Well, if you thought we went a ways north last time for our interview, we're going WAY up north this time... to Alaska.... to talk with Bernie Warren of Anchorage. If I gave awards for promptness (which I don't), Bernie would win it. His questionnaire and photos were sent back in less than three weeks. Great work, Bernie!

Bernard L. Warren was born near Akron, Ohio, on December 12, 1931. His family lived there until 1946, when they moved to Cumberland, Virginia. Bernie graduated from high school there in 1949, then spent four years in the Air Force during the Korean War, serving his first two years in Texas, and the last two in California.

In September of 1955 he met Madeline B., at the start of their sophomore year at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia. They were married on June 8, 1958, one week after graduating together from Longwood College. Bernie and Madeline spent their first three years together on the island of Guam in the South Pacific. They moved from Guam to Anchorage in 1961, and that is their home today. The Warrens have one son, William, born in Anchorage in 1965.

Bernie says, "Although Madeline and I both received teaching degrees from Longwood College in 1958, I managed a jewelry and oriental antique shop for my aunt and her husband on Guam from 1958-1961. We were both offered teaching positions with the Anchorage School District in 1961, accepted, and made the big move to Alaska. I received my Masters Degree in School Administration from the University of Virginia in 1964, and continued in advanced graduate studies there for three more summers. Madeline taught in the intermediate grades for twenty-five years, including three years on Guam, and retired in 1983. I taught Government to high school seniors for three years, served as an assistant principal for six years, then spent my last fourteen years with the Anchorage School District as a junior high school principal, retiring in 1984."

Wall of 12 lighted display cases in recreation room.

Bernie first became interested in insulators in 1972 while visiting his aunt in the mountains of West Virginia. She had just bought an old telephone exchange building, complete with an antique operator switchboard and several bushel baskets full of old glass insulators in an outside storage shed. To quote Bernie, "A quick glance revealed different colors and shapes, and I became the proud owner of my first twenty insulators, all different, for the grand sum of $10.00. 

"I have a general glass and porcelain collection with strong emphasis on the CD 121's, 143's, and 145's, with over 200 different of each of the three CD's. My latest and greatest love is my Australian glass collection, which numbers about 120 different pieces now. I became attracted to the different shapes of Australian glass in 1978. Three extended trips to Australia in the last five years, with over six months' and 20,000 miles of touring and research, have turned that attraction into a strong love."

Bernie's five favorite insulators, all of which are extremely rare and listed here in no particular order, are; his CD 121 No-Name Agee toll in deep emerald green; CD 423 C. C. G. in SCA; CD 423 A.G.M. in bright yellow; CD 494 Isorex in black green; and U-197A Macomb transposition, one of eleven Macomb transpositions he was fortunate enough to find in Alaska in 1973. His main "want"? A CD 145 base-embossed American in true amber glass. In his entire collection, he has over 2,000 different glass, and over 800 different porcelain pieces.

Madeline actively supports Bernie's insulator collecting. She attends and participates in virtually all of the shows with him, and equally enjoys the many good friends they have made through the hobby. In addition to supporting his hobbies, Madeline enjoys collecting rocks and minerals, antique ink bottles, and miniature soap bars. She is an artist at heart and enjoys painting (especially watercolors), and the arts and crafts. 

Washing insulators in the Australian outback.

Australian display case with favorite glass insulators.

As for his other hobbies, Bernie says, "I have collected stamps, Indian relics, and coins since childhood days, and maintain a passive interest in these hobbies. Trout fishing in mountain streams has also been an obsession since my youth, and moving to Alaska in 1961 provided me with trout fishing experiences that were out of this world. I completed my private pilot's license and bought a small float plane just so I could fish my favorite wilderness rivers. Digging for antique bottles in the Alaskan and Yukon goldfields was a great summer activity for our family in the 1970's and early 1980's. Golfing has become my main recreational activity during the last few years. I'm a so-so golfer, but love the game."

Bernie is now serving as executive director of the NIA for the 1990-1992 term of office, and is a hard worker for our hobby. He has displayed several times and says, "I received the Crown Jewels of the Wire award (plaque) at the 1986 Saratoga Springs national, along with the first place foreign insulator trophy for my display of Australian glass insulators. I was also very pleased to have my article ['From the Land "Down Under' '--Australian Insulators'] published in the June 1986 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire." Bernie is also especially proud of being chosen "Boss of the Year" in 1980 by the Anchorage Businesswomen's Association, as well as being selected as a Phi Delta Kappa scholar while attending the University of Virginia.

Bernie, Madeline, and friend in Queensland, Australia.

If you haven't met Bernie and Madeline Warren yet, make it a point to do so at the next show you both attend, for you are in for a treat. They are a very kind, friendly, and nice couple. You will be glad you met them.

I'll let Bernie wrap up his interview. "Madeline and I are both thoroughly enjoying our retirement. We love our great summers in Alaska, and usually take a short break in late fall and again in the spring, to visit in Virginia and help break up our long winters. We usually participate in six to ten antique bottle and insulator shows each year while making these visits to 'the lower 48 states'. Our love for traveling goes back to extensive tours throughout Southeast Asia in 1960 and again in 1961 while we were on Guam. We celebrated my retirement with a four-month tour of New Zealand and Australia in 1984-85, and haven't stopped traveling since. Finis!"