large collection that I’ve picked up here and there at flea markets. My grandaddy and i used to pick them up beside the railroad tracks when I was little. I pretended like they were treasures and they were to me because I was with my precious granddaddy!
I decorate with them and even use them as doorstops! I like the windowsill idea and will certainly do that! Thank you for this interesting post!!!!!
Kim, What a sweet story about your grandaddy. Thanks for sharing it here. Love the doorstop idea…they are heavy enough, for sure. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I also tuck my insulators into my garden landscape, particularly anywhere that has lots of sun. My dad was an avid collector and not only do I have his, but I picked up a couple of BOXES of the turquoise variety at a garage sale a few years ago. They look wonderful in rock gardens and amongst succulent pots and plants, since the color compliments the plants. I also use them on my sun porch (blue accents) in groupings with the little battery tea lights…
Have fun! Life is about discovering what makes our hearts sing…
Hi Janice! Great minds think alike, it sounds! Lucky find…boxes of insulators? Awesome. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole, I never knew all this about the insulators. I know I had some when you were growing up. Did I give them to you? A good story and love all the comments. I never thought about using them for candle holders.
Love,
Mother
Thanks, Mom!
My husband and I also collect insulators!! I love the idea of the tea light.
Hi Beth! I thought the tea light idea was really clever, too! Enjoy! -Nicole
I took one of the old cross arms from telegraph lines and added to it and put over walk way with insulators on it everyone coments on it and really pretty at christmas with light on it.
Marietta, Oh, I bet that looks pretty! What a creative idea. Thanks for sharing. Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
My dad was a collector of insulators for many years. I have his original post that the insulators are on they are so cool in my flower garden. It is an inexpensive hobby.I decorate as paper weights in office and upside down to hold dried flowers inserted in canning jar. Have you ever seen a purple one? I have one that I just love and it is a large one. Mostly I have brown porcelain ,aqua and white. Thanks for sharing the tea light idea Jo Ann
Hi Jo Ann, love the idea of having the insulators on their original posts. I have never seen that. Mine are just on the ground in the beds, but I bet my hubby and I could mount them somehow to have them off the ground. I also love the idea of putting them upside down in a canning jar! So far, I’ve never seen a purple one in person and I don’t have any of the porcelain, but it gives me something to hunt for this summer at the flea markets. Thanks for stopping by and sharing. Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
My aunt made me a lamp out of one when I was in my 20’s(eons ago). My lamp was turquoise & my sister’s was clear. They were both absolutely beautiful. Aunt Inez heated them in a 450 degree oven, I think she said for an hour. Then placed them in cold water in her sink. They crackle and in some instances must be glued back together. She had purchased mini bases that fit around the dimensions of each insulator that she had purchased at a local craft shop. They had a tiny gold colored filigree that was about of a 1/4 to 1/2 inch high that came up over the edge of the insulator. She wired them and each had a small night light bulb inside it with the insulator over the bulb. The lamp had an inline switch. They made beautiful t.v. lamps. Mine was lovely but my sister’s really sparkled like crystal with hers being clear.
Hi Margo, Oh your lamp sounds beautiful! Your aunt sounds very talented and creative. What a lovely story to share here, thank you. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I now own several insulators, which I use as door stops, paperweights, and just for decoration. I am going to try the tealight idea soon!
My fascination with insulators goes back decades, to when I was a little girl. I remember spending hours on car rides watching for an orphan insulator on a pole along the road. My hope was that if I found one, my daddy would stop and somehow rescue the insulator for me to take home. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I actually owned one!
Great story, Jill! Thanks for sharing! – Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I love them but have 3 aqua blue green insolators 2 is hemingray one has -62 made inusaan the others biger has no# 3 Cable an hem
ingray the other has a 6 i would like to no the value an maybe sell them. Thanks
Hi Teresa, You did not mention where you are, but look in your area. Around me there are several auction houses that appraise pieces, on certain days it is free. Also, you can go to Ebay and search for your pieces, filtering the search for “sold” items. That way you see just what the going prices are, not the “wish” prices. And the best advice I can give you is to Google and research, read all you can. Pinterest can also give you articles and prices if you search. Good luck, sounds like some nice insulators you have! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
There are a huge variety and color of insulators. Most are extremely common as they made billions of them over the course of nearly 150 years. However some are worth $1,000 and up. Take a look at our web site
https://www.billandjillinsulators.com/
for a variety of rare and colorful ones!
Hi Bill, thank you for adding the information to your website. I checked out your Sample Catalog, and it was fascinating! ~Nicole