Columbia No. 2 - L.S.V.

I am sure that all of you who have attended shows are quite familiar with the Venezianos' Columbia No. 2 in green. This year he has had some made in cobalt, and they are beautiful. Cobalt being one of the most desirable colors in glass, and the scarcity of Columbia No. 2's, make this reproduction a real eye-catcher when displayed in your home or office. These are threadless, with L.S.V. very plainly marked on the back, so there should be no chance of anyone being duped into believing he is buying an authentic old historic insulator. This is very important, and I feel we can be proud that, so far as I know, everyone who has produced a reproduction of an insulator has had it very plainly marked, so there can be no mistakes. If you are interested in buying one of these Columbia No. 2's, see ad in classified section, page 49.

McLaughlin-19 1897-1972

You have probably heard or read that Mr. McLaughlin of McLaughlin insulators is back in business--on a very small scale. He has had built in his back yard the necessary equipment for producing insulators about two at a time so far. As you can see by the picture, the mold is in the shape of the McLaughlin-19. On the front is embossed McLaughlin-19; and on the back, 1897-1972. These have simulated threads inside and are made out of milk glass and slag glass. They are just beautiful, especially in an insulator collector's eye; and mean much more to me because they are made by a retired 88 year young man who once produced insulators commercially and is now doing this for a hobby. How great it is to still be active and interested in other people's hobbles! As these become available on the market we will Inform you through Crown Jewels.

4th National Commemorative

(Following Is a letter from Frank Miller of Tulsa, Oklahoma.)

Dear Dora

Glad to get your letter, especially as it prodded me into getting up a list of production figures on my commemoratives. I've promised the information to so many that my conscience was becoming a nuisance, so here goes.

First National Meet - New Castle, Indiana, June 20-21, 1970 
    156 In black glass, pilgrim hat, top embossed 
    137 in apple green, " " " " 
    48 In straw, " " " "

Second National Meet - Colorado Springs, Colo., July 10-11, 1971
    144 In black glass, pilgrim hat, top embossed 
    149 in apple green, " " "
    37 in straw,

Third National Meet - Kansas City, Missouri, July 1-2, 1972 
    310 in deep cobalt, pilgrim hat, rim embossed

Fourth National Meet - Hutchinson, Kansas, July 7-8, 1973 
    291 in carnival glass, pilgrim hat, rim embossed

The first and second commemoratives were produced in a glass plant here in Tulsa, and sold for $6.00 plus postage. For the third and fourth we had to go to Indiana to get the colors we wanted, and added costs pushed the price up to $7.00 plus postage.

I'm out of the first and second commemoratives, but I can refer inquiries to several people who have some. I have 62 of the third on hand, and of course am just getting started with the fourth.

We sure will be at Hutchinson next July. We attended a show there last September, and the building is the best yet - a real large ground floor arena with plenty of paved parking surrounding the building. We parked our trailer on the parking lot last September; however, there are not any hook-ups.

We had some rough luck on a trip to the West Palm Beach show last month. Margaret fell over some bedding in a motel and fractured her arm - in a town with no doctors. We finally got medical help and completed the trip. Mr. Merrill and Mr. Glasgow put on a real nice show, and we enjoyed it in spite of our troubles.

Thank you very much for your kind words on the carnival commemorative. Margaret picked the color.

(It seems there's not too much I can add to Frank's letter, except to say these are really a beautiful carnival, and they sure add the right 'something' to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd National sets. Dora)

The next two items pictured were mentioned in the January 73 issue of Crown Jewels. Both items have been made into necklaces for me by a cousin of mine whose hobby is rocks and making jewelry from them. The first pictured is a cobalt blue glass Liberty Bell bottle (even to the crack in the bell) trimmed in gold. It is just beautiful, and was a gift from Harold Pont and his wife of Miami, Florida. Whenever I wear this I never fail to receive compliments and 'oh's and ah's' on it, whether the observer is a collector or just John Q. Public. Many thanks to Harold Pont and his wife. If you are interested in one of these beautiful bottles, see ad page 38 of January 73 issue of Crown Jewels.

Pictured at the right is the Mini-Jumbo, a gift from the Venezianos, a souvenir of their Jumbo Show held October 14 and 15 in Illinois. This, too, I had made into a necklace, and it creates much interest when worn. The Mini-Jumbo is made of aqua resin and has Jumbo embossed on one side and L.S.V. on the other side. Wearing this necklace is a very quiet way of acclaiming to the world "I collect insulators", and my thanks again to the Venezianos for their thoughtfulness In sending one to me.

Now something for everyone who owns a key. Since mentioning the Mini-Jumbo in the January 1973 issue, I have received a letter and the following items from Robert W. Fast in Columbus, Ohio, who is a recent subscriber to Crown Jewels and is the designer and manufacturer of these plastic miniatures. He has been making these for the last two years as a basement hobby and got started by making an exact reproduction of the Hemingray glass miniature which he made up as a key chain, but has since made up other designs of his own, as you can see by the picture. He makes all of his models up as key chains, except the Chambers; or they can be made up plain without the key chains. In the lower picture the Mini Hemi 42 on the left has a pin inserted in the plastic with a ring, so that it may be worn on a chain. The Mini Hemi 42 on the right is cut in half so the back side is flat and has a magnet inserted, so it may be used as a note holder against metal. All of these are embossed with the appropriate names, such as Chambers, Hemingray, Columbia, etc., except the threadless key chain (upper portion of photo, right).

Our black and white reproductions just don't do justice to these colorful little plastic items. Try picturing them in bright amber, purple, bright green, aqua, pink and red. Everyone who has seen them has been fascinated by these little trinkets, and my thanks to Robert for sending the samples to me. May you have a long and profitable hobby. I am looking forward to getting together with Robert and working out a suitable souvenir for Crown Jewels.