The hunt is on...
Treasures still abound in New England!
by Kathy Greer

    It’s all about the hunt. I wonder how many times I’ve heard an antiques dealer make that remark. But is it really? Isn’t it more about making the “big score”?  We always enjoy carrying articles about a dealer who “scored it big”. Marvin and Emily Burnette are just such dealers. They’ve been antique dealers in the Nashua, NH area for about 10 years, and of course, are actively involved in the never-ending quest for the elusive antique.
   “The simple things that many people pursue,” said Marvin. This story, he said, is about “the never worth anything, or amount to much, glass insulators.” Here is Marvin and Emily’s story.
   “On Oct 16th, 2003 I purchased the local newspaper to look for any upcoming auction ads. I did not see any ads advertising or listing insulators for auction. A coworker later in the day asked me if I was going to the auction up north on Saturday, Oct 18. I said no, and asked him why.  He told me there was an insulator collection listed.  I reread the Gary Wallace auction advertisement for his scheduled auction on Saturday, Oct 18th in Ossipee, NH.”
    Marvin is one busy man. Along with working full time, attending auctions as well as his other antique dealer pursuits, Marvin is a Native American Indian from the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, South Dakota. He is a North Plains Traditional Style Dancer, and competes on the national and world class competition levels.
   “My wife Emily did not feel well and decided not to go to the auction,” Marvin continued. “Not knowing to what extent the “insulator collection” was, or the condition - it could be the common 25 cents to a $1.00 variety, as auctions go - my wife and I agreed that if it was in fact an “insulator collection”, I would spend as much as $350 to $400. I left early, in plenty of time to preview the “insulator collection.” Unfortunately I got lost and could not find the auction house. Finally I did find the auction house but had only 6 minutes to preview. As I walked into the auction house, saw the display case, my heart jumped. I saw six very high-end glass insulators looking at me. There were two what collectors call “Boston Bottles,” there were two “Confederate Eggs,” and two “Corkscrew” insulators. A total of six insulators that collectors only dream about.
    “In addition to the six high-end insulators, there were approximately 10-12 large box lots of insulators. A quick check of all the boxes, and I did notice many glass insulators of interest. The first three lots of two insulators, I dropped out of the bidding at $900 for each lot. There was another collector who had a very high proxy/telephone bid on the three lots of two. Gary made a remark to the audience about him being in the wrong business if these insulators were going that high in price. Having driven a good distance, I resigned myself to the fact I was going home with some glass insulators. I did bid and won 4 boxes of mixed insulators, glass and porcelain. I was concentrating so much and was focused on the various insulators, I overlooked in particular one glass insulator in one box.  However, I won these boxes for a total of $775. I got what I wanted, paid my bill, and departed for the long drive home, wondering what I would tell my wife about spending $775 after agreeing to spend only $350 to $400. All I could envision was putting all these glass and porcelain insulators on my soon to be new doghouse!”
       But Marvin wasn’t destined for the dog house!
    “Turned out, after I got home, that one insulator in particular I could not find in my new insulator price guide. I was totally dumbfounded over it. I emailed the authors of the insulator “Price Guide” bible, John and Carol McDougald. (“Insulators, A History and Guide To North American Glass Pintype Insulators”. ISBN# 1-928701-01-9, copyright 2003 by John and Carol McDougald] I explained the situation, gave a description and sent some photos of what I had in “that one particular insulator.”
     “The email reply I received indicated: be careful with the insulator, put it in a safe place, do not handle it to much, blankly, “PUT IT AWAY.” The authors of the price guide felt I had a very unusual and perhaps a rare glass insulator on my hands. Carol McDouglad suggested that I take the glass insulator to the glass insulator show that was being held on October 28 (2003) in Albany, New York.  My wife Emily and I hand-carried the glass insulator that I was referring to by now as “the mysterious power piece.”
