National Insulator Association (NIA) logo Mike Doyle Biography

I started collecting in the early nineteen-seventies in North Carolina. I thank my Grampa Nichol and my Uncle Robert for getting me started and my parents Rosemary and Stephen for nurturing my interest and funding my early involvement in the hobby. I used John C. Tibbitts’ books for reference, and I traded bottles that I dug in Virginia for insulators that I liked in Dick Bowman’s sale lists which I read about in Insulators magazine. I attended many eastern and western region shows including Holyoke, Towamencin, Perkiomenville, Kulpsville, Enumclaw, Auburn, Yuma, Victorville, Rohde Ranch, Chico, Reno/Sparks, and more than a few club swaps, including Dan and Wendy Gauron’s Shop Swap in Colorado Springs, as a member of the Chesapeake Bay, Jefferson State, NorCal, and Grand Canyon State Insulator Clubs. I am a lifetime member of the Golden State Insulator Club.

At the 2013 Franklin, Tennessee national, I received the President’s Appreciation Award. At the 2016 Muncie, Indiana national, I was stunned to learn that I had received the L.L. Linscott Insulator Pioneer Award for outstanding service by Mrs. Jacqueline Linscott Barnes after being unavoidably called away from the banquet.

I co-hosted the 1998 Williamsburg national and later, the Tulare, CA show for three years. I served as the host club’s awards coordinator for the 2005 San Jose national. I served on show committees for the 2011 San Jose national and San Jose regional. I was one of two unnamed show co-hosts, with Lou Hall, for the 2014 Farmington, New Mexico national.

I served the NIA as the Special Projects Advisor to the board of directors and I currently serve the NIA as the Vice President for the Western Region.

During the nearly fifty years I’ve been in the hobby, I have developed a keen interest in the people and history of both the hobby and the history of the western United States during the period 1855 to 1867. Learning to understand the impact of the telegraph on the industry, politics, and economics of the period has been a passion of mine.

My collecting interests have always been broad and today my collection includes pieces from around the world and comprises a colorful assortment of glass and porcelain insulators, pole line hardware and go-withs. I have hosted an international assortment of collectors over the years and I am always willing to host visitors, offer appraisals, referrals, answer calls, and respond to emails about any hobby related subject. My web site is OldInsulators.com and my email address is Polecat@OldInsulators.com

 


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