I don't know about you, but I've often dreamed about finding something rare and unusual. I had just never really thought it would happen to me.

My in-laws were visiting this weekend, with a pair of shih-tzus, and on Saturday we hopped in the car to go to a craft show. When we got there, we were told that they didn't allow dogs. Undeterred, we hopped back in the car and headed off to visit another craft show. Unfortunately, when we got there, we had the same problem. I had never realized I lived in such a dog-unfriendly place. Since we had some spare time, we decided to check out an antique store that we had seen. After parking and getting out, we headed into the little place.

Now, when I walk into an antique store, insulators are one of the main things that I always look for. It's always amusing to see the Hemingray - 42s priced at $30, and I have occasionally found something a little different. So when I entered the store, I did the usual scan around and immediately spotted a shelf with about 20-30 insulators on it. Even more interesting, there was one right out in front that didn't look like anything I had seen around here before. It looked like one of the No Name Canadian CD 162.4s, in a really dark glass. I checked out the rest of the store, then headed over to the insulators. When I picked up that front piece, my mind went into a bit of a state of shock. I quickly went through the other insulators, and pulled out 3 more to buy. Priced at $24.50 in total -- all I had was $20, which I offered the woman behind the counter. She agreed, then wrote it up and added the tax. I had to scurry out to the car and dig up some change, but I had enough (barely) to get my insulators. So what did I get? Well, one is a CD 154 Whitall Tatum in purple. One is a CD 145 (Dome) A (F-Skirt) B (R-Skirt) B in a light purple. One is a CD 102 (F-Skirt) W. BROOKFIELD (R-Skirt) NEW YORK in light purple. Certainly those three were more than worth the price. But that last remaining piece? When I first picked it up, I didn't see any embossing. And my mind had been screaming all along that it wasn't a CD 162.4 -- it just wasn't right. There was a fair sized chip out of the back of the piece, and when I tipped it up to check more closely, I discovered that the chip took out some of the embossing on the base. Yes -- base embossed! It is a 2-date American -- a CD 160.7 snow cone. But the most amazing thing of all is the color -- an absolutely stunning 7-up green! Even with the damage, this is far and away the best insulator I've ever found like this. And I owe it all to those dogs!

Close up of the CD 160.7 --> [id=68805400]