1984 >> September >> Murphys Laws of Insulator Collecting  

Murphy's Laws of Insulator Collecting
by Matt Leissring

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 1984, page 9

  1. If there is a row of 14 aqua Hemingray-42's and 1 purple California on your window sill, your pet will invariably knock over the California.
  2. The rarest insulator will always be at the bottom of the box.
  3. No matter when you discover that old telephone or telegraph or power line, another collector cleaned it out the WEEK before.
  4. If you are a collector of glass insulators, you will find yourself accumulating porcelain at an alarming rate.
    4a. If you are a collector of porcelain insulators, you will find yourself accumulating glass at an alarming rate.
    4b. Trading doesn't help.
    4c. If you are a collector of BOTH, you will find it alarmingly difficult to accumulate ANYTHING.
  5. That $10.00 that the antique dealer got for six Columbias from another collector has since been used to purchase a price book.
  6. No matter where you live, the power lines in your area are all underground.
  7. The only pole with insulators is also the only one with the wasp's nest.
  8. That blue or green insulator you have always wanted has an aqua tint to it.
    8a. The other guy's insulator has no such tint.
  9. Your Ice Green insulator will always have an ugly brown flaw in the most visible place. 
  10. The desirability of an insulator is directly proportional to the amount of damage it has when you finally locate one.
  11. The prettier the color, the more stubborn the soot that's covering it.
  12. The size of your collection is Inversely proportional to the size of your house.
  13. The number of insulators you are forced to store outside is directly proportional to the number of unfriendly kids in the neighborhood.
  14. If a collector finds a piece of a cobalt blue CAL. ELEC. WORKS, it belongs to an insulator 3000 miles away. 
    14a. No matter how much advertising, correspondence, gossip, or research goes on, these two collectors are doomed never to meet.
  15. Despite all of the above, your collection is never Quite large enough.


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