The Winter 2003, Auburn, California, insulator and bottle show was held on Friday and Saturday, the 5th and 6th of December. Each year, Pat & Shirley Patocka, in cooperation with the 49er Historical Bottle Society, put on this show at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. This year, Pat reorganized the dealer map and improved the distribution of insulator, bottle, and collectible dealers throughout both buildings. The result was that sales were brisk and the walk in traffic was excellent. This is another of northern California's oldest shows and it has such date equity that it needs very little advertisement. Dealers and buyers keep this weekend open all year so that they can come from hundreds of miles away to see the goodies and get caught up on hunts and finds with all of their old friends.

You may remember that in past years this show has enjoyed a heart stopping series of walk-in, and dealer surprise items. Last year, wasn't it a Micarta Core suspension that stole the show? I think maybe Bill Rohde ended up with that one. This year it was a toss-up between a beehive, a helmet and an EC&M. Dwayne Anthony offered a mint condition, peach, California helmet to Ron Jenkins who didn't have to be asked twice! Later, I saw Ron walking around the show halls with this happy grin stuck on his face. Then there was this EC&M that Dwayne described like this, "The EC&M was a deep milky jade green...". Dwayne went on to say that he thought that it was an A mould item. Anyway, Mike Guthrie apparently couldn't live without that EC&M, and now it is enjoying retirement with a least forty of it's brethren.

Mike Doyle and Ian Macky try to figure out how to get lan's new
 station post out to the Triumph TR6 for the journey home.

(I-r) Tom, Frank and Larry just standin' around doin' what insulator and bottle guys do.

There was one gentleman walking around, taking offers on a box of insulators that included a butterscotch amber, HGCo Petticoat, CD145 beehive and a brightly colored, CD162 HGCo signal. A couple of two-hundred pound, Electro-Vidro, multiglass, station posts were sold to Ian Macky and Carver Meade. Frank Feher delivered a CD123, apple green, G mould, EC&M to Mike Doyle, and Dave Brown bought a pretty scarce California CD201 Tramp for his collection. Other sweet pieces that changed hands at the show included two CD257 electric blue Mickey Mice, a yellow CD260 California helmet(!), another Cal' helmet in green-streaked sage, a tough-to-find, aqua Cal' helmet variant called a 'pinch ear', and a yellow CD166 California.

Overall, the insulators offered at the show were fantastic! Larry Shumaker, one of the dealers who always seems to have great insulators on his table was so sick by Friday evening that he had to leave the show. Larry's friend, Scott Prall, stepped up and covered for Larry for the rest of the show. Scott even packed Larry's table and got it back down the hill. Larry is fine now, and we hope to see him at the Rohde Roundup this spring. We were all excited to see Mike and Cindy Guthrie who brought some beautiful old wood and iron hardware to sell. On the other hand, we missed Linda and Steve Viola this year. Even though Linda and Steve are now in Las Vegas, Nevada, we are holding out hope that we will see them again. Maybe they will get an annual show started out there in Lost Wages!?! Wouldn't it be fun to have a new insulator show out to the high desert?

Golin Jung, Nor-Gal president, tries to focus on his 
sales table, but he'd really rather be making the rounds.

The highly anticipated return of Dale and Art Huber from their trip 'south' was equal to its billing. The Bros. Huber, after a lengthy setup delay to give themselves an opportunity to see everyone else's goodies, broke out the kickinest assortment of Mexican Crown Jewels that anyone can remember seeing in a long time. What a haul! Dale and Art brought back all sorts of stories and photographs too. There was a crowd around their table throughout Friday evening. The baubles included an incredible, bubbly green, slag glass, American CD145 beehive, a bunch of very crude, dark blue aqua, CD155's, which were straight from the Texcoco factory(!), and an awesome olive green CD155 with an unlisted embossing. Mike McGuire, who wrote about his citrine McLaughlin, CD164 find in the November 2003 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire Magazine, was also in attendance to share his story in person, and offer some of the recently released LSV Jumbo commemoratives.

Greg Bickford, EG&M specialist, shares stories of collecting in the 1960s. 
Greg personally worked a line of amber EC&Ms when they were still ripe for the pickin'!

Dealers who buy a table for the winter Auburn show have usually waited on a list for a few (yes, a few!) years. Here at Left Coast Lines, some of us waited four years. This show has all the bells and whistles: date equity, scores of dealer tables, big walk-in crowds, free roast beef dinner, fresh cooked sausage and eggs breakfast, some of the coolest folks in the hobby, and some of the most hair raising glass available in the insulator and bottle collecting hobbies. This is a show for everyone, every year. Don't miss it in early December, 2004! (Left Coast Lines would like to thank the writers and photographers who contributed material for this show report. We could not have produced it without you!)

Now, all you thread-heads listen up: Getcher glass and mud traders into a good, sturdy box. Getcher swap lists and price guides updated. Flip open yer Crown Jewels to Coming Events, and click in the Show Finder for details on the next swap meet or tailgater in your area. Dig that dusty wad-o-cash out of the Fred Locke pinhole, and get all yer friends together for an insulator road trip because....

IT'S SHOWTIME!