Editor's note: Ed, who calls himself "the Old Polecat", shares some of his collecting stories with the readers of Crown Jewels from time to time. Here's an excerpt from one of his letters.

Many years ago, just a few months after the 2nd show in London, Ohio, I was working as a lineman on a line in the area. Looking for a place to eat lunch one day, I decided to go to the fairgrounds where the show had been held.

While eating, a flash of green in the trunk of a tree above me caught my attention. Being that I had everything on my truck I needed to investigate, I took down my ladder and placed it on the tree. As I climbed up, I couldn't tell what it was. I took my chipping knife out of my tool pouch and started to chip away at the bark that had grown around the object. After a few tense minutes and a few very carefully placed taps with my hammer, I had removed a good amount of bark. I stared at the most beautiful aqua class Cutter (CD 1038) that I had ever seen. It took me about half an hour to remove it. How long had the insulator been there unnoticed? Al that was exposed was glass about the size of a quarter.

I was going to tell Steve Blair about my find when the thought crossed my mind, "What if there are more in the trees?" I returned that weekend but did not see anything. But the next week, during a lunch break, I returned again, looking even more carefully at each of the 40-some trees in the parking lot.

It took me about seven or eight more lunch hours. But by chipping away at knots or bumps in the trees I found a total of five glass Cutters. I never told Steve where I found them. Kept one for my collection. And, boy, did I have some trading stock.

Thanks for letting me tell my story.