M.
F. Christensen and Son
(approx. 1903 – 1917)
In 1899
Martin Frederick Christensen, a successful businessman and inventor, patented a
machine which made steel ball bearings -- automatically, relatively
inexpensively, and most important of all, reliably round.
Martin’s
idea was simple yet brilliant, and affordable ball bearings would be a boon to
industry. Investors from
He had
recently sold his drop forge business and when he sold his steel ball machine in
1900, his family’s fortune was fairly well assured.
However Martin was not a man to be idle.
He turned his insight into spheres to the task of making glass balls of
the sort used in furniture casters, in pump valves and by lithographers, and
those used by small boys knuckling down in the schoolyard.
Martin’s
specialty was iron so he needed tutoring to work with glass.
He consulted with one of the best – James Harvey Leighton.
Mr. Leighton sold him certain glass formulas, including the one used to
make American Cornelians, more commonly known today as bricks.
It was this formula which would eventually be used to make Akro’s oxblood
as well thanks to a deception by one of Martin’s trusted employees.
By 1903
Martin had 9 machines and could make 4,800 marbles a day.
His business partner was his son Charles.
Martin hired expert glass workers and good wages, and oftentimes employed
other members of their families in various capacities.
Quality control was exceptional.
Factory conditions were as wholesome as possible for jobs with such
inherent risks. This was in sharp
contrast to other businesses of the day.
Workers would generally have the hottest month of the year for vacation
and Martin would use this time to make improvements.
The facilities were state of the art and the company growth was robust.
With clever
advertising and marble names such as National Onyx, American Cornelian, Persian
Turquoise and Imperial Jade, the Christensens were able to break the German
stronghold over a toy market in which the best marbles were considered to be
those made of real stones. MFC came
to dominate the American market and even shipped their marbles abroad.
Girls were not left out; the turquoise and jade may have been made with
them in mind.
In 1913,
the Christensens learned that Horace Hill, the son of family friends, had
embezzled funds. He had been hired
as their bookkeeper in 1908 and had risen to become an officer and shareholder
in the company. He began
falsifying the books in 1912 and effectively hid the evidence of his misdeeds
until one of the company’s clients wrote to ask about a transaction of which
Charles could find no record.
This was a terrible blow but apparently Horace appeared convincingly contrite
and Martin actually let him continue working after making restitution.
This was a mistake. Hill
quickly resumed his criminal activity and again hid his crimes so well that they
were not discovered until after he left the company in 1914 to go to work for
Akro Agate. He took with him the
Christensens’ glass formulas, machine designs and customer list.
Until this time Akro had been jobbering MFC marbles in
Martin
Christensen passed away on October 10, 1915, of natural causes.
Charles continued at the helm producing marbles steadily.
1916 was a very good year and 1917 promised to be as well.
Then the
Charles
could have reopened the business after the war but that would probably have
entailed moving to a place with better access to sand and gas.
He opted to retire and stay near his mother and the family home.
Charles
died on Christmas day in 1922.
M. F.
Christensen & Son’s marbles live on as some of the most attractive and most
collectible ever made. Their
hand-gathered design gives them special appeal.
More
information:
American Machine-Made Marbles,
2006, Dean Six, Susie Metzler and Michael Johnson
Collecting Antique Marbles:
Identification and Price Guide,
4th ed., Paul Baumann
M.F. Christensen and the Perfect Glass Ball Machine, 1990,