Collection: Antique Canadian Lightning Rods

These are from my private collection of local antique lightning rods. 

They are fantastic indoors and outdoors as decorative art when embellished with our brightly colored lightning rod balls.

Here is a little history of the lightning rod.

The pointed lightning rod conductor, also called a lightning attractor or Franklin rod, was invented by  Benjamin Franklin in 1752 as part of his groundbreaking exploration of electricity. Although not the first to suggest a correlation between electricity and lightning, Franklin was the first to propose a workable system for testing his hypothesis. Franklin speculated that, with an iron rod sharpened to a point, "The electrical fire would, I think, be drawn out of a cloud silently, before it could come near enough to strike." 

In the 19th century, the lightning rod became a decorative motif. Lightning rods were embellished with ornamental glass balls (now prized by collectors). The main purpose of these balls, however, is to provide evidence of a lightning strike by shattering or falling off. If after a storm a ball is discovered missing or broken, the property owner should then check the building, rod, and grounding wire for damage.

(Wikipedia)


0 products

Sorry, there are no products in this collection