Hemingray.info
 
Trips & Insulator Hunts
  • 2007 Honeymoon in Ireland – Maggi and I were married on February 17, 2007. On February 18th we left for our honeymoon, 2 weeks in Ireland. While driving around the country we found several insulators, including a large glass multipart!
  • 1998 Hemingray Dump Trip – One heck of a memorable trip. Visited Shaun Kotlarsky up in Michigan and Bob Stahr in Indiana, saw the home of the Hemingray family, took a tour of the old Muncie factory grounds, and of course dug for Hemingray goodies! Also found a few great pieces in the antique shops out that way.
  • 1997 Trip to Greece – In 1997 my family and I traveled to Greece to visit family on my mother's side. Over there, I found several downed poles, and even met a distant cousin who collected Greek insulators! Seriously, what are the odds?!
NIA National Shows
  • 2021 Farmington National – Our family's first National insulator show since 2017! We combined our trip from Colorado to New Mexico with a follow-on trip to the Grand Canyon and other National Parks on the way home.
  • 2017 Colorado Springs National – A National less than an hour away from me? Count me in! I displayed my collection of Hemingray embossing errors, sold a good portion of my Hemingray collection, and obtained a piece that had been on my wanted list for 25 years!
  • 2014 Farmington National – With a national only 7 hours away from me, I had to be there. To make it even better, my dad Bud came along for the road trip, our first insulator show together in years.
  • 2012 Kansas City National – My first national show in 16 years! I had a display, my first national sales table, and picked up a lot of embossings I was looking for. It was a great show!
  • 1996 Long Beach National Show – This was the second National show I had attended, and the first one that I was actually involved with (being a displayer as well performing piano at the awards ceremony). This was also where I met Shaun Kotlarsky, Bob Stahr, and Bill Meier, now all my good Hemi buddies!
Other Shows
  • 2009 Double D Tailgater – Hosted by Dwayne Anthony and Dave LeForge. Another new show for us! This one was held in Grand Terrace, CA in a neat little park hidden behind some industrial buildings.
  • 2009 San Diego Bottle Show – I had never gone to this show before, but we decided to drop in and visit, since we were down in the area for the weekend. I got 3 nice Hemi pieces. The rest of the trip was fun too!
  • 2000 Dwayne's House – This was the first insulator event I had attended after a three year hiatus, so it was quite memorable. And the small atmosphere was great! I really hope Dwayne decides to throw another one of these someday (we'd be glad to help out, Dwayne! :)
  • 1996 Bakersfield Journal – The Bakersfield show was the first show I had ever attended starting in 1993, but it wasn't until this show that I kept a journal. This would end up being the only Bakersfield journal I kept, though, because of the insulator collectors migrating to the Tulare show.
  • 1995 Visalia Western Regional Show – This was the first show I ever displayed at, as a Junior. This journal wasn't written until 1996, so it is quite short.
California Insulator Shows
Cayucos, CA
  • 2009 Cayucos Journal – Last year was the "Year of Spools", this year was the "Year of Floor Tubes". I picked up a few more styles of Hemingray floor tube insulators I didn't have, and a couple of other embossings I was looking for.
  • 2008 Cayucos Journal – I brought along my new Laugh Lines book, which sold pretty well, and I got several Hemingray spools that had been on my wanted list for a long time, including a CD 1053 D-519.
  • 2007 Cayucos Journal – I didn't write a journal for 2006, so this one makes up for it! I brought along my wife for the first time and got the #3 insulator on my wanted list, a CD 291!
  • 2005 Cayucos Journal – This year I displayed my collection for the first time in five years, had a sales table, picked up a few pieces, and had an all-around good time.
  • 2004 Cayucos Journal – Another great year! This was the first year I drove up on my own and met my dad at the show (he currently lives in Cayucos). Also won the raffle three times, including the grand prize!
  • 2003 Cayucos Journal – This year was my dad's and my first sales table, which was a fun experience and most likely one that will be repeated in the future.
  • 2002 Cayucos Journal – 10th Annual Cayucos Show, and I believe it's the 8th one my father and I have attented. I came out of this show with a few Hemi pieces that had long been on my wanted list, and after the show included a beautiful scenic drive. (Includes pictures).
  • 2000 Cayucos Journal – Unfortunately, this journal is incomplete. Probably part of the reason was this was before I had the iBook laptop to take with me to the show to record the events as it happened, and this was also my first display as a non-junior, so my mind was not on journaling!
  • 1997 Cayucos Journal – Well, this is when I started going into detail about Hemingray purchases. It makes for a slightly longer read, but maybe some people will find it interesting. After the show, we also went to the Pleasanton outdoor fair with friends of the family.
  • 1996 Cayucos Journal – This was my first Cayucos journal and the second insulator journal I kept. Consequently, it doesn't go into much detail about the insulators I bought (which might be a relief to some people who don't wish to wade through insulator terms!)
Tulare, CA
  • 2008 Tulare Journal – After a 3-year hiatus, it was good to be back to the Tulare show. There weren't a lot of purchases at this show, but we still had a good time!
  • 2005 Tulare Journal – My first sales table at Tulare, and I miss the whole first day of the show! But I'd say I made up for it on Saturday.
  • 2004 Tulare Journal – I had a lot of fun at this show. I became a NorCal member, found three pieces on my wanted list, and generally had a good time.
  • 2003 Tulare Journal – This was my first show in 11 years that I attended on my own, without my dad. I picked up a couple good pieces here, including a CD185 Jeffrey and an unlisted CD147 Patent'd.
  • 2002 Tulare Journal – This was the second Tulare show my father and I had ever attended, and this particular one was the first in five years! From now on, however, we will be attending this show annually as well as the Cayucos show.
  • 1997 Tulare Journal – The Bakersfield show was for the most part abandoned by insulator collectors and replaced with the Tulare show in 1997, which we attended for the first time.
Merzoian Bros. (Porterville)
  • 2008 Merzoian Tailgater – This year we picked up my dad in Los Osos and all drove over to Porterville. I picked up a couple of pieces that were on my long-time wanted list, and a few unexpected pieces as well.
  • 2007 Merzoian Tailgater – This was the first Merzoian show that my dad did not attend, but my wife Maggi accompanied me instead. Add a few pieces that are on my wanted list, and it was a fun show!
  • 2005 Merzoian Tailgater – I may have only bought a couple of insulators, but we all had a great time!
  • 2004 Merzoian Tailgater – I attended this show with almost all of my money already spent, but I walked away with 5 pieces off my wanted list and a plaque under the crossarm my dad and I donated last year. Alright!
  • 2003 Merzoian Tailgater – The 2nd Annual tailgater thrown by the Merzoians turned out to be great fun! We had a club meeting, I was appointed club Committee Chairman, and I got to donate a crossarm. Read all about it!