Yup, that's me...50 years ago in front of the Locke office and plant at 2525 Insulator Drive during August 1965. It was customary for me to divert family vacations during those years so that I could look at cool pole lines and visit insulator manufacturing companies while enroute to my parents' vacation destinations. During that summer I had a pre-arranged visit with company corporate and a full 50-cent tour of GE's insulator facility while coming back from a several-day vacation in Washington, DC.

Beginning in 1964 I had very nice ongoing correspondence with one of their public relations people. I was forever curious about the insulators that Locke made and the ones they were producing. The company sent me several catalogs (none were too old at the time) as well as a few insulator samples in 1964. The latter were among their first "sky glaze" insulators and actually were light blue.. somewhat lighter than a robin's egg. During 1965 their insulators were more on the light grayish side. By 1966 I believe most insulator companies standardized with the light gray color we see everywhere today.

At any rate, this photo was taken a little more than a year before I corresponded with anyone else who collected insulators (I thought I was the only one in the world who had such fascination in 1965 and most of 1966). After then, life would no longer be the same. In 1967 I started lots of letter writing and trading with other enthusiasts. Other interests such as rock-n-roll, collecting street lighting fixtures and related stuff, girls, long hair, old cars, college and many other things came into my life. I still enjoy a lot of these things and their associated memories are priceless...

For a lot of detail about my insulator collecting career, please refer to: www.vintagestreetlights.com. On the home page at the top of the toolbar on the far left click onto "Insulator Collecting" immediately beneath the "About Joe" heading. Enjoy ;-)