JOHN MILEK

This time "Bea Lines" is going to interview a transplanted Californian by the name of John Milek, who now lives in Drums, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hyve and I have known John since he was a teenager. We met him around 1978 at the Bakersfield show, and we have always been impressed with him, for he has grown from a nice young boy into a nice young man. 

John was first attracted to insulators in the summer of 1972 during a family vacation to Sedona, Arizona. At that time he was seven years old and lived with his parents in Tustin, California. They were in an antique shop in Sedona, and while his mother was looking for depression glass, John told his father that he wanted to collect something also. Well, his dad found that "something"... a CD 106 Hemingray No.9, one in aqua and one clear, both with wood pins, for $2.00 each. By the end of the vacation John had five insulators. He'd also picked up a crossarm from his uncle and aunt, Ren and Rose Stewart, who have a ranch in Cornville, Arizona. This crossarm had supported a barbed wire fence there on the ranch. 

A few years later John's father was talking to an elderly couple in an antique shop in Newport Beach, California. John says, "They told him of a friend of theirs who was selling off his collection. We went to the home of Clifford Page in Garden Grove, California, and my interest was cemented then and ever since. Seeing thousands of insulators and colors was something had never experienced until that day. Mr. Page also had two telephone poles loaded with crossarms and insulators rising well above his single story home, and that was the beginning of my insulator craze.

"Although my collection is a general one, I have also concentrated on H.G ./Hemingray signals, CD 257 Mickey Mouses, and CD 102 Diamond ponies. I shall move on to other specialties upon nearly or fully completing any of those listed, if that is possible in our hobby. 

"I collected just insulators until the mid-1980's, when my dearest friend, Eileen Bannister, came home with a telephone sign. Needless to say, the race was on for telephone signs. My downstairs living room is the 'Telephone Room' with wall-to-wall signs, mostly old, with newer ones also displayed. But insulators still come first."

John and some of his signs and things in the "Telephone Room".

We'll get back to insulators in a moment, but first here are some statistics on John. He was born May 5, 1965, in Santa Monica, California. After graduating from high school, John went to work for Ricoh Copiers in Irvine, California. He started in the receiving inspection department, and ten and a half months later was promoted to assistant manufacturing engineer. John continues, "Not totally happy with that, I went to work for Dimensional Control Corp. in Tustin, where my father worked as district sales manager. I installed Sony Magnescale Digital Readout Systems on metal-working machines, and daily went to companies like Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell Int'l., where the engines for the space shuttle were made, TRW, Hughes Aircraft, etc. Later I became a district sales manager of the San Diego through Riverside territories, selling Sony and other precision measuring equipment.

"During this time span I was also a musician. I had my own band during high school and we played Polish polka music. I played the accordion and later joined the now nationally-recognized Polka Family Band. In the spring of 1988 my job career did a 180 degree turnaround. The Polka Family Band, formerly of California, went fulltime and moved to Pennsylvania. I now install Sony's on the side." John owns his own home in Drums, in a beautiful quiet setting in a forest, consisting of about .51 of an acre. His street name, Deer Run Road; says it all. He has built a nice insulator room measuring 10' by 16', which is separate from the house. He is having fun trying to fill all of the shelves with insulators.

One wall of the insulator room with shelves anxious to be filled.
Note the center row of H.G.CO. PETTICOAT beehives.

Another wall in the insulator room. Note the forest outside.

Over the past few months, John has generously sent us audio and video tapes of the Polka Family Band, and it is beautiful, happy, exhilarating music. If anyone even thought of becoming depressed, all they'd have to do is play just one of their songs, and they couldn't avoid becoming cheerful! It is no wonder that the Polka Family Band has been nominated for a Grammy twice; once in 1990 for their recording of "Fiddle Faddle", and again in 1991 for their recording "We Are Family". At the present time, the band plays approximately 150 times per year and has eight recordings (albums/cassettes/ CD's). They appeared in Carnegie Hall on June 11, 1992, and also have a cruise scheduled to the Caribbean. Other awards include being voted Best Polka Band in 1988 and 1991 by the New England Disc Jockey Assoc., and in 1991 from the International Polka Assoc. they received Best Album for "We Are Family", Best Song for "We Are Family" lead cut, and Best Instrumental Band. An impressive list, and well-deserved. 

As promised, we're back to insulators. We'll let John relate this part of his interview once again. "At the present time, my favorite insulator is the CD 145 H. G. CO. PETTICOAT beehive in sapphire blue that I purchased at the 1991 national in Cedar Rapids, from Mr. Mel Saunders of Clinton, Iowa. He came to the national with it in his pocket, and inquired as to who or where was H. G. 'Bea' Hyve. To make a long story short, through the efforts of Clarice, and especially Ray Klingensmith, a trade was made, and I went home with the sapphire beehive." [Take it from me, folks. It is the loveliest insulator in our hobby...true sapphire blue and gem-mint.]

One end of the room, showing some nice porcelain and power
 pieces, and another view of the forest through the windows.

John states that his main "want" is a complete color scope of H. G. CO. PETTICOAT beehives including each slight variation in which they are available. That's a pretty tall order, but maybe some of you can help John fulfill that dream. At the present time he has 914 insulators, of which no two are alike. He has 49 H. G. CO. PETTICOAT beehives. As for awards, John says, "I was awarded second place for a display at the 1980 Sacramento national, where my good friend, Mike Funderburk, took first prize; but that's ok. His 'Carousel of Colors' display was better than my 'ABC's of Insulators."

Those of us who know and love John Milek realize that Pennsylvania's gain is definitely Califomia's loss. But he's still a part of our great hobby, and we still get to see him and talk with him at some of the shows. Mr. Hyve and I will always be grateful to him for the hard work he did for us, unloading our truckful of junk at the national in Cedar Rapids. But the best part of all was getting to see John again. He's a perfect example of the clean-cut, decent, enthusiastic young people we are fortunate to have in our hobby. John is rather quiet, and keeps a low profile; but if you see him at a show, go up and talk with him. You'll be glad you did.