Here is a snapshot of some insulators, all porcelain, presented to me in
Holland while on a recent vacation.
Staying over in Amsterdam, I phoned the local energy company - electricity
and gas - and spoke in English to the No. 2 man. Asking where I was calling
from, and being told, he said he would pick me up in a few minutes.
He took me to the main plant, where I met the "Wheels", presenting
them with a Hemingray miniature or two. One is going into their museum. Since it
was then 4 p.m., we made an appointment for a tour of their facilities for the
next day.
Promptly at 9:30 Mr. Jacop Heukelom, the deputy director and my host of the
previous day, picked me up, and we drove to the first generating plant. I was
offered several large insulators, but passed them up for obvious reasons.
We went through four plants in the city, met the foreman, and ended up with
several nice insulators, all Dutch, except an import from Japan. These I carried
all the way back to London and then back to the USA.
Europeans are surprised that there is an insulator collecting hobby here, but
accept the idea as "within normal limits", and didn't hold it against
me. In France, at a champagne company, they had two or three large glass
insulators as ashtrays, and one other chap in Paris told of picking one up in
the mountains and using it as a bird bath. That is the limit of the insulator
"hobby" there.
In England I called the local power company and was invited to Kent to go
through their junk pile, etc., but declined due to time limitations. Maybe next
time.
On arrival home, I sent Mr. Heukelom a dozen or so glass and porcelain
insulators, all with undeniable US and Canadian markings. All in all, a very
interesting trip.
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Thank you, Roy, for sharing your experiences with us. These shapes are
different and interesting. I think it's a pretty safe bet to assume, after four
and one half years of scattered reports from subscribers who have visited
foreign countries, that glass insulators weren't used as extensively there as in
the United States, Canada, Australia and Mexico. Of course, there are still many
countries we haven't heard what was used. Wonder what Russian insulators look
like?
Dora
)