It was a beautiful, late autumn day when my son and I decided to take a hike along an old deserted railroad bed. As we walked and enjoyed the wonderful scenery and cool crisp air, a glimmer of reflected sunlight caught my son's attention. After closer examination, I recognized the object as being an insulator and explained that they were used on electric and telephone poles. As we scratched the soil around that insulator, we discovered six more insulators. My son felt that he had discovered a long lost treasure. Needless to say, at that time my son and I did not know that people actually collected these glass curiosities, but my son was instantly hooked. 

At the time my wife and I did not know this newly discovered hobby of my son's was going to affect our lives, but we were off on the adventure together. It truly has been and still is an adventure, traveling thousands of miles to flea markets and garage sales. My son is always looking for the one elusive insulator that he needs for his ever growing collection. And speaking of a growing collection, it has grown from the original seven to over three hundred insulators of every shape, color and size imaginable.

It seems that any insulator collector worth his or her salt is an expert at cleaning them. My son practices this ritual on a regular basis and is very adept at it. One day he was cleaning a clear Mickey Mouse over the ceramic sink in his bathroom, when a loud crack was heard by my wife and me. My son came down the stairs to proclaim that he had dropped the insulator. Mickey Mouse survived, but the sink did not. My son's hobby in our eyes at that moment was at an all time low, but I replaced the sink and gave explicit instructions as to where the insulators would be washed, and things were back on track. 

We have met many wonderful people through my son's hobby. We look forward every month to attending the local insulator club meetings and the various shows. Insulator collectors are definitely the greatest.

The best advice that can be given to the parents of a beginning collector is to put good tires on your car, exercise a lot of patience, and be prepared to embark on a wonderful adventure as these truly "Jewels of the Wire" enter your lives in a very positive way.