I totally get your dilemma! As a collector of old packaging, I've had to deal with insects that get into my display cabinet and eat the "live" stuff inside the packages, causing holes (like in a 150 year old wheat coffee package! I guess the stuff was still good.) This has happened twice in the last few years where the cabinet gets a bug infestation and other nearby packaging is ruined. So I faced the difficult choice that I can no longer collect any packaging with "live" contents that insects might feast on. And I had to get rid of any packaging that had edible live contents. I'm happy with that decision because now I'm fairly certain no more bugs will come.
I agree - you want to keep the insulators on the original beam. It'd be a shame to remove them after 100 years BUT you could remove them AND KEEP THE BEAM in some outside storage area? Alternately, I was going to suggest what someone here suggested - there might be some coating that can cover the creosote. Or, do you have a balcony or windowsill? You could put it right outside a window - the sunlight might be nice through the glass.
BTW, that's an awesome looking and perfectly decorated apartment!
You said the porch wasn't a good fit to display the crossbar, but wondering if you considered hanging it from some part of the porch. It was, after all, once up in the sky.
Seal the crossbar with shellac. I’ve heard shellac is very effective at masking odors. I remember reading an article about someone that was fixing up an older house that had wooden floors. The previous owner had a bunch of cats that peed all over the place. As you can imagine, the smell was intense. The new owner used several coats of shellac over the wooden floor to seal in the odors, and then whatever topcoat or clear coat was added after. They said it worked like a champ. So, if shellac is good enough to seal the smell of old cat piss, it’s provably good enough to seal the smell of creosote or whatever petroleum product that was used in that crossbar.
I've come across dozens, if not hundreds, of insulators in shops and on display over the years and never really gave them much thought, but I like how the beam puts them in perspective. I hope you can find a way to make it work.
I agree with your feelings on the authenticity thing. I often find myself drawn to metal advertising signs, but even in many antique shops, they're reproductions, and having them on display just wouldn't give me the same feeling as the real thing.
I love old antique items, especially things from the "Americana" age, so I really enjoyed your piece yesterday. And I like the rustic beam aspect of your new find. But my comment is really about your coffee table in the 2nd pic - now THAT is awesome!
This is an excellent piece. First I want to call out the best cluster of words on the internet this week: "whiplashed by the creosote situation."
More than that, though, I really vibed with this as someone who has written about authenticity a great deal over the years. Your points are universal but letting them unfold in a microcosm -- your apartment -- makes them even stronger. Are you familiar with the story of "the same axe twice"? If not:
My grandfather buys an axe. He uses it for many years and passes it on to my father. My father uses it, but the handle breaks and he replaces it and keeps using it. My father passes it on to me. I use it for years but at some point the blade breaks. I replace the blade and keep using it.
Depends on how much work you're willing to put in to restore the cross-bar for in-house display (certainly a worthwhile goal). Here's what I recommend: coat it in copius amount of baking soda sprinkle a fine mist of water to let soda soak in. For a 5ft length you'd probably need a couple of kilos - it cheap.
Then after it's dried in the sun for a couple of days, sand it down with a fine grit sand paper. Sanding by had with a strip of sandpaper wrapped around a scrap block is fine, else you can use a palm sander if you have/borrow one
Sand until the layer down to which the soda had penetrated comes off (should be a couple of mm I think depending on how generous you were in application. Then vacuum it and bring it in to check...
If necessary, you can apply a new coat of shellac protection/sealant layer as someone else suggested, that takes several days in the sun to dry out before being dry.
You can also put up a post on several of the antique wood restorers forums - many people do this as a serious hobby!
Speaking only from an observational standpoint, the cross arm most likely isn’t originally connected to most (if any) of the insulators given the differing types and their arrangement on the arm especially so close to its midpoint which is too close to where it would have attached to the pole. Thus, does the arm really attach (in a collective sense) to the insulators?
I agree that at least some of these particular insulators were probably not originally matched with this particular beam. But it's still a real utility beam, as opposed to a replica.
I wonder if there's some way to apply a finish to the crossbar that would still leave it looking authentic but would seal it so it stops emitting fumes.
