The two half-glass, half-porcelain Fred M Locke insulators shown below represent a small portion of a brand new, major discovery of buried insulator treasure. 

The successful treasure sleuth is Denley Bryson of Meridian, California. 

Denley tells Crown Jewels, "At the Auburn, California bottle and insulator show in December I heard a lady talking about finding a hole in her back yard with insulators in it. After waiting until everyone was gone, and we had time to talk, she said she was digging for bottles and found these insulators that were porcelain on the top and glass on the bottom. 

"Trying not to get too excited, I asked her if I could check them out sometime. She asked if I had a card, and I gave her my phone number. As she walked away, I thought, 'Bye, bye, there go the lost gutter tops.' 

"So I thought, 'If you don't ask, you won't find them: As she was heading for her car, I caught up to her and asked for her number." When a week had gone by and she didn't call, Denley phoned her and was invited to the woman's home.

"When I saw the hole and pile of broken M-2795's, I was sick. There was over one hundred of them in there, some with glass bases and some with mud bases (M-2796's). There was only one top that wasn't broken, and three mint bases (mud). We hope to repair around 20 tops. 

"All these insulators were in a hole in her back yard, four feet wide, by four feet long, by six feet deep." A power line that used these insulators was located about a half mile from the site. 

Great job, Denley. It proves that patience and persistence pays off.