The Rural Voice, 2001-05, Page 31Joyce Blyth's Wellington County collection demonstrates the wide variety of
lightning rod balls".
balls while she was "up there".
Why have collectors taken an
interest?- Well, we have all the
ingredients of a collectible: age, and
potential rarity. (Glass gets broken,
and the survivors are hard to get at
on top of barn roofs). Climbing onto
a barn roof to retrieve these balls,
which may be worth upwards of $10
to a collector, is no easy task. It is
also quite possible that after all that
effort the ball is found to have a
crack or chip in it. Or perhaps a hole
created by a well -aimed pellet shot
by some farm kid sometime during
the past century. That said, the
lightning rod has probably been the
safest spot to store these glass balls.
If not still installed, these glass balls
probably would have been dropped,
crashed or trashed long ago. In fact,
another myth is that the glass balls
were designed to break, with a
broken ballindicating lightning had
struck that rod.
Apart
from their age and
history, another appealing
aspect of these early glass
balls is the myriad of colours,
patterns, and shapes in which they
were made by the early glass
manufacturers of the day. It is
estimated that over 30 different
varieties of glass balls were made
and installed from the 1880s through
to the 1930s. Then the depression
caused the sales of these balls to fall
off sharply. By' the 1940s they were
replaced by heavy ceramic
balls or tin balls. But many
older and newer ones alike
still adorn our farm
buildings. During a recent
drive in Bruce and Huron
counties I spotted green ones.
blue ones, gray ones and
white ones. I even spotted a
set of octagonal -shaped
amber ones.
Personally, I would like to
keep seeing some adorn our
old barns and buildings. I
must admit a certain
attachment to the lightning
rods on our family's farm.
The white milk -glass ball and
Ontario rod (see photo) on our pump
house were both
manufactured circa 1920.0
In the business for the
IOna term
The Dominion Lightning Rod
Co. Ltd of Dundas, Ontario, has
been supplying lightning rods and
lightning protection systems since
1898. Not only did they supply
the CN Tower and the Ontario
Science Centre, but also likely
made the rod on our old pump
house. This fifth generation
family business can get you set up
or in touch with qualified
installers. 1-800-265-0453
Lightning rods are more than
just a reminder of times past
Iightning rods are recommended by the Farm Safety
Association on all major farm buildings. David
JHorn of the Ontario Fire Marshal's office, who has
inspected many cases of lightning damage, also says
properly installed lightning protection systems are a good
idea. Just like smoke alarms, the fact they may not be
mandatory doesn't mean we shouldn't install them — and
keep them working. The engineers for the CN Tower,
Ontario Science Centre, and various universities think
they are a good idea — all have installed lightning
protection systems.
It is not the lightning rod itself, but the entire system of
cables, connections, and grounding that provides the
lightning protection. If properly installed by qualified
installers, lightning protection systems are designed to
take the lightning strike and conduct it safely to the
ground. There are many variables to proper installation,
from the use of proper materials and connections, to
proper grounding that can vary with soil types. Without
proper installation or lightning protection in place, the
lightning may jump or arc about unpredictably. In addition
to the immediate fire hazards, the tremendous electrical
charge may cause damage to electrical systems including
on-farm computers. It can also damage electrical
insulation on your farm's electrical system that may lead
to a lingering fire hazard.0
MAY 2001 27