The Research Goes On...... And On

As the horizons of our hobby have reached further and further into other lands, we've found many new collector friends who share our common interest in insulators. As a result of our correspondence, we have traded our familiar North American glass and porcelain pieces for the many "new and different" styles and colors of insulators found in their countries. We've learned from each other by identifying our own manufacturers' trademarks and by passing on the related histories of these companies. It has been a terrific learning experience and certainly a whole lot of fun! 

This past year and a half has been an especially active and fulfilling time for foreign insulator enthusiasts. I would like to take this opportunity to thank three of our American collectors who have spent a lot of time and effort "over there" and "down there" during 1991-92, seeking out and bringing back "new stuff' to share with others in the hobby. Many of their discoveries have resulted in new CD and U-Numbers...which need shadow profiles... .which need inked scale drawings....which keep Elton Gish very busy! (He is still smiling, but he hopes you will stay home for a while now).

RAY KLINGENSMITH, of Orwell, Ohio, spent some time in France and England during the spring of 1991 and had the fun of riding on a freighter over there and back. He enjoyed all the sight-seeing, but did (of course) manage to set aside some time to look for insulators. He arrived back home again just a few short days before the National in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 26-28, and had to really hustle to make it to the show with all the exciting new styles of porcelain and glass pieces he found in France. Ray is a truly seasoned collector who knows what to look for and he hit the jackpot ! You can imagine the feeding frenzy around his table as he unpacked all those boxes, and collectors were happy to walk away with new treasures to add to their shelves, chuckling over some of the stories Ray told about how he had acquired them. He tells me that he is planning a CROWN JEWELS article in the near future, so you will probably hear a few of these tales and, knowing Ray's talent with the camera, there will be some good photos, too. He was responsible for several new CD and U-Numbers.

CALEB THIMELL, whose family home until recently was Chino, California, was assigned by the U.S. Navy to the American Embassy in Bogota, Colombia from June 1,1990 to June 1,1992. He was a new collector when he first went down there and introduced himself in a letter to me, asking if I knew what sort of insulators could be found there. If these were worth having, then could I give him some tips on how to get them? Well, let me tell you, I went straight up and turned left!! By this time, we had definite proof that the elusive ZICME insulators were made and used in Colombia, because a young American exchange student, who had spent a year at the University in Bogota, had taken some off abandoned lines near the outskirts of the city and brought them back. And through my husband's company, which maintains an office for one of its seismic crews there, we even had a Bogota address for ZICME's main business office! We had previously believed that these insulators originated in El Salvador, but this was in error.

So I dug down in my bag of tricks and came up with a few pointers on "where to, who to, and how to", which I sent to Caleb along with photos of the three known styles embossed ZICME. "Go for it", I said, "and please find out all about the company, too!"

Caleb didn't let us down! He and the friends who helped him covered a good many miles all over Colombia searching for insulators, some of which proved pretty tough to get. Not only that, but they put themselves at great risk because of the dangerous situation in that country. Caleb was in a unique position to be able to get insulators out of Colombia, and probably no one else could have done what he did. It's extremely difficult to get anything like that out of South America, period! Now that he is back in the States, there may not be any more.

Those of you who made it to the National in Orlando, Florida, June 19-21, had the opportunity to meet Caleb and see the rainbow of incredible colors produced by ZICME, as well as several styles of small porcelain T-bars, nosers and spooks that he found during the time he was in the land of Juan Valdez. His assignment in Colombia is now over and he will be stationed at Whidbey Island, Oak Harbor, Washington. I'm sure he will enjoy the collectors in the Northwest because there are some really neat people in that area. 

Caleb, you have contributed greatly to the hobby with your research on the ZICME company history, also by determining the makers of some of the other unmarked pieces and by finding many new glass and porcelain styles to add to the design charts. We can't call you a new collector anymore! We have all enjoyed your articles in CROWN JEWELS and your determination and priceless enthusiasm came shining right through.

DON FlENE, a professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, is a true authority on Russian Culture as well as the Russian language, and teaches both subjects. He is also a long time insulator collector. Several times in the past, he has taken groups of students to Russia, but since he was always busy tending to their needs, there was little time or opportunity to hunt for insulators. He did manage to find a few, however, and we have all enjoyed his entertaining but very informative articles in CROWN JEWELS. 

This past spring, through a grant from IREX (International Research and Exchange Board), he was able to spend three months by himself (March 1 to June 1, 1992) in Moscow, for the expressed purpose of studying and photographing some of the rare Russian "Icons of Sophia" or "Icons of Divine Wisdom", as they are sometimes called. He talked with me at great length about these treasured old religious pictures from the Byzantine Empire, some of which date back to the 13th century, but I'm afraid if I say any more than I have, I will tell it all wrong, so I will let him explain it to you in the article he has planned to write about his recent adventures over there. I do know that he took many, many photos of these treasured pieces and that he has brought back the slides to share with students of Russian Culture. Apparently, these icons had to be brought up from the archives of the museum, a few at a time, so you know how many hours he must have spent. But he did manage to time to hunt down some really good Russian insulators, including some new styles and a gorgeous CD 247.5 in amber! 

During his stay there, he lived in a small apartment in Moscow, cooking his own food, and even enduring a rather long and icy welcome to Spring on the part of the apartment owners, who decided to turn off the heat a few weeks prematurely! When it came time to return home, Don made good use of his prior experience (mostly negative) in going through Russian customs, and this time, he cleverly and quickly went through the line with his hand carried bundles of insulators without any hassle. Several of these beautiful glass and porcelain pieces were on display at the National in Orlando. The photo shows Don holding a CD 638 in green. Oddly enough, the embossing is on the inside of the skirt rather than on the outside something you don't see very often. Watch for Don' s article in CROWN JEWELS, coming up soon.

Ray, Caleb, and Don, as a result of your combined efforts, the style charts for foreign glass and porcelain have swelled considerably during the past year! I especially want to thank Ray for all the new markings and color variations and the opportunity to put a color photo of his favorite French insulator on the cover of our new book on foreign glass, Caleb for all his descriptive letters, the fine photos he sent and the information on ZICME, and Don for letting me display his new Russian insulators on my table at the National. You fellows did good!