October 2003 NOR CAL Insulator Club Presents 2003 NIA Western Regional Show

Collectors attending the 2003 Western Regional Insulator Show in San Jose California felt like they were walking into a mini-national show. But not too mini. With nearly 80 sales tables, and some two dozen displays, the Nor-Cal Insulator Club hosted a great event.

Western insulators were prominent, with numerous displays of rare early California insulators. The "Terrific Trio" on the cover of this issue were photographed at the show. Purple and mustard yellow CD 120 CEW ponies are featured on the logo for the Nor-Cal Club. We couldn't resist adding an equally scarce cobalt. These three beauties alone have a 2003 Price Guide value of $27,500.... just to give an idea of how rare they are.

The Nor-Cal members also displayed a number of insulators from the San Jose Electric Railway (inside back cover). The rare CD 265 Fisher's have been found primarily in San Jose or Detroit, MI.

Award winning displays included Colin Jung's exhibit for "best porcelain". He showed "fog bowl" styles. Colin is the new president of the Nor-Cal Club.

Richard Dawson's winning display in the "general" category was a crowd pleasing exhibit of battery rests.

Dwayne Anthony captured the "Best of Show" award with his display showing how poor quality control at the factory created Crown Jewels.

Amber swirls, huge bubbles, junk in glass, & deformed pieces add character to insulators that likely should have been factory rejects.

Ron Yuhas called his display "All Ears". But it captured the attention of a lot of eyes in winning the top prize in the category for Colored Insulators. Ron exhibits frequently, often winning awards for power glass. However, colorful items such as a yellow Columbia and a bright green Jumbo simply cannot be overlooked.

Dave Elliott won the Crown Jewels magazine award for education with his expansive display of tolls. Dave picked a few of his favorites to highlight... an amber swirled Am Tel & Tel, a rare green Diamond, and a milky Hemingray.

(Left) Dave's son, Andrew Elliott, won the award for Best Junior Display with his collection of Star Insulators. Great way to celebrate your 12th birthday, Andrew. Congratulations.

Larry Shumaker, a collector of colored signals for many years, delighted those in attendance by exhibiting his collection. His efforts paid off in winning the top award for a first time exhibitor.

A number of collectors brought their favorite CD 123's to show off in a joint display. Keys included an amethyst (top row) and an exceedingly rare E-Mold (embossed upside down) shown at the far right in the second row.

Members of the public brought in some great insulators for sale, including this threadless egg in a raspberry puce color.

Dave Hall won the award for best display of "foreign" insulators with a great selection of Mexican items.

Lou Hall displayed insulator pins and hardware, winning the top prize for "go withs".

The award for the best use of Western Glass went to Bob Hendricks for his display of McLaughlin insulators, bottles and go-withs.

Descendants of insulator manufacturer, William McLaughlin, Bill and Bob McLaughlin showed off these rare treasures. The bowl above is made from a 5 gallon water jug mold. In the 50's, a store called "Akron" (similar to Pier One stores today) sold these for about $20 all over California. These bowls were each made by taking them hot out of an unmarked mold and pressing them down to a free form design so each one came out different.

The fancy beverage cooler on the right has an internal ice holding chamber. This allows the beverage to come out the spigot chilled but not diluted.

Eloise Haltman got a lot of attention with a display she called "Clearly Beautiful". It featured only clear glass insulators. While clear glass insulators don't always receive a lot of accolades, some are quite rare and, as her display proved, they can be quite attractive when exhibited.

West Coast correspondent for Crown Jewels, Mike Doyle, emceed the well attended Saturday evening banquet. At the dinner, the membership of the Nor-Cal Club committed themselves to making a bid to host the 2005 National Show. Based on the success of the San Jose show, they will present some very tough competition for that privilege.