    “When we walked into the show, everyone was very excited about what I had to show them. Several - and many of the big regional collectors - all seemed to think I had a “rare” find. After another quick email on-site at the show to the author of the price guide, I agreed to have the National Insulator Board Historian hand-carry the “mysterious power piece” to the next weekend insulator show at Springfield, Ohio. The national historian carried the glass insulator to the Springfield, Ohio show, and sure enough, again, everyone was excited about this “rare” find. Most agreed that the insulator had to be sent to a particular individual in the glass insulator hobby known as the insulator “guru” - have him take a look at it was the general consensus.
     “Another couple, husband and wife, very reliable and reputable collectors agreed to carry the mysterious power piece to their home of Houston, Texas. Arriving in Houston and into the hands of the insulator guru, who has the sole responsibility in the glass insulator hobby of researching “new” insulators, the mysterious power piece underwent rigorous inspection. The guru examined, measured, completed a shadow profile and photographed this suspected “rare” find. Documentation now exists that this “particular” glass insulator has been determined to be one-of-a-kind!
    “The guru Fed-Exed the glass insulator to Sedona, Arizona for final photos so the rare, new find, one-of-a-kind can be included in the next updated, revised edition of “Insulators, A History and Guide To North American Glass Pintype Insulators”. The glass insulator was returned to me via FedEx on November 20, 2003. Insulator collectors I have found to be very trusting, reliable and reputable.”
     Marvin added, “How many dealers in any other field of hobby collecting would trust someone with an item with such a high-end possible value?”
     “Upon receiving the insulator, we put it away, forgot about it until some time later. I inquired around with many high-end collectors, who must have the “one of a kind” for their collections. The interest generated out for this insulator was very high. I decided to email the information on this insulator to the “on line” chat group to see what other interest could be generated. Within a few days, I had over 30 replies, many offers to buy, many suggestions how to handle the sale, who to consider, etc.
     “I then contacted the author of the price guide, Carol McDougald, for her input and suggestions. She advised me that when I was interested in selling the now “rare glass insulator” she would be willing to handle the sale. Her initial indication: she felt the glass insulator would be in the range of $8,000 to $10,000. I thought to myself, “can I be out of the doghouse now?”
     “One of the early emails I received from a well known high-end power piece collector indicated he had $10,000 up front, that he would like to buy the glass insulator. I immediately emailed this information to Carol McDougald. She indicated she was not surprised; it is going to go high. Since she knows all the high-enders, the significant of the serious collectors, those with the financial resources, I was greatly heartened. First she emailed me with the first offer of $10,000, the second offer of 12,500. A few days later another offer for $14,500, followed by an offer of $17,000.  All the while, she kept me informed where this sale was going. On March 21st, she emailed me that the sale was probably nearing the end, our last offer was at $21,000. On March 23, the sale ended at the staggering price of $22,500. Yes, it is safe to say that I am finally out of the doghouse.”
    “My wife Emily is the primary antique dealer in our family,” explained Marvin. “I started out being the “bag man” All of you know the “bag man”. He’s the one who carries the many boxes of merchandise to stock the antique booth shelves etc.
    “I started out as a bag man, but did notice in the many, many antique shops we have visited over the years, that the glass insulators don’t look like much when sitting alone, or one or two, or even three. BUT, when you display by color, by style, by design, by purpose and company name, these glass “thingies” begin to look somewhat fascinating. So I was bitten by the glass insulator bug.”
     In addition to being a traditional North Plains dancer, Marvin is also a well known Native American Master of Ceremonies (MC) at Pow Wows all over the United States and Canada. When Marvin has the opportunity to attend Native American Pow Wows and Festivals as a Dancer or Master of Ceremonies he and Emily have the time and opportunity to shop different locations around the United States for antiques.
     Emily’s primary collecting involves “M.I.Hummel” figurines. She starting collecting Hummels while a teenager in Western Germany with her military family. After she graduated from the Stuttgart American High School, she married then “Private” Burnette and continued in the military for another 21 years ? read here “another 21 years of collecting M.I.Hummel Figurines”. Emily has approximately 435 figurines in her collection. All are currently displayed in the couple’s home.
