If you couldn't pick the poles yourself or get first hand accounts from the lineman who maintained or wreaked out the line, then I have always felt that buying a lineman's insulator collection was the next best thing to understand the insulator geography of an area. As housing is still relatively inexpensive in this part of the Central Valley, I am going to assume this telephone lineman was able to live and work in the same geographic area -- Bakersfield, CA

Here are my finds. About the same quantity was acquired by a married couple of insulator collectors who purchased mainly dark purple Californias CD 161's and CD 162's and purple Whittal Tatum No. 1's. In the front you see all Hemingray CD 142[020] in carnival with copper liners. All the liners are deteriorating from the top down. Next row up you see smokey purple and aqua California CD 161's; an amber swirled aqua "B" transposition top CD 191; a dark aqua No Embossing CD 141 crosstop (only one of these in the collection); Hemingray No. 38 in aqua CD 157 (several in the sale but this was the only undamaged one.). Next row up are aqua and smokey purple California CD 162's and a yellow glazed unmarked porcelain signal (few porcelain pieces in the collection). Inquiries welcomed. Next picture [id=470323531]