Well, after surviving the National in Sacramento this past July, I guess it's time to get back to business. I must say that it was quite a show. As usual, I starved myself to save what little money I had brought with me for any insulators that I might find for the collection -- which weren't too many, as there was a lot of competition among us CALIFORNIA nuts.

The consolidated CALIFORNIA display came off beautifully, with over 200 pieces of CAL glass. I owe a great big thanks to Dave Potts, his wife Suzanne, and Larry Reed and his family for putting up with them as they pulled off what I had set out to do in the fall of '80 and was unable to carry through on my own. Thanks, folks, for making a dream come true. It was a real learning experience for me, as I am sure it was for the other participants. I also owe a "thank you" to Mr. Grant Salzman for being so supportive from the very beginning, and for being there when the going got tough. For my first National, I sure chose the difficult way to do it! Thanks to all the participants -- Lenny Philbrook, Sid Marques, Ross Huth, Mike Kirby, Dennis Kotan, Dave Potts, Tom Salzman, Ray Thompson, Jeanne Bridges, Pat Patocka, Don Harned and Rip West. You folks really know what good glass is all about! I could rave about that display all day, tomorrow, and on into the next week, and still not convey my feelings.

By the end of the show on Sunday, four days of the Bobbie Sands diet plan had taken its toll, and I was ready to get back to living. By the way, I lost nine pounds (mostly in the wallet)! 

Getting back to the "CALIFORNIA CONNECTION", it seems that somewhere between myself and "Dear Dora" the U.S. Postal Service has managed to misplace the "CALIFORNIA CONNECTION" #3, so I will do what I can to rewrite it here.

After taking out "ponies" and "tramps" for articles of their own, I was left with the following five styles in the communications category. 

Communications Insulators

TOLLS. Wow! There were some real dandies there in the display at the National. CALIFORNIA C.D. 121's are pretty limited in color variations, but of the eight or so colors known, we had all but a couple there. STEEL SAGE (sage with a blue cast), SMOKE, YELLOW, YELLOW-SMOKE, SMOKE-PURPLE, LAVENDER, PURPLE, and BURGUNDY. The YELLOWS didn't make a showing, but the rest were there. It was quite a line up. CAL 121's aren't too tough to come up with in STEEL SAGE ($5-8), and various shades of PURPLE ($10-12), but those SMOKES and YELLOWS are a different matter. I had never set eyes on a pure SMOKE "toll" before we started putting insulators in the display. It's a real gem. I've never seen one of these go for sale, but judging rarity and desirability, I would say they would be a good fifty-bucker. Like I said, it was a real gem. YELLOWS are tough, too. I've seen one sell for $25 and heard of another selling for $35. I would say they are worth at least that. For one of the rarer YELLOWS, most CALIFORNIA collectors would gladly give $35. CALIFORNIA 121's are one of the few styles CALIFORNIA made that came embossed with a style number. Centered 1/8 inch above "CALIFORNIA" is "A 007" embossed in 5/32 inch lettering.

The "beehive" is another style that comes in a pretty limited color range. You could always collect 45 different shades and tints of smoke, but when it comes to stark color variations (BLUE, GREEN, PEACH, etc.), you are cut down considerably. CALIFORNIA C.D. 145's can be found in SAGE GREEN, PLAIN GREEN, SMOKE-GREEN (very grey), CLEAR (or very close to it), SMOKE-YELLOW, SMOKE, SMOKE-PURPLE, and light PURPLES. I have never seen a genuine medium to dark PURPLE 145. They just don't come very dark when they are a good clear purple color with no smokiness.

I have seen some dandy treated purples! We call them "Canadian CALIFORNIAS" around here referring to Canadian royal purple. I have seen several styles of CALIFORNIAs in this color including the beehive. GREEN and CLEAR beehives usually price between $5 and $10 on sales tables around here, and it's not too hard to find them on the lower end. The SMOKES and PURPLES hold $5 to $15 depending on color. Good PURPLES go a little higher than the smokies. $15 is a little high for most, but for a good color I would hold no qualms about pitching out 15 clams for one. I have yet to see a good YELLOW (gold) beehive, but I have seen a SMOKE-YELLOW one, so I think they exist. 

I have a strange peachy colored 145 in my collection, and I wonder if they were ever found in a good strong PEACH? The SMOKE-YELLOW beehive I know of sold to its present owner for $20. If you could get one with more color, it would undoubtedly be worth double that. Does anybody out there in insulator-land have a good YELLOW or PEACH CALIFORNIA beehive? You have an interested party here. Drop me a line. 

One last color variation here. CALIFORNIA beehives have been found in a two-tone GREEN and SMOKE-PURPLE. This is a fairly tough two-tone to find, and they have sold in the $25 to $30 range in the past year or two. Most of the C.D. 145's in my collection have a "point" or "button" on the dome (see diagram); however, some do not. I checked around sales tables at the last couple of shows I have been to, and it looks like about 80-90% of CAL beehives do have this button. All my beehives are embossed in type very close to 5/16 inch.

