Guidelines For Good Friendships
Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", July 1969, page 27

We feel it is time for some rules and laws of good trading to be set up. Do any of our readers have some ideas along this line? How does a manufacturer's defect affect the desirability of the insulator? I mean such as cold shuts (where the glass is too cold to fill the mold properly), broken bubbles that leave a hole on the outside, foreign objects embedded in the glass to the outside (we have one that has a wire embedded in it). What are your views on this subject? Insulators that are completely perfect are becoming increasingly hard to find. Also, there is the matter of age cracks, or as some call them sun or pressure cracks. The California insulators are bad for these type cracks, but they are definitely different than a crack from being banged or dropped. Dullness from the elements or from being buried is another factor detracting from the beauty of the insulator. Also, we have had a few Californias that other collectors have told us were ground off around the bottom edge at the factory because too much glass was poured into the mold and left sharp edges around the bottom. There is also the chipped bottoms of E.C.&M.'s due to the manufacturer's using a break off mold so we are told. It's hard to find perfectly smooth bottoms on these old ones. I think we all know that chipped insulators should always be stated as chipped, where and how badly chipped. Then if the person still wants it at least he's not disappointed if he was warned beforehand.

It's bad enough to get a United States insulator in the mail damaged. I know, because we just received our second damaged one today. What does the Post Office do to them? Run a bulldozer over the package? Thank goodness for insurance, but I'd rather have the insulator. Our special thanks to Chris for sharing his journey with us that are less fortunate and are stuck here at home. Hope someday we can make it back to Boulder, Colorado and see your insulators, Chris.