Sluggo's Insulator Collecting - Perth Show and Sale 2003

Perth Show and Sale - April 19, 2003

I drove down to Perth on Friday, April 18th, and arrived there around 4:00 PM. Checked in to the Aquarius Motel and settled down to relax a bit after the six hours of driving. Had supper at MacDonald's and then wandered around the downtown for while. I think the main industry in Perth is "Old Buildings" as they are all over the place. There is an electrical supply business on Gore Street that has half a dozen insulators on display in their front windows.

On Saturday, I got to the Lion's fairground at 7:45 AM. Found out where my tables were and started hauling boxes inside. Had just about everything unpacked and settled by 8:45. For a display this year, I had my "Insulators of Mexico and South America" and also set up my "Non-Glass Insulators" (composition, rubber, plastic, etc). If you compare the picture of the Non-Glass display this year below, to last year's display, you can see how many new pieces I've added in the past year. In fact, the display grew by two pieces during the day. This year my display table was adjacent to my sales table, (thanks Robin) so I could watch both and easily talk to people as they moved by.

There was a lot of glass and some porcelain on display. Also some telephone stuff and assorted go-withs. Dealer trading started with a "ding" at 9:00. Most of the sellers I knew, but there were a couple of new faces, including a few from the Montreal area. One seller had hanging lamps made out of insulators at his table.

This year they didn't have paid admissions but instead had a donations jar at the door. It looked to have a fair amount in it by days's end.

I spent only $25 on insulators at the sale this year. I got a CD 422 AGEE in light green and a CD 104 Star from Paul Axman, and a composition strain from John Delarge. I did bring home a bunch of insulators that my friend James Mulvey had brought up for me. From him I got a CD 522.5 Russian piece, a CD 666.2 PFC noser from France, a trio of glass radio strains, an Aussie non-glass, and a small blue fishing net float. My only other purchase there was a very large 12"+ diameter green fishing net float in its original mesh holder.

My sales were very low too, at only about $27. One person bought $15 of my $1 and $2 clearance pieces so I was happy about that. I only sold one of my Australian pieces, and none of my higher end Aussie pieces sold at all.

Most people started packing up around 1:30 and by 2:30 the place was just about empty. After I had loaded up the van, had a chat with Robin and Bruce, I finally headed west for the long drive home. On the way through Renfrew I popped into a little antique shop where I'd bought an insulator last year. The owner remembered me, but didn't have any insulators this time. Arrived home tired around 10:00 PM Saturday! Total round trip was 1,050 kilometres or about 650 miles.

During the drive home, my brain was busy analysing the day's events, and I think I figured out why my sales AND purchases were so low this year. Almost all of the sellers and collectors who were there, buy, sell, and collect the same type of insulators - Canadian 102s, 143s, 145s, 154s, 162s, 164s and threadless. None of them have much interest in foreign insulators, so they don't have them for sale, and definitely don't buy them either. This Canadian glass is NOT the type of thing that I am particularly interested in buying, so there wasn't much there for me.

I was hoping that a couple of the US guys would make it, as they usually have inventory a lot different than the Canadian contingent, but no such luck. When I factor in my gas, hotel, food, and table costs, the handful of insulators I brought home are just about worth their weight in gold. I may have to seriously consider whether I attend this sale again next year.