In 2003 I received three CD 102s and a U-something-or-other Dwight Pattern from a Canadian seller who thought that taping a small patch of bubble wrap about an inch wide around the insulator below the wire groove would suffice.

I then started including this note to sellers whom I did not know - it seems to work, probably because it shifts the blame to the Post Office.

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Please pack the insulators well!

I do not mean to give offense, or to tell you how to do your business. But I have received over a dozen broken insulators so far this year.

Most recently, six of eight in a single box from Canada were destroyed because there was not enough packing around each one, and the skirts collided in transit.

We can't avoid the few bad apples in the Post Office, but we can thwart their efforts to destroy our heritage by packing each insulator as if it were going to be dropped, because it undoubtedly will be.

Thanks in advance for your help! I appreciate your effort.