Before I get too far, into this initial article, I want to thank Dora Harned for giving me the opportunity to write about the CD 143's in Crown Jewels. I had formerly typed up my findings and had mailed them out to several people for comment; but the postage costs were killing me, and I wasn't reaching nearly as many 143 collectors as I wanted. These articles will allow me to contact more collectors than I could ever hope to visit, and really give me a boost in trying to organize and fill in the listings of 143's. 

(Drawing is by Clay Salzman)

Prior to the Fall of 1978 I had only collected some of the NIA glass commemoratives, and I was mostly involved in "helping" my sons with their collections. But I kind of liked the variety of colors, etc. in the 143's, so I was easy prey when my youngest son, Clay, offered to trade me all of his 143's for my commons!! At about that same time at Dee Willett's Bakersfield show, I met John Williams of Spokane, Washington. John is a many-faceted person: He collects old cars, railroad switch lanterns, and he sings tenor in a barbershop quartet. He also collects insulators, and is one of the nicest, fairest, and most honest persons you will ever meet. When he found out that I was interested in 143's, he invited me and my family to join him on a Canadian trip and told me I would "get more 143's than I could ever get rid of!!"

I accepted John's offer, and the following June we visited Canada to see what we could find. We had a wonderful time, saw lots of magnificent scenery, and walked lots of line. We didn't find any purples (except one that was really crashed), but we did get lots of others. I even brought back some with damage to give to my friends as souvenirs! (They went like hotcakes!) All told, I came back with about 140 items, of which almost half went into my collection.

We also met some collectors on the trip. In British Columbia we had a nice visit with John Berard; and in Calgary, Alberta, we met Joe and May Bozak and Jim McLeod. We visited and traded and had a terrific time. 

After our trip I tried to catalog John Williams' 143 collection. This proved so very frustrating that I finally gave up because of the many varieties which could not be found in the book. Subsequent work with my own collection revealed the same problem, so I decided to see if I could re-do the listings to make them more complete. I first developed an indexing system based on the items I had seen, and then I planned another Canadian trip so that I could see some big collections and also test my system. 

In the Fall of 1979 I went to Saskatchewan and saw two magnificent collections belonging to Keith Ewart of Moose Jaw, and Bill Lovely of Regina. In addition to viewing and cataloging their 143's, I was, also able to meet with other collectors in Canada and gain a great deal of valuable information. While in Saskatchewan I also met with Harold Kalynovich and Daryl Heron in Swift Current. Then I drove to Calgary, Alberta, where I got a chance to see Jim McLeod and the Bozaks again, and also met Vivian Olson, Jerry Smith, Ralph Leavens and Mervin Fesser. It seems that almost everywhere I went I found new 143 colors or varieties, even if the collection was not large. 

In early May of 1980, John Williams and I made another Canadian trip, this time to central British Columbia. Once again we were impressed by the hospitality and congeniality of Canadian collectors. In fact, we did so much visiting, that nary a pole was climbed! But we did get to meet lots of nice people and see bundles of nice glass as we met Harry Biollo and Gary Reed of Penticton, George Rahier of Summerland, Greg Evans, Bill Gurney and Milt Johner of Kamloops, Wilf and Margaret Secord who now live near Valemount, John Werstuik of Vanderhoof, Dwight Dodge, Bud Merz and Harold Gentleman of Quesnel, and Bert and Dot Kirkland of 100 Mile House. Later at the NIA Western Regional in Enumclaw, Washington, I also got to meet Aidan Morgan of Cache Creek, B.C., and Larrin Wanechek, a former Cache Creek resident, now living in Washington.

I hope that my travels are not over. If I am able to attend the National at Herkimer this year, I would like to drive there and back via Canada so that I could meet with other collectors from provinces farther east. I fully expect to find lots of 143 varieties which have never made their way out West. Besides, in a study like mine, I prefer to see as much as possible myself. Furthermore, insulator collectors are the nicest people.