MIKE GUTHRIE

If there is such a thing as a human live-wire, Mike Guthrie of Madera, CA is it! I often describe people in just one word......'my one word for Mike is "enthusiastic". But I'd have to add a close second; "energetic". Ever since the insulator bug bit Mike (or did Mike bite it??), this hobby has taken off like a rocket. Maybe it was coincidence... but I doubt it. Anyone who has ever met Mike knows what I am talking about. Mike loves insulators. Any insulators. All insulators. Mike loves a broken-up Hemingray 9 in clear almost as much as he loves a mint Pluto.... and that is what makes a true insulator collector.

Mike has a beautiful wife named Becky, who is pretty, intelligent, and nice. That's a combination one seldom finds; and she has it all, plus. Mike and Becky got into insulators in July 1982, but for being relative newcomers to the hobby, they have surely made up for lost time. Here's how they discovered insulators.

They had decided to decorate their country home in a rustic decor, and began hunting at flea markets for old tools, bottles, kitchen implements, barbed wire, and insulators. If it was old, they tried to collect a sample of it. Mike's first insulator display had 17 pieces (4 clear, 12 aqua, and I green), and he thought he had them all! Then one day they met Bill Heitkotter at a flea market. He had a 7-up green Hemi CD 214, a purple Agee CD 152.9, a gray CD 121 Agee, a cobalt signal, etc. When they saw those colors, Mike turned to Becky and said, "Let's get into this!" And they did.

Mike has always been a general collector of every type of insulator. When he first started, Bill Heitkotter told him that as he "matured" in the hobby, he would begin to cull the common stuff as he acquired better pieces. Mike told Bill that it would never happen, and it hasn't. Instead of eliminating pieces, Mike has added an entire building to hold them all, including all of his common ones.

The collection now contains over 7,200 different insulators. He has 196 different brands, 302 different CD's (4,000-plus different glass pieces), 475 different U-numbers (3,000-plus different porcelains), and over 215 different non-glass, non-porcelain pieces. Mike's motto could well read, "Whoever gets the most insulators, wins." And I think Mike is going to win, hands down.

Mike tells us, "I collect everything! Glass, porcelain, non-glass, non-porcelain, go-withs, brackets, hardware, pins, meters, tools, signs, books, catalogues, etc., etc., etc.. I have never sold any piece I didn't have in my collection. I really love the unusual.

"I am a 'pure' collector in the strictest sense of the word. What I mean is that I collect one of virtually every type of insulator I can find, as well as go-withs. I have two special loves which might be considered specialties; non-glass, non-porcelain insulators, and bubbled and swirled glass. I have over 200 pieces in the non-glass, non-porcelain category, including the majority of the pieces in Gerald Brown's book on the subject, as well as many which aren't listed or shown. I also like and collect barbed wire, old bottles, and old hand tools; also any items connected with early Fresno."

Part of Mikey's playroom (glass)

Mike's best find is a yellow green E. C. & M. full of bubbles and dark green swirls. It is one of his favorites, since it was found in en antique store for $5.00, and is his "find of a lifetime." But his favorite piece of all is a Kenosha Hook Ramshorn which was graciously sold to him by Paul Houpt to go in his non-glass, non-porcelain collection alongside a Pond's Patent and a wood-covered Wade with original pin. These are his four top favorites, but there are hundreds more which he likes very much, too. Mike's main want right now is a Batchelder Patent, iron cap, sulphur suspension-type ramshorn.

Mike holding Hawley helmet by living room showcases

Mike was born in Fresno, CA, on October 27, 1950. (Fresno is just a kangaroo's jump or two from Madera). He is fifth-generation born in Fresno County, sixth-generation Californian, and fourteenth-generation American. He lived in Fresno from 1950 until 1978, when he moved to Madera. Since graduation from college in 1973, he has been employed by the Fresno Police Department, and has been a Sergeant for the past eight years. He is currently assigned as the District Attorney end Court Liaison Officer. (Sounds impressive.... I'd better mind my P's and Q's).

Mike and Becky met in 1980, at the Fresno Police Dept., where he was teaching a class in which she was a student intern. During the class he cautioned her about the "wolves" lurking around the Police Dept., just waiting to pounce on her innocence. He advised her to notify her supervisor if anyone should try to take advantage of her...batter yet, she should notify him and he would handle it. Well, he says, "I guess I turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing myself, and ultimately convinced her to marry me." They were married on June 20, 1981.

Four favorites, counterclockwise: 
Wood Block Ramshorn on original pole;
Pond's Patent end pin;
Kenosha Hook Ramshorn; 
and wood-covered Wade with pin

Becky shares her husband's love of insulators "only a little bit", to quote Mike. She prefers CD 102's, 143'., and 162's, so long as he gets her nice-colored ones!!! Becky also likes juice reamers, but her main hobby is collecting friends.

Mike is a hard worker for our hobby. He has served as Information Director for the NIA from 1986 to the present. He has co-hosted the wonderful Bakersfield shows with Dee Willett several times, and Mike is the host of this year's national show in Fresno, which takes place July 24-26. When asked whet honors he has received in our hobby, he answered, "Being in 'Bea lines'!?" And then he added, "I don't get off on honors anymore. I just work hard and do the best I can at everything I do.., whether anyone else notices or not is insignificant, because I know what I've achieved."

Pert of the non-glass, non-porcelain collection

 
Becky Guthrie

Mike's greatest personal goal in life is to retire so he can play all of the time. He hopes someday to have the largest insulator museum in the world that will serve as a drawing point to the hobby for collectors everywhere, with the intent of promoting new and continued interest in insulators for many years to come. He states, "I hope to continue to contribute in any way possible to the perpetuation and growth of the insulator collecting hobby.

Mikey's new "Porcelain Playhouse" (700 sq. ft. and getting full)

"I love this hobby and think the collectors are the greatest. I only wish everyone who had something to contribute to the growth of the body of knowledge would do something about it. There is so much undocumented information, stories, discoveries, etc., that needs to be recorded for future generations of collectors, but people with the information just don't seem to want to help record it. My first hope with the hobby is that we can get the information out for everyone to enjoy.

"I think it is necessary for all collectors to realize that no insulator is worth jeopardizing a friendship over, so to all collectors I offer the advice.... friendship first, insulators second. That is the principle that helps make collectors in this hobby such greet friends, and makes insulator collecting such a great hobby."

In conclusion, a personal note, if I may. Mike never stops working for this hobby. He attends many shows in and out of his area, taking hundreds of insulators, and information about them, everywhere he goes. He also deals in books... books that are heavy to haul, and on which he makes very little profit, if any at all. But he does it because he wants to get the word out to new collectors, and not-yet-collectors. I've seen him talk for an hour to someone, enthusiastically telling them about our hobby, never even selling one insulator. But he doesn't mind. The many things he does to promote insulators is helping us all. He's our Ambassador of Good Will, and I don't know what this hobby would do without him. He and Becky are nice to know; good friends; and we will be hearing a lot from Mike in the future. See you all in Fresno!

With over 7,200 total pieces, Mike is truly the "Insulator Guy"