Insulator??? Packard Belle

[carling]

Can anyone tell me anything about this thing? Some kind of insulator? Had no luck Googling.....

Thanks!.....Rick

 

[carling]

side view......Forgot to add that its about 3.5 inches high

 

[carling]

bottom....

 

[cobaltbot]

A quess: used by Bell Telephone somehow, nice find, purty and practical!

 

[steveinlanc]

I'd have to ask you to open it to be sure, but it looks to me to be a transformer in a porcelain casing. Most likely to operate a low voltage bell or chime.

 

[capsoda]

Steve is prolly right. I saw one in the DeFuniak Springs Fire House when I was a kid. It was hooked to the fire bell.

 

[bombboy]

You are all right, a small transformer used primarily for low voltage transfer. Up here in the sticks I've seen many in the cellars that were used for telephone lines. Most were white, blue being seen the least. Neat converstion piece, I saved a few.
Mark

 

[Brains]

it's a telephone realated item, fuse or somthing. Nice find, i never find any of those. Might actually be a lightning arresstor

 

[glass man]

When I 1st saw it telegraph came to mind.

 

[carling]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I found it in a basement of a real old abandoned house, just laying on the floor. I think it was probably ripped out and left after the copper thieves did their thing in that basement.