   Emily also collects Swarovski Crystal figures and has approximately 45-50 primary pieces of Swarovski and one very large Swarovski Crystal chandelier. Emily started antiquing while in Western Germany in the 1960’s. The couple have also collected Japanese Traditional Dress Dolls, and European wall clocks (8 currently, and 4 floor grandfather clocks). Currently, Marvin has a large collection of glass pintype insulators that total approximately 450-500. Marvin also personally collects the porcelain/ceramic type antique whiskey/wine pourers and stoppers. Marvin also has approximately 1200 pieces of Boy Scouts of America memorabilia.
   “Emily and I started out as active dealers with a small booth located in “Antiques At Mayfair,” Marvin explained. “We have also been active in several other antique group shops over the years,” he said. “At the current time, we have antiques in only one antique group shop, Antiques At Mayfair. We have consistently stayed with Antiques at Mayfair due to the better sales and the high volume of customer clientele. Linda Mae and Dan, and the rest of the Mayfair staff have always been a tremendous help in our many years at Antiques at Mayfair. Check out Dealer #825. Stop by and see us sometime. Linda, Dan, Peter and others can direct you to our booth. We would like to tell you more about the glass insulators, see our display, make an offer, and then we can start the horse trading.”
   Emily and Marvin will have been married 38 years in June 04. Emily was born near Roseville, Ohio, and strangely enough, does not have much of an interest in collecting Zanesville Glass, Hull Pottery or Roseville. They have three children, all boys. The youngest is 33 years old and collects and sells antiques from A to Z. The couples’ two youngest grandchildren, ages 11 and 11, also have an interest in collecting. One collects baseball memorabilia, and the other, you guessed it, insulators.
    So why is New England such fertile ground for insulators?
    Marvin explained, “As for illusive insulators - many glass companies in the New England area have made many of the most expensive insulators known in the insulator hobby. Some of the companies include the Boston Bottle Works, Pettingil Andrews Company of Boston, Pairpoint Glass Company, Sandwich Glass Company, and the Keene, New Hampshire Glass Company. Only 1 out of every 2,000 insulators, MIGHT be prominent enough to be an addition to a bonafide collector. As far as completing my own collection, it is never ending. I am always interested in upgrading any one particular glass insulator as they are found.”
    You can contact Marvia via email at
lakotavet@aol.com
You also might want to check out his web site at
http://hometown.aol.com/lakotavet/myhomepage/index.html
   Marvin added, “Perhaps some other dealers will begin to see glass and porcelain insulators in another light, that they are not just chunks of sand, glass, ceramics and porcelain. Perhaps, just perhaps there is something to collecting INSULATORS. Most insulators when found at antique shops, yard sales, garage sales and flea markets are so encrusted in dirt, baked on smoke and coal dust, and with many, included is the occasional spider and webs. Who knows what gem, a diamond in the rough, you might find sitting around in the old barn, down in the cellar, or up in the attic. The most expensive glass insulator we had in our hands several years ago was owned and valued by another collector at the astounding price of $42,000… but that’s another story!”

References: Another reference book utilized in collecting glass pintype insulators is “The Definitive Guide to Colorful Insulators” with Price Guide, ISBN: 0-7643-1045-3, Copyright 2000 by Mike Brunner, published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310. This particular reference book gives over 500 colorful picture illustrations depicting a variety of the many numerous colors of insulators. From the standard colors of aqua to the magnificent array of cobalt blues, from the ice greens to the dark emerald and 7-up greens, from the light yellow peach to the dark red ambers etc.
   Another reference is the “Crown Jewels of the Wire” monthly publication for the glass and porcelain pintype insulator collectors. This monthly magazine is published by Mr. and Mrs. Howard Banks of Merlin, Oregon. The website is: www.crownjewelsofthewire.com email:editor@crownjewelsofthewire.com This monthly magazine is family friendly and gives collectors insight on a monthly basis into what is hot, what is new, and what is happening in the hobby of “insulator collecting."