NATIONAL - Glass Insulators From Russia And Ukraine

Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 2000, (Insert) page 4

Marilyn Albers, Houston, Texas 
NIA Award for Foreign

Russian is the third most widely spoken European language, after English and Spanish, and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. The Russian and Ukrainian languages both belong to the eastern branch of the Slavic linguistic family, so the symbols, letters and numbers on these insulators are used and understood by both countries. 

Marilyn says: I love colored glass!! My mother had a gift shop that included antiques. She loved colored glass too and I remember the black wrought iron plant holder in one corner that held three CD 154 s in dark Hemingray blue. Anything that could be considered as colored glass went on display in the antique shop's windows.

CD 247.5 unembossed 
in dark olive green.

CD 568.7 unembossed 
in light green with amber swirls

I began collecting insulators when we moved to Houston and having acquired my mother's genes, I proceeded to pick up a few pieces here and there. I wanted any insulator that was either colorful or an odd shape. A trip to Europe opened up a whole new area of collecting insulators. There were so many different styles, and I was able to add several new ones to my growing collection.

When W Keith Neal passed away in 1990, I learned that he had asked his daughter to offer Bill and me the chance to buy the collection. . . so we flew to his home in Guernsey, Channel Islands, and did just that. He was one of my collecting mentors. 

My favorite insulator in this display is either the CD 579.5 in dark emerald green that was taken down from Quenton Marty's parents roof in Ukraine or the CD 579.5 in depression glass green that I bought way back at Dick and Ev Bowman's national show in Rochester in 1983. It would be a hard choice to make. 

I am always looking for any new glass insulator style or styles from the Ukraine or Russia that I don't already have --- I love them all.

CD 570 unembossed in golden amber

CD 579.5 in lime green embossed 
with the Two-headed Eagle of Imperialist Russia