John Contreras drove for 2 days to make it up to the Merritt Insulator Show. That is 2 years in a row for John, and I am sure glad he made the extra effort, driving all that way. First thing out of the back of John's van was this super string of 1947 LOCKE porcelain 69KV suspensions. These suspensions were only used in southern California, and are seldom seen elsewhere. John's price was really quite reasonable, but better still, we were able to do a swap, so John was able to take something of interest back with him to San Diego.

I am so impressed with these great looking LOCKE suspensions that they now have a place on my "Trophy Rack" This display rack is closest to our living room window, and the first thing I see when I open the blinds each morning. What a great way to start each day.

You will note the Jim Decker string of Tracy Ca. greens. Truly a spectacular colour. On the very opposite end of the rack are a string of brown British suspensions marked NEMA, Made in England, Dec 1967. There is also a string of Thomas marked disks, while the top disk has both June /09 and Sept /14 Pat. dates and only the GE Co name. Notable is the very orange brown glaze. Quite striking. The NGK Japan dark blues are also a very appealing colour.

The LOCKE's fit right in, and I want to thank John for bringing them up to me. I hope to see you next year, John.