migbar

You have a nice beard, Rich.

I bet Hansel would like to get that Bloodies box, if it was ever for sale....

No, not those specific boxes, but I'm not surprised to see any Peltier marbles labeled National.

Nothing certain on a date for the sketch, just maybe around 1934....

Corkscrews aren't so hard, I bet.... just takes a little concentration and some good focus.... I'm thinking Steph could do it....

You can call me Mig, Hans. Yep, they were good buds. In correspondence, Berry pink called Sellers "Sells". Thank you for showing all your boxes....

All righty, then....out of the oven in 20 minutes, adding garlic to the mix....

Hansel, above the cerise and prima marbles, it shows boxes of 100 glass agate onyx marbles in assorted colors, and choice of 3 sizes, for reasonable money. Maybe the primas appeared to be assorted colors due to the variety of them to the ad writer ?

Hansel, I'm still searching, but so far, at least in the early years before 1928, I've seen no mention of Peltier sending unpacked bulk marbles to Gropper, only marbles packed into boxes at Peltier.

My understanding is that Peltier was responsible for packing their marbles into the boxes, and that they did so, in a small room just outside the north wall of the main factory building in Ottawa. It's way unlikely they would ever have used Akro marbles. I didn't think that Gropper was involved with the packing of any of the Peltier boxes.

The first Gropper National Onyx box above absolutely looks 100% Peltier, the other backfilled. I'm not certain, but I think Milton Gropper died in the early 1930's, and perhaps his sons had no desire to continue the business in such difficult times.... (oops...I didn't see the ad Steph posted there...I am probably wrong, yet again.)

I love you, Hansel's box....

All in all, they look pretty close to me. Especially with opalescent glass, there can be quite a variance in opacity or transparency from one run to the next. Opalescent glass is tricky.

The cerise and early onyx/agate marbles I showed seem to all be handgathered, I think...

The original contract with Fiedler was for a period of two years, and was apparently extended to about three years. I agree that Fiedler had much to do with setting up the new furnaces for making onyx marbles, and he taught them how to gather and make marbles on the machines, but Peltier seems to have been responsible for the experimentation and development of the cerise and agate marbles, and the furnace refinements that made them possible. Fiedler likely left Peltier at the end of 1927, and in early 1928, all over sudden, Peltier had his lawyers draw up a "Loyalty Agreement" for future employees to sign, that demanded secrecy concerning all of Peltier's marble making processes, especially regarding Peltier's feeder systems.

I've been saying that for many years, but don't getting me wrong, I'm not necessarily saying, out loud, that when Fiedler left Peltier to go to CAC, he took much of Peltier with him. (more of a whisper, than out loud, I'd say...)

Of course, that is Galen's opinion, but 10 months after Fiedler was hired, Sellers Peltier expressed his dissatisfaction with Fiedler in correspondence to Gropper, and stated that he had taken over much of Arnold's duties. The furnaces as designed by Fiedler, had to be modified with much development and experimentation by Sellers, in order to make the cerise and agate marbles. Sellers also made several changes to the Miller machines, to improve their performance. Sellers Peltier was a very hands-on kind of guy in the operation of the factory, and was the designer and inventor of several marble machine improvements, delivery systems and feeders, etc. The Peltier Company had been making glass by batch for many years before Fiedler arrived, and in the 1890's was one of the first companies in the country to make opalescent glass. I have seen little evidence of the accomplishments of Fiedler at Peltier, and firmly believe that most of the accolades piled on him, more rightly belong to Sellers Peltier.

They were all dug at the Peltier factory.

They made other marbles with the milkie base, too, of course.

The milkies definitely came first, so I would say yes.

Hansel, I said "possible milkies" because I'm no expert, and I've never seen any real ones in person to compare them to. They look like ones I've seen in pictures, though, and these are all I have found, so I suspose that is what they are. All three of mine have a pale orange glow when backlit, as do the Acme Realers that I have.

These were all dug. I don't know if Peltier made a distinction between, say, cerise onyx, and cerise agate marbles. The three possible milkies in the bottom row look much like acme realers, without a patch, with interior opalescent threads.

okie-dokie, Hansel..... Here are some early non-feathered Peltier onyx, including a white, some cerise and maybe a 1" prima and a few milkies....

Nice primas, Galen. They were made in all sizes, #00 to #6. (calling Gino now...)

Probably August 1924 to June 1931,perhaps concurrently with the New York address. (maybe I'm wrong here...)