Armchair Trip with the Armbrusts of Colorado
by Jan Armbrust

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", January 1970, page 9

I thought you might be interested in a quickie trip that Earl and I took just before Thanksgiving. We've decided that "it's the only way to travel."

When Earl found it necessary to spend three days in Minneapolis on business, he invited me to join him. We elected to drive there, allowing a couple of extra days for stopping en route to investigate antique shops and to visit other insulator "buffs". (Of course we packed the car full of trading stock--with insulators in the foreground, who needs clothes ?)

Leaving Boulder on a Thursday afternoon, we arrived in Ogallala, Nebraska about 8:00 p.m. Earl phoned Doug Parks, who insisted we not waste time talking and come on over! One would have to look very hard to find as complete and lovely a collection as Doug and Shirley have accumulated. We were really thrilled with their threadless insulators and nearly overwhelmed by their magnificent collections of bottles, arrowheads, Winchester rifles, stamps and assorted artifacts from old Nebraska area forts. Their charming home is truly a museum!

The next morning we were in North Platte, Nebraska, where we had a nice visit with Bill Cooper. Bill works nights, but was gracious enough to spend his morning chatting with us. He showed us some gorgeous insulator specimens and gave us more names of collectors along our route. We hurried on to catch Ed Saulsbery while he was home for lunch. Ed's beautifully displayed collection impressed us tremendously. Information was exchanged, a few "goodies" were swapped, and we were on our way once more.

At Kearney, Nebraska, we left 1-70 to look for Hubert Hecox. We found no one at home, so left him a RED "jewel" on a decorative cross arm behind his house! Do you suppose we'll hear from him?

Glenwood, Iowa, was our destination that evening, and there we enjoyed the warm hospitality of Betty and Don Clements and their son, Brad. Don's collection is unique and so nicely arranged. As always, the fellows had a great time comparing notes. After coffee and more swapping we were off again.

Frequent stops in antique shops with an occasional good trade cheered us onward to Ames, Iowa. In Ames we had a wonderful visit with dear friends and fellow insulator "hounds", Lucretia and Bob Sprowell. We hated to leave Ames, but it was time for business rather than play.

In Minneapolis Earl spent three full days at meetings. I visited many friends and stopped in every antique shop I could find. Unfortunately, the antique dealers in the Twin Cities are totally unaware of our hobby and I can still hear one gentleman asking me why anyone would want insulators!

One morning we made tracks through a fresh six inches of snow to see Bob Vangene the only collector we knew of in the area. Bob is a grand fellow with a very nice collection. He told us that the hobby is new there, although he has been collecting for several years. Bob is a U. S. Olympic marksman!

Thursday meant time to start home, so we went directly to Des Moines where we met Al Wright just as he arrived from business in Kansas City. He was most accommodating in spite of the fact that he was getting ready for a big show in Des Moines that weekend, and a big move to Minneapolis in a couple of weeks. (Can you imagine moving 3,000 to 4,000 insulators? The movers will probably see "inverted cups of glass" in their sleep for months to come!)

At Al's suggestion we drove over to see his brother, Sam. Sam Wright and his wife, Faye, are a charming young couple who are almost as excited about their rapidly expanding insulator collection as they are about their soon to be born first child. After a little trading and sharing of experiences we started south once more.

In Independence, Missouri, we saw ex-President Harry Truman out in his yard getting the evening paper, as we were on our way to visit the Vergil Endicotts. So, we saw a famous man and a prize insulator collection within a few minutes of each other! What an evening!

On we went to Moundridge, Kansas, and a visit with Keith Koller and his delightful family. Keith has an excellent collection and will have his insulators beautifully incorporated in the remodeling he's doing to his house. Kollers' son, Jeff, is a date nail collector, by the way.

A few miles away, we stopped to see the artfully lighted insulator display of Betty and Al Leslie in Hutchinson, Kansas. What a spectacle in color! It is absolutely gorgeous.

Across Kansas and Colorado we popped into a few more antique shops and had the pleasure of meeting Gerald Brown of Two Buttes in a store in Holly, Colorado. Mr. Brown is a real charmer and we were happy to learn of his interest in ceramic insulators. He's hoping to author a book on ceramics and porcelains in the near future. We wish we had had time to visit him and Mrs. Brown, but that must wait till later.

Home again-unfortunately the time zipped by too quickly. Our memories are happy-we met wonderful people, saw tremendously exciting collections, had a ball trading, and enjoyed the warmest hospitality possible. We still contend that insulator collectors are the greatest group on earth!

P. S. My dad decided we had so many insulators around our house that it deserved a special name. Thus he has christened it the "Insulator Inn" and presented us with paper and a stamp saying just that!