This story will be told in a series of posts...By far the greatest month ever in my career as an insulator collector.
Part 1 - Saturday, November 14th, 2009
My parents were visiting for the weekend. Dad and I agreed that we would spend all day Saturday looking here there and everywhere for insulators.
First stop an auction. We went to the auction for the viewing, lots of common glass, so there was no reason for us to stick around.
So we decided to hunt a line neither of us had worked before, not old enough for threadless but we knew some good CD145 Crebs had come off of this line. So we headed to the line, after finding a spot to get on the line we walked a few KM's and didn't come across anything but common glass.
So, we left the line after a few hours of hunting and headed on to an antique shop were we had had some success in the past. There were a couple of amber Dom's there (too expensive to buy) and a few other common pieces. While there the owner told us about an antique show in the next town, I had known about this previously but had forgotten about it.
On to the antique show, although it was late in the day we figured a fellow collector might be there selling so we could stop in for a chat. He was there so we had a chat with him and looked around. A dealer happened to be there who knew we collected insulators and we had spoken with many times before about insulators. He took Dad to one side and let him know that he knew another dealer who had just bought a collection from a linemen who worked for MT&T (Maritime Tel and Tel). He gave Dad the guys contact and since it was right on the way home (although it was getting late) we decided to give him a try to see if he was home. Sure enough he said stop on by and have a look.
We arrived at the man's home not expecting too much, we had been told there were 10 amber dominion 42's in the lot, so we figured maybe we would get lucky with something else in the lot, maybe the linemen had picked out some different stuff while working on the lines to drag home for himself.
We step in the dealer's garage and there are about 5 to 6 big boxes of insulators...never been seen by any other collectors. We each take a box. I reach down and pick up the first insulator on top...my chase is over...I finally have found it...A very nice blue aqua CD 126 NE Can, sweeeet. The next piece I haul out is a CD 143 NE Can Tall Variant in aqua, another nice piece. I see Dad picking at something in the box he is in, out he hauls a CD 136.4 Canadian boston in a very nice light aqua full of tiny bubbles, another stellar piece, in great condition. We dig a bit more, few purple ponies (including a diamond with a small 2 on the rear), 10 amber dominion 42's, and some others. I move on to 2 other boxes with high hopes....nothing, all commons. I see Dad at the bottom of the box he is working on....big smiles all around. As if it wasn't already a big time rush to pull the CD126 NE Can out of the first box, Dad pulls from the bottom of the box he is working on another CD 126 NE Can in a killer blue aqua....but even better it is mega crude. Folds in the glass, an underpour, full of steam and bubbles and carbon...a show stopper by far. One of the more crude pieces I have ever seen in person.
We dig some more, find a few other interesting pieces and lots of commons. We decide to buy of course. We leave to get the cash, hoping that for some reason the guy doesn't change his mind to sell while we are gone. We get back, buy it and we hit the road. We get back and have to go out to supper with the family...we are late big time. So we have to wait a few hours to handle our new gems and check the boxes for stuff we may have missed. Nothing got missed we think, we get to the bottom of the last box and a little gem is waiting. A CD 105 NE in a nice blue colour. A nice surprise having missed it the first time around.
By far the best collection of glass we have ever bought. It was quite a rush and for both me and Dad to experience it together was great. Retired linemen are definitely a great source....stayed tuned to future parts of this story for more proof of this .
1. 2 CD 126 NE Can in blue aqua
2. CD 143 NE Can Tall in aqua, milk in dome, CD 105 NE in blue
3. CD 127 (i just like this piece, heavy and crude), CD 136.4 in fizzy light aqua
4. Crude
5. Forgot to mention this one has junk to, milk in the dome.
Sorry for the dirty insulators, took pics before they were clean.
Stay tuned for more from the past month...still some good stuff to come