The
National Insulator Association (“NIA”) was officially founded on July 7,
1973, at the 4th Annual National Insulator Show in Hutchinson, Kansas.
For several years collectors had discussed the formation of a national
organization, out of a desire to better coordinate locations for larger
insulator shows in the United States. More
specifically, collectors wanted a regional rotation of the largest of these
shows that had come to be known as the Annual National Insulator Show.
Today, the NIA is involved with the coordination of
three major insulator shows, one in each geographic region of the country.
One of these three annual shows serves as the NIA Convention Show
(“the National"), and it rotates among the three regions year to year.
The NIA also sanctions the bottle and general hobby shows (often
conducted by “local insulator clubs”), where insulator-collecting activity
is more than incidental. The NIA
Board has adopted several sets of rules and guidelines to assist in the
administration and promotion of the larger shows.
These rules and guidelines appear in this Handbook.
The
NIA provides assistance to its members and promotes the insulator-collecting
hobby to the public. A quarterly
newsletter, "Drip Points," keeps members informed of all Association
matters. In particular, reports
from the NIA’s Board Members and Committee Chairpersons keep the NIA’s
General Members abreast of all aspects of the insulator hobby.
Through a cooperative agreement, the roster of current NIA members
is combined with the Annual Subscribers Directory for the commercial magazine,
"Crown Jewels of the Wire."
This Directory is published each October.
As
you will see from reading this Handbook, members of the NIA have certain
privileges and are able to take advantage of certain services.
NIA members are proud of their affiliation with a national
organization, and the recognition it confers upon them.
They are active and knowledgeable collectors, who are also sincere and
considerate people.
Although not all NIA members are active in the NIA’s various
projects; NIA membership lends considerable support to the
insulator-collecting hobby as a whole.
At the NIA General Membership meeting
held Friday, July 10, 2009 a complete new Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
were approved by the members present at the General Membership
meeting. Below is a link to the pdf for the bylaws.
Link to
NIA Bylaws
(pdf)
Return to the National Insulator Association page