ann

There is an Alley with blue & yellow ribbons on white -- like the one in the second row, not the one on top -- in AMMM. I once asked David Chamberlain if he still owned it and he expressed regret at having sold it some time before - - -

The one on the right is Floyd. The one on the left is Bubba. Sorry. It's Friday, I couldn't help myself.

Oooo. I've got some checking to do . . .

Making it even better is the fact that it's good hot or cold.

Me too. The blue blobbing on the first one and the equatorial break of colors on the second one are the main things I can't get past, though. Maybe somebody could explain? That would be helpful.

What's a honey bee? Brown instead of black on yellow?

I have a few with yellow (and one beloved one with yellow and oxblood), but in my experience they don't turn up very often. Although I'd be reluctant to call them rare. Maybe scarce? But that could be just my personal experience. >> waiting to hear from westcoastdave, etc. <<

Try your made-from-dry black beans ladled over a modest amount of white rice in a shallowish (pasta-type) bowl, then throw on some fresh chopped onion (I prefer Vidalia, or any sweet onion), and dribble a little (I prefer white) balsamic vinegar and good-quality olive oil over it all. As discovered in the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City (Tampa) sometime in the late 1960s, and a solid fixture in my life ever since. Trust me on this one.

On pic # 4, I see some very fine surface striations of a type I've only seen on dug Akros. FWIW.

Whee!

More Alley ox --

At least one positive outcome -- I finally ordered Larry Alley's book. Got it yesterday and just the few pages I've read so far have been enlightening.

Geh . . .

A new agate made by hand, the old-fashioned way - - - for play. But it will never taste dirt in my hands, nope, not gonna.

Hey migbar -- I have a biggish translucent purple one, but I can't remember if I asked you about it when we were emailing about the wierd transparent orange/red ones . . . Is your memory any better than mine? I hope so . . . Any of the translucent purples on the monument? I think I see a couple, but . . . I see a lot of things this late in the day. Dave -- crazy purple rainbo! Never seen one of those --

The DAS crystals I got have a really nice purple in some of them, too --

Here's some more --

Could we see some pics of the corks found at Sistersville? And thanks for the info on the sale of Alley to Pink or Rosenthal and the time of uncertain production at that site. That's the first time I've heard what sounds (to me) like good evidence for marbles made by someone other than Alley there. Maybe we'll never know -- but just as you can't say that patches were produced by Alley (and neither can I), I also can't say that all the patches found there were produced by Akro . . . but you may just have the beginnings of a very good reason for the confusion there!

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What he said. I've even gone over the collection photos in the Akro book, thinking the Hardys would have them if no one else . . . but I don't see anything like those. Also, knowing now that you can get both patches and swirls from the same machinery . . .

Besides Alley, there are a few lavender-based Akro corks, if you want to count lavender. Ummmm. I have a few purple pelt slags of the feathered variety -- some dark purple, others ranging up to lavender. And I have a couple of white-based WV swirls with purple ribbons, but I've seen them identified as both Alley and Ravenswood, so I keep them in my Puzzle Box. Do you mean just machine made?

Some of the Bulgarian oddities are similar, too . . .

Well, as long as we're divvying them up . . . I'll take 2, 3, 13 . . .

I think so too. From my somewhat limited experience, it seems to me that Alley used that color combo more than anyone else. Especially that kind-of-mint green. Is the green fluorescent in any of them?

I can't imagine a better pairing. Where can I get ones just like these two?