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What Do You Know About Larger Wv Swirls?


Steph

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The difference between .7 and .75 opens up so many more possibilities. Champion and Vitro Anacortes have a few 3/4" marbles but JABO and D.A.S. have a lot of shooter sized marbles out there in the world. I don't find WV swirl shooters made by other American companies beyond Alley and those mentionned. I know they are out there, but I never find them (that I can think of).

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I assumed we were talking about American swirls. Were we really talking about West Virginia factories only? When I hear WV swirl (which she didn't actually say but I assumed she meant), I have always assumed it meant a swirl type marble that was unattributable to the person talking about it basically, but could have been made anywhere in the world. What does West Virginia swirl mean?

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Here are the marbles I'm usually talking about when I say WV swirl:

  • Alley Agate
  • Cairo Novelty Co.
  • Champion Agate
  • Davis Marble Co.
  • Heaton Agate Co.
  • Jackson Marble Co.
  • Playrite Marble and Novelty Co.
  • Ravenswood Glass and Novelty Co.

Marble King and Mid-Atlantic could be added. And Alox complicates matters.

I should also have suggested that Akro could possibly be added. I'd guess Akro made more swirls than Marble King did.

Edited by Steph
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I would feel very presumptuous defining WV swirls in an absolute way. I wasn't sure if others would list Mid-Atlantic since they were modern but I'm open.

Personally I would be interested in shooter and boulder swirls made by any of the WV companies at any time.

I thought I'd seen swirls in Vitro bags but they were a Washington company at the time. When were your Vitro shooters made?

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That is my question ...what does West Virginia swirl mean? Does it really just mean swirls made by marble companies located in West Virginia, or is it a classification for marbles that look like the swirls made by American companies back in the day? Can some Vacors be WV swirls? Can JABOs? Are only Champion swirls made prior to 1970 WV swirls? What does it mean?

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I actually have ignored this term in my limited marble experience. I group all my swirl type Marbles together and then separate by manufacturer if apparent or color/style. I think a lot of new collectors use WV swirls to encompass all old swirls, since most books infer that a majority of swirls were made in that region

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That is my question ...what does West Virginia swirl mean? Does it really just mean swirls made by marble companies located in West Virginia, or is it a classification for marbles that look like the swirls made by American companies back in the day? Can some Vacors be WV swirls? Can JABOs? Are only Champion swirls made prior to 1970 WV swirls? What does it mean?

I wouldn't even in a joking way consider including Vacors as WV swirls.

Sometimes if I want to get philosophical I might muse about the WV influence on Alox or on European swirls or even on Jabos. But when I say WV Swirls, I mean swirls made in West Virginia. Alox only gets included in that sometimes because I can't tell the difference between the Alox swirls and the WV swirls.

I count Champions as WV swirls no matter whether it's vintage Champion or modern.

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Hopefully by the end of this thread I will understand what West Virginia swirl fully means. I really thought it had a timeline essence to it.

I don't know whether others consider modern Champions to be WV swirls. I just can't imagine not including them, so I do. I'm not sure what others do about modern Champs. And I don't now if others include Mid-Atlantic swirls in with WV swirls.

Beyond that, I only knowingly include marbles actually made in WV. Amsterdam swirls are made in Amsterdam, so they're not WV swirls. Vacors are made in Mexico, so they're not WV swirls.

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I looked up some definitions and found one from the museum and one from marble bag collector extraordinaire Al Rasmus that were both helpful. Al's was the most helpful explanation.

What did they say?

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I am sure Akro swirls and Bogard swirls would be included when hard to attribute.

I wasn't aware that Bogard made any swirls.

I was only aware of their cat's eyes, chinese checker marbles and industrial marbles.

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I have Bogard white based swirls found in factory bags in 2 or 3 separate color combos. Good enough for me.

Could they have been leftover Heatons?

(Of course I would call them WV swirls.)

Edit: When the Bogards purchased Heaton the purchase did include some old stock. Some of the old stock was already in bags and the Bogard label was stapled over the Heaton label. But I gather some of the old stock was not already backed with the Heaton label.

Edited by Steph
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Soooooo ... now that we've knocked about the definition of WV swirl, what does anyone know about larger sizes?

A Ravenswood article claimed they made large marbles, but does anyone have any?

Recently we appear to have established that Champion made some shooter-size marbles. Does anyone have any they might share?

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