Toys III/Avocation: A collector's guide to romance and nostalgia: Where to find antique vacuum tubes, TRF receivers, glass insulators, dc generators, and old trolley cars

Documenting the history of their profession seems to be a popular leisure-time pursuit among electrical and electronics engineers. Collectors and collections abound. Exhibitions range from one at the prestigious Smithsonian, where there are warehouses full of donations still to be unpacked, to small private collections of glass insulators or telegraph keys. The following list serves not only the dedicated historian but the casual sightseer who might be interested in anything from old-time trolleys to antique telephones to memorabilia of some of the profession's best-known pioneers. Exhibit locations are called out in blue so that readers can identify items of interest in their areas, and it should be noted that the list presents only a sampling of the many collectors and groups actively devoted to preserving the romance of engineering's past — and its artifacts.