Last summer we had a gas leak in our yard near the street. The local Gas and Electric company pinpointed the source and began to dig to locate the gas line. It was necessary for the gas in the house to be shut off while repairs were being made. I directed the worker through my garage and into the furnace room. He couldn't help but notice the hundreds of insulators he passed on the way and began asking about them. He told me it was not uncommon for him to see them in this day to day routine in similar situations like ours. He said he'd noticed a couple in a window or a few gathering dust in a basement and wondered if there was any value to them. He said he's had opportunities to pick a few up, but never did. I told him to keep an eye out for them and jokingly said if he ever comes across a basement or garage full of them, let me know. He laughed and said he sure would. The work was finished an the crew left.

Some six months later a gas company truck was in our driveway with a service man at the front door. I was at work at the time and my wife was puzzled about the unexpected visit. She answered the door and there was the uniformed service man who greeted here with, "Is this the house that had all the insulators?" 

Still not sure what the motive was, she answered, "Yes." The service man handed her a piece of paper with the name and number of a lady who had just had a meter changed in her basement. He noticed an insulator being used as a door stop. A conversation on the subject of insulators came up. She then informed him she had nearly forty boxes of an old collection that had been stored in her garage since 1977 and she sure would like to get rid of them. 

My wife called me at work with the bazaar story. I immediately called the lady and confirmed the story and that, yes, the lot was for sale. I made arrangements to see what was there and found out she had suffered a terrible tragedy that had brought life as she knew it to a stand still. The collection was boxed up when she moved and still was wrapped in newspaper from 1977. I acquired a lot and added some nice pieces to my glass power and big porcelain collection. With the rest either duplicates to my needs or not within my specialties, I have since liquidated the majority of which remained. 

There are several parts to this story that are worth noting. First, the fact that the gas company service man would not only remember me, but go to the trouble of hand delivering the information without asking for anything in exchange is quite amazing. In fact, I never even got his name! I came to find out that I had met this lady when I was just a teenager and she remembered Jerry and Marilyn Turner (of Goshen, Ohio) and Glenn and Sandy Drummond (who were residents of Cincinnati, Ohio at that time).

The one ironic part of the story is she lived one street over from collector friend, Bill Bias, and that garage full of insulators sat there for twenty-three years, literally a stone's throw from Bill's home!

In this case, it shows that even the most unlikely contact can payoff. The stuff is still out there.