Now that I've been back in the insulator collecting hobby for a few years and have read the exploits of other fellow enthusiasts, I don't feel quite so like a "looney" anymore. Let me clarify that statement. At the tender age of four or five or so, I sort of "fell in love" with insulators, or "sky-lights", as I had affectionately named them. Naturally, grownups seldom understand the fantasy world of youngsters, and maybe for this reason my family wondered about my state of mental health. (What does George want with those things, anyway?)

Anyone old enough to remember the big band era, Elvis Presley and the Beatles is certainly old enough to be around when all those fantastic man-made jewels could be seen everywhere on electric, telephone and telegraph lines. Well, almost. From what I gather, people at the turn of the century had to contend with hundreds of open-line wires in downtown city areas such as Montreal (my old hometown).

All this of course was taken for granted before progress began to wreak its path in the mid 20th century. I don't imagine the employees of Ma Bell mourned too much the passing away of all that open line, but for us collectors and admirers the days were surely numbered for our jewels. 

At any rate, we left the prosperity of the big city in 1953 to take up a challenge -- farming. One day in the woodshed on the farm, my older brother and I chanced to come upon two insulators which I remember well. One was a CD 104 New England Tel. & Tel. Co. in olive, and the other a CD 145 "B" in aqua. If I may quote a few words of W. Keith Neal from his book, "At that moment an insulator collector was made."

In fact, in reading Mr. Neal's publication, Searching for Railway Telegraph Insulators, I could really relate to his boyhood adventures along the railway lines in England. It seemed so similar to experiences I had had. One difference is that I didn't think to take photographs then of what I was observing, or else maybe I would have been able to write a book, too! But then in those days I didn't even own a camera.

Back to my story. Soon after the discovery in the woodshed, I recovered two more insulators from poles along an abandoned railway spur line near our farm. Sound familiar? I now had a white porcelain beehive and another CD 145 for my efforts. This was really exciting! I even came up with the sawed-off tops of an old pole complete with four side brackets on side-blocks, as I've heard them called. Thus I could mount my four treasures and pretend I was in the communication business. My day was complete.

I related my humble beginnings to a friend recently, and we both remarked that to be an insulator collector some 30 odd years ago was truly something new. From what I've read on the subject, most of today's collectors got started only in the middle to late sixties. Could I possibly have been the first? 

Soon we moved to a nearby village, where I met another boy who became interested in collecting insulators. So we teamed up and began prospecting all nearby phone lines for possible specimens. Anything with no wire attached became fair game. At this point my conscience began to bother me. What if we were caught in the act of removing insulators from company telephone lines? Some way or another the lure of all those shiny glass and porcelain goodies always managed to suppress my conscience. Our bicycles became our mode of transport on these forays, and seldom did we come home without something rolling around in our saddlebags. This other boy had the ability to shinny up poles, a desirable capacity, indeed!

Our collections grew fast, and by 1959-60 or so, I estimate I had around 100 insulators, nothing rare, mind you, but still my pride and joy. 

In the fall of 1960 we moved again to a still larger town. But by this time a seventeen year old's interests often turn away from the hum-drum things in life such as insulators, to more exciting things such as cars and girls. So, it wasn't too hard to leave behind the childish "toys". I abandoned the insulators then and there.

The next 18 years or so found me climbing the ladder of life, often slipping a rung or two in the process, and still, every once in a while, I would sneak a peek at those insulators that were by now a scarce item to be seen anywhere.

About 15 years ago, I was on holiday on Prince Edward Island when I spotted a downed pole with two CD 109 Dominions on it. I took one, with that same old guilty feeling again haunting me. I think it lasted a full five minutes. That old insulator bug was once more close at hand seeking to bite me in an appropriate place, but I believe I must have squashed him by accident, because several more years were to pass by with just that lone insulator perched upon my dresser.

Then, one fall about six years ago, again on a vacation, I visited a flea market across the border, where I spied (you guessed it) insulators, this time for sale. I lost no time in paying the dollar for the pair of CD 164 Brookfields in green. This time there was no escaping that little varmint I mentioned earlier. Must have been a family member to the first bug, because he got me good. I was hooked.

Soon Crown Jewels came my way, and since January 1979, I have never missed an issue. I began combing the flea markets, antique shops and yard sales all over seeking out that "new" insulator discovery, until Herkimer, New York, beckoned to me in July 1980. You couldn't have kept me away with a stick! An easy day's driving found me in the small but pleasant town. There I met all the famous names in our hobby, and came home with a trunkful of goodies including a transposition bracket complete with four CD 129's with wires still attached.

Thoughts began racing through my mind as I approached the border on my way home. How was I ever going to get all this stuff through customs without paying a ransom in duty? Would I have to empty my car trunk on the ground just to satisfy the customs inspector? Sunday evening traffic was backing up behind me at the border checkpoint, and the inspector, having no clear idea of just what all this was worth, decided to let me through, seeing that I had openly declared all. Good old honesty finally paid off.

I have been buying like mad all during 1984 by mail, and trading with others with similar interests. The house is beginning to bulge outwards now, with over 400 different items on display, so I wonder what direction I can go in now? The thought of selling out saddens me. I'm proud to show my collection, although no record breaker as far as Guiness World Book of Records is concerned.

I've made many good friends in this hobby, which are more precious than the insulators themselves. As Dee Willett stated clearly last year at the Bakersfield show, "When you're an insulator collector, you're one of us." That's a real insulator collector for you.