I totally get your dilemma! As a collector of old packaging, I've had to deal with insects that get into my display cabinet and eat the "live" stuff inside the packages, causing holes (like in a 150 year old wheat coffee package! I guess the stuff was still good.) This has happened twice in the last few years where the cabinet gets a bug infestation and other nearby packaging is ruined. So I faced the difficult choice that I can no longer collect any packaging with "live" contents that insects might feast on. And I had to get rid of any packaging that had edible live contents. I'm happy with that decision because now I'm fairly certain no more bugs will come.
I agree - you want to keep the insulators on the original beam. It'd be a shame to remove them after 100 years BUT you could remove them AND KEEP THE BEAM in some outside storage area? Alternately, I was going to suggest what someone here suggested - there might be some coating that can cover the creosote. Or, do you have a balcony or windowsill? You could put it right outside a window - the sunlight might be nice through the glass.
BTW, that's an awesome looking and perfectly decorated apartment!
You said the porch wasn't a good fit to display the crossbar, but wondering if you considered hanging it from some part of the porch. It was, after all, once up in the sky.
Seal the crossbar with shellac. I’ve heard shellac is very effective at masking odors. I remember reading an article about someone that was fixing up an older house that had wooden floors. The previous owner had a bunch of cats that peed all over the place. As you can imagine, the smell was intense. The new owner used several coats of shellac over the wooden floor to seal in the odors, and then whatever topcoat or clear coat was added after. They said it worked like a champ. So, if shellac is good enough to seal the smell of old cat piss, it’s provably good enough to seal the smell of creosote or whatever petroleum product that was used in that crossbar.
I've come across dozens, if not hundreds, of insulators in shops and on display over the years and never really gave them much thought, but I like how the beam puts them in perspective. I hope you can find a way to make it work.
I agree with your feelings on the authenticity thing. I often find myself drawn to metal advertising signs, but even in many antique shops, they're reproductions, and having them on display just wouldn't give me the same feeling as the real thing.
Free is free, and a burden is a burden… and never the twain shall meet
I love old antique items, especially things from the "Americana" age, so I really enjoyed your piece yesterday. And I like the rustic beam aspect of your new find. But my comment is really about your coffee table in the 2nd pic - now THAT is awesome!
Thanks, Bob. That coffee table is a repurposed mine cart. Bought it from a Manhattan antiques dealer back around 2010.
This is an excellent piece. First I want to call out the best cluster of words on the internet this week: "whiplashed by the creosote situation."
More than that, though, I really vibed with this as someone who has written about authenticity a great deal over the years. Your points are universal but letting them unfold in a microcosm -- your apartment -- makes them even stronger. Are you familiar with the story of "the same axe twice"? If not:
My grandfather buys an axe. He uses it for many years and passes it on to my father. My father uses it, but the handle breaks and he replaces it and keeps using it. My father passes it on to me. I use it for years but at some point the blade breaks. I replace the blade and keep using it.
Is it the same axe my grandfather had?
I do like the fact it came with the pole, it might be worthwhile effort to detoxify it 🤷🏽♀️
Depends on how much work you're willing to put in to restore the cross-bar for in-house display (certainly a worthwhile goal). Here's what I recommend: coat it in copius amount of baking soda sprinkle a fine mist of water to let soda soak in. For a 5ft length you'd probably need a couple of kilos - it cheap.
Then after it's dried in the sun for a couple of days, sand it down with a fine grit sand paper. Sanding by had with a strip of sandpaper wrapped around a scrap block is fine, else you can use a palm sander if you have/borrow one
Sand until the layer down to which the soda had penetrated comes off (should be a couple of mm I think depending on how generous you were in application. Then vacuum it and bring it in to check...
If necessary, you can apply a new coat of shellac protection/sealant layer as someone else suggested, that takes several days in the sun to dry out before being dry.
You can also put up a post on several of the antique wood restorers forums - many people do this as a serious hobby!
Speaking only from an observational standpoint, the cross arm most likely isn’t originally connected to most (if any) of the insulators given the differing types and their arrangement on the arm especially so close to its midpoint which is too close to where it would have attached to the pole. Thus, does the arm really attach (in a collective sense) to the insulators?
I agree that at least some of these particular insulators were probably not originally matched with this particular beam. But it's still a real utility beam, as opposed to a replica.
I wonder if there's some way to apply a finish to the crossbar that would still leave it looking authentic but would seal it so it stops emitting fumes.
Hmmm. Will investigate!
FWIW, I’ve always heard “meep-meep.”