Club Banner
The new BRIC banner was used for the
first time at the May meeting. Tommy Snead was instrumental in getting
it created and even made a donation to bring it within the spending
allotment that was agreed upon at the previous meeting.
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May Meeting
The club held its
second quarter meeting at the home of Chris Childress on May 10, 2003.
Members attending included Gill, Debbie, and Carrie Pollard, Chris
Childress, Fred Collier, Mike Hutchison, and Tommy Snead.
Chris Set up a large
tent so that everyone could use it to sell, exhibit, or trade
insulators. Lunchtime brought a chance for Chris to show off another of
his talents when he provided us with a wonderful meal. We offer a big
"thank you" to Chris and Pam for their generous hospitality.
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Displays at the May Meeting:
All Stars by Chris Childress
The above photo
(click for larger), shows the five different styles of Star Beehives.
Until recently it was generally thought to be four styles. L to R:
Standard, Pointed Dome, Postal, HGCO style, Brookfield "B" style.
The "B" style is the
most scarce of the five as Brent Burger on ICON has reported finding
only 2 in 20 years. Chris and Gill have found a hand full in southern
Virginia. On first glance they are identical to one of the big "B"
Brookfields but they have a small star low on the skirt.
Chris also
demonstrated the "Spec-Tru" Standard Color Reference for Transparent
Glass system for the club. This system allows you to determine the
color of glass by color transparency number/numbers. Chris is now the
owner of this system. We will have him demonstrate it again at the next
meeting.
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Radio Strains by Tommy Snead
Tom Snead set up a
display of strain insulators. These insulators were used on radio
antennas. The display included glass, ceramic, and rubber. The glass
colors included clear, green, purple, black, aqua, and blue. The
ceramic colors included green, white, cobalt, brown, and gray. Wonder
what the Virginia license tag could mean!??!
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GillsArt by Gill Pollard
Gill Pollard brought some of his
insulator related art to the meeting. He uses an impressionist style
which was popular during the late 1800's.
This
painting is a commission done for Chris and is titled "The Insulator
Hunters" and depicts Chris hunting insulators with Gill and Tommy on a
nine mile hunt in 2002. Hard to see the hunters? That's the way it
should be ;-)
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Two Tone Porcelains by Fred Collier
Fred brought part of his two-tone
ceramic collection for display (click to enlarge). This was a unique
display with many different color combinations. Fred indicated some
came from ebay, some from shows, and some had been found in antique
shops and flea markets. We need to find out where these antique shops
and flea markets are located! Needless to say Fred was "tight lipped"
Fred also brought a few of his "recent
finds" to share. Note the glass block (front, center).
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Chip and Dip by Gill Pollard
This was a popular display as it was
part of our refreshments. Gill brought a large Pyrex "Chip and Dip"
insulator complete with chips and home made salsa.
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As you can see, Fred Collier stayed as
close to the food as possible! Or was it the insulator that attracted
him? |
Hunt Story - Mike Hutchison
Mike, our newest
member, told his latest hunt story about finding an amethyst Whithall
Tatum hanging out over a cliff and then being chased up a hill followed
by railroad detectives before using his youthful speed to double back
and outrun the pursuers. He may deserve the nick name "Slick" after
this hunt.
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From the President:
There were a lot of
quality insulators for sale and trade, several changed ownership before
the day was over.
The meeting
scheduled for August has been canceled. With so many people on vacation
this month, it was determined that the schedules for most, and the
travel distance, would not allow enough time to devote to a meeting.
Therefore, our next
gathering will be on November 9, 2003 at the Bottle and Insulator Show
in Greensboro, NC. This will be a joint show with the Southeast Bottle
Club. For more information on the show, go to www.antiquebottles.com/greensboro
. Contract information is also available at this site. Please plan to
attend. This will be a good opportunity to sell, buy, or trade. Lots of
interesting items are always available at these shows.
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Insulator Archaeology????
When Gill Pollard
received an email from Dr. Babul Roy of New Delhi, India
concerning the identification of some porcelain insulator fragments
that they had uncovered in a remote area where people had been using
the insulators as a source of material for their stone tools. Yes even
in the 20th century!
Gill couldn't ID the
insulator but since he had worked in Archaeology himself years ago and
had learned how to manufacture stone tools, he informed the doctor that
he would experiment with a porcelain insulator to see how good of tools
could be made.
Gill used a hammer stone, deer
antler, and a damaged insulator to produce an arrowhead. The initial
flake was as sharp as a razor blade and worked down easily to a
projectile point. Dr. Babul Roy is working on a research paper
and plans on using Gill's experiment as an illustration in his paper.
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We need your stories!!!
Many of our members
live hours from just about any meeting place that we pick and it is
hard to arrange schedules to get to a distant meeting. We would still
like to hear and see what you have been up to so send an email for the
next newsletter.
The cool months when
we can all get outside and look around are quickly approaching so take
that camera with you and send a photo of that purple that you get off
of the side of a cliff as Mike recently found, though he didn't have a
chance to take his own photo and didn't want the railroad to take it
for him.
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