- The OVIC 2004 Show Report -

The Ottawa Valley Insulator Collectors 6th annual show and sale was held on the 10th of April in Perth Ontario Canada. The Lions hall seems to be working out quite well for the spring show.

The day started early for me. I couldn't get back to sleep at 4.00am, so I got up just before 5.00 and was on the road at 6.00. I'd pretty well loaded the car Friday afternoon, so a water bottle and my camera were about the only items to be added Sat. morning.

The weather turned out very well for the weekend. Friday and Sat. were great driving days for the attendees coming from Southern Ontario and Quebec. The weekend before, we had -20 degree wind chills and 5cm of blowing snow to deal with..

Table holders started rolling in around 7.15am, which was good as it gave me time to set up the sandwich boards around town before the hall got busy. It's interesting to see a town wake up. The sign set-up goes pretty quick at 6.45am, but it takes a lot longer to pick all the signs up after the show, when the streets are busy etc.

Some folks had come into town a day early, while others started out at 3.00am to make the show. I've done the early morning, long distance drive to an insulator meet, so I can well relate to the sore backs and numb butts. Gotta love the rush of pulling up to a show site after a long drive though.

There were some serious displays at this years show. Lorne Fleece came down from North Bay with his excellent display of Telegraph Equipment and insulators from Northern Ontario. Judging by the grin on his face, we all knew he was having a good time.

There were some super scarce threadless insulators displayed by Al Hall. Al was open to talking about his diggings and had a good time discussing glass well past show hours. Even having seen the cobalt swirled 742 before, it was a knock out the second time around. A few of the other tough items on display included an indigo blue 718, a jade 742, a recently found chunk of a nice purple 718, a partial orange amber 718, a cornflower 742 and several styles of 743s. 

Doug Netzky made the long drive down from Sudbury for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. Doug has quite a nice collection of insulators made of just about everything but glass and porcelain. A recent addition to this area of his collection was a threadless Russian insulator. It is made out of some sort of pitch-black porcelain-like material and has a small pinhole like the style that is used on a metal pin. It's very crude, sort of like it was hand molded or carved.

Doug's other display was of his specialty, Australian insulators. The under lit display of medium sized glass from down under was very well put together. Like North American insulators, Australian insulators have a design sequence and come in a complete spectrum of color.

2 young collectors put a lot of effort into their first insulator show table. (Photo on next page.) Alex Winch and Ted Wilush from Woodlawn Ont., had a lot of fun at the show and seemed to be active all day long. Their combined display included their favorite insulators and a short story behind each one. There was also a well laid out...

Sales tables were busy this year. We had 12 sales tables with everything from $1000.00 down to freebies. The free insulator table must have been active, because I only had to bring home about 4 insulators :-) There were several threadless sold as well as some excellent Canadian colored insulators. If it was Canadian, it was probably available in some shape or form. American insulators were well represented with examples telegraph, telephone and power insulators on many tables. There was a fair amount of foreign insulators on various tables also. Insulators from Australia, Europe, South America and even Africa made a showing at OVIC 2004. Certainly a sign that the internet is having an influence on the hobby.

Other points of interest that happened during the day included Peter Breshara's rare pontiled glass window, Manfred's double threaded 143s, sales of various carnival and purple insulators, Jack's threadless display; various RR books and old Crown Jewels as well as the good food that was available. You couldn't have been hungry after dealing with one of the lunch platters provided by the Lioness Ladies.

A Freshly Collected 143

It was good to see a hall full of insulators and collectors exchanging both conversation and our collectable of choice. Tim Baxter made it up from NY, despite a recent injury. Nothing like a dose of insulators to ease the recovery process. Many thanks to all who made it out for OVIC 2004. An extended thanks to those who made a few extra contributions to the admissions jar, and to Bert A Freshly Collected 143 Van Wout, Jack & Yvonne Hays and Bill Meier for their assistance with show preparations. The hall is booked for OVIC 2005.

Photo credits for this column belong to: Alex Winch, Doug Netzky; Ian MacKy & myself.

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The header insulator is a 742.3 threadless insulator. This is a relatively "new" threadless, as it wasn't recognized as a unique style till the late 1980s.

The Amber Dominion Sold Quickly

Other news, for those readers on the Western side of the continent, keep in mind the upcoming 4th ANNUAL WESTERN CANADIAN INSULATOR COLLECTORS SHOW & SALE, July 17th & 18th 2004. This meet will be held in conjunction with the a RURAL ANTIQUE & COLLECTIBLE SHOW near Medicine Hat, Alberta. The location is the Viken Ranch # 524 Hays/Rolling Hills Road. For information and tables contact Dave Spencer (403) 528-3252 aandd@telus.net or Daryl Heron (403) 529-6117.

Eli Iannelli Rests Between Visitors

As always, feel free to drop CJOW or myself a note if you have anything you would like to see covered in the way of Canadian insulator news or information.

Good Collecting....... Robin

Robin Plewes, Almonte Ontario.   Phone: 613-256-7638
Email: robin.plewes@cmcelectronics ca.