My name is, of course, Richard L. Rush, and I have been collecting Insulators for about 32 years. I am one of that lost group of "old loners". I have been a general collector for most of this time, but have lately found myself gravitating toward:
My wife, Carolyn, has been recently bitten by the bug, after attending the 1996 Collector's Jubilee in Wheaton, IL. Previous to this she was supportive of my "obsession" and brought me quite a few pieces she would find. Including a CD 162 WESTINGHOUSE she bought for 50 cents!
My fascination with insulators began the year I was 4. My grandparents had a farm in central Missouri (Mary's Home, you might find it on some maps - population 63.) Surrounding their yard was a barbed-wire fence on wooden poles, topping each pole was a glass "Jewel" (CD 154 Hemis). These fascinated me, but I couldn't get too near them, as nearly every one had a wasp nest under it!
I began my Insulator collection in 1963 at the tender age of 6. My brother had a friend on one of the farms neighboring my grandfather's and in her barn he found a CD 106 in 7-UP green. He gave this to me, and from that point forward I was hooked! Anyone in the family who found an insulator, gave it to me. By the time I was 12 or so I had 50-60 of them. At this time I sold off my duplicates to an antique shop in our neighborhood, and displayed the rest in my room, figuring I had all of the types available.
In 1979 I moved from St. Louis, MO to South Bend, IN, got married to Carolyn (Aug 18) and set up housekeeping. My insulators were dutifully unpacked and displayed on top of our refrigerator. Occasionally Carolyn would bring home a new one she found at a garage sale and it would get added to the group on top of the fridge.
In 1992 I gained employment at the University of Notre Dame and had Internet access (FINALLY!) Up until this time I still thought:
Since then I had met Jim Stover via e-mail and found that there were others like me. One thing lead to another and I joined the e-mail list that would become ICON - the day it was formed. I quickly joined the NIA (#5818), purchased the McDougald's books, and subscribed to "Crown Jewels of the Wire"
The collection has now taken on a life of its own now. We are at over 700 glass pieces and a couple dozen porcelains - and growing. (Now, if I can just keep up on building shelves...) A few of our favorite pieces in the collection:
I am always interested in talking insulators - please E-mail me! I'm at .
I grew up in Overland, MO, and received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Missouri - St. Louis. I moved to South Bend, IN and began work as a metals chemist for a brass smelter, two days before my wedding to Carolyn.
Carolyn grew up in South Bend, IN and graduated with a BS in Elementary Education from Bethel College in Mishawaka, IN.
I have worked in the Office of Information Technologies at the University of Notre Dame for the past 3.5 years.
Carolyn is in the Telecommunications Department at Notre Dame, and has worked for the university for 16.5 years.
We have three lovely children:
To check on the progress of the ongoing construction, as we add 20,000 seats to the
historic Notre Dame stadium (The House That Knute Built), check out the Stadium
Cam
Written by Richard Rush,
My homepage is at: http://www.nd.edu/~rrush1/
Last updated Thursday, April 25, 1996
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