"HOOPSKIRTS". C.D. 152. CALIFORNIA made two styles of "hoopskirts", the common variant, and what I call the "taper top". The "taper top" is somewhat difficult to find. They are only found in BLUE and AQUA. The difference between the two is in their shape. The "taper top" has a more tapered skirt and dome than its common variant counterpart. It might not be obvious to some people unless the two are set side by side. The "taper top" is slightly smaller than the common variant, but when set side by side the difference appears much bigger than it actually is because of the added "heft" in the more squarish looking dome and skirt on the common variant. The difference is not a big one. These "taper tops" have a peculiar base that is also worthy of note. This base is unlike any I have seen on any other style of CALIFORNIA. Where the common variant has a round base like most insulators, the "taper top" has a flat base that tapers upwards and inwards to a sharp edge on the inside (see sketch).

There are two CALIFORNIA styles that have odd bases. This is one. The other is the C.D. 201 transposition, and although these two vary from the usual round base that CALIFORNIAS have, these two are quite different from each other. It took me a long time to get a "taper top" hoopskirt. When I finally did, I got a bunch of them. I kept three for my collection and sold the rest. I sold every one I had for $15. I hadn't seen any prices on these before, so I took a stab in the dark. They sold, so I guess that is what they are worth (BLUE or AQUA). I wouldn't ask much more than that for one though. 

The common variant can be found in AQUA, SAGE GREEN, PLAIN GREEN, CHARTREUSE-YELLOW, GOLD-YELLOW, SMOKE-YELLOW, CLEAR, SMOKE, SMOKE-PURPLE, PURPLE, PEACH, and TWO-TONE (GREEN and SMOKE-PURPLE). I thought it was quite a coincidence that the "taper top" only comes in BLUE and AQUA, and the "common variant" came in all known CAL colors except BLUE and AQUA -- until I found an AQUA common variant at the Portland show. No doubt this common variant (C.V.) in AQUA is a sleeper. In all my years of collecting (since '70), this is the first one I've seen. It's not a very noticeable insulator in itself because of the color, but it's fairly scarce. I hate to hazard a guess on value -- maybe $5-$10. For all the hoopskirts I've seen, the "taper top" is ten times as common as this one, so ?? Just try to get $150 for it!!

With exceptions given to the YELLOWS, PEACH, and TWO-TONE, the hoopskirts price in the $2-$10 range. The SMOKES and PURPLES always do better than the GREENS price-wise. The two yellows I have seen sell took $10 and $25. Good PURPLES can always be found for cheap, but a fair market price for a good one would lie somewhere in the $6-$10 range. PEACH is tough, and is certainly worth $25. Same goes for a good TWO-TONE. The hoopskirt is THE most common CALIFORNIA style. It reflects somewhat in the value of the better color. PEACH is a hot color in any style, but a hoopskirt won't get half the price a 133 or 121 will. Same with the YELLOW. There are just too many hoopskirts around, and most collectors are tired of them. 

The C.D. 208 is one of my favorite insulator styles. I am sure glad CALIFORNIA made them! The "X-TOP" is a "mountain insulator", designed for use in mountainous areas and other areas where long pole spans and heavy strain loads would be encountered. The "X-top" is nothing more than a beefed-up hoopskirt with a top-tie. The top-tie wire groove, when used, kept the line wire from slipping down under heavy loads, as a side-tie would be likely to do. Mountains pose a problem to maintenance of ANYTHING in the winter. I don't think the phone company enjoyed having to send crews up into the hills on foot (because their trucks could not get through the snow) to fix a line downed or broken by snow or a fallen tree.

They built their lines through the tough areas with heavier equipment than usual, and this is where the "X-TOP" was designed for use. Like the rest of the equipment they used there, the "X-TOP" could stand up to a greater amount of load and strain. When a "CROSS-TOP" was used as it was designed to be, it was incorporated with a unique tie-wire that was first tied around the normal wire-groove, and then wrapped up over the top to hold the line wire that was lying in the opposing top wire-groove. I will see what I can do to get a picture of one with the original tie-wire still on it, and put it here in CROWN JEWELS. 

The C.D. 208 comes in two styles. Both are the same, except for the embossing. One comes with 3/8 inch embossing, and the other comes with 1/2 inch embossing. The 1/2" embossed style is a little rarer than its 3/8" counterpart and is only found in SMOKE-PURPLE. The 3/8" embossed style has a little more color variation, but not much. You can find the 3/8" style in YELLOW, SMOKE-YELLOW, and SMOKE-PURPLE. I have two reconstruction projects in different shades. One is a darker and more purple color than usual, and the other is two-tone (YELLOW and PURPLE). The most common "X-TOP" is the 3/8" embossed SMOKE-PURPLE one. It generally sells for $25 to $35 when mint. The 1/2" embossed style usually goes for a little higher -- maybe $35 to $40. Those YELLOWS and the TWO-TONE, they are tough items. I don't think $150 is too outrageous for one of these. They are a lot rarer than a PURPLE or YELLOW helmet, and those are worth a good $150. I paid a crisp "Ben Franklin" for my SMOKE-YELLOW 208. My 3/4 of a two-tone was given to me, but I have offered an amber EC&M straight across in trade for a (gold) YELLOW "XTOP" and been turned down. What can I say?! On some of the rare stuff like this, it is tough to put a price on them. You are at the mercy of the seller if you have to have it. 

'Til next time.

Take care &
Good Collecting, 

Brent.