Mr. Alley Agate III

Alley Agate Sample Box Rows 9-15

Here are detailed views of the Alley Agate Sample Case Rows 1-8.

3 views of one marble from row 27 to 30 of the Alley Agate Salesman Sample Case

3 views of one marble from row 22 to 28 of the Alley Agate Salesman Sample Case

3 views of one marble from row 16 to 22 of the Alley Agate Salesman Sample Case --- SORRY the file loader is refusing to load the files in order of the rows. You will have to match them up as you look at them.

3 views of one marble from row 14 & 15 of the Alley Agate Salesman Sample Case

3 views of one marble from row 8 to 13 of the Alley Agate Salesman Sample Case

Here are 3 views of one marble from each row of the Alley Agate Salesman Sample Case.

More Alley - Anacortes case photos of single marbles. First 2 and the 3 groups have row identified. For the others the row is not determined.

Alley - Anacortes Salesman Case photos by Raylyn Dolton. These are copies of laser prints on paper that she sent me. Some of the colors are not as accurate as I would like. I believe the photo from eBay above is more accurate for color. It has the rows numbered to match the single marbles (R3, R4, etc. in the file name.). The marbles have been rotated differently in the two case photos, and it looks like at least 2 marbles have been changed (row 29). Pictured are photos of a few single marbles (from laser prints). In the file name I have identified the row that they are in. The next Post has marbles that are supposed to be in the case, which I could not identify where they are. Also are 3 groups of marbles with row identified.

In July Bert had his sample case on eBay for a fixed price of $10,000. The picture here is from eBay. In July I was in WV and compared my case with nearly 3000 marbles dug at Pennsboro. Eleven rows of 5 in my case matched Pennsboro marbles exactly - color and pattern. Others matched in pattern but not color. Here is my detailed analysis of the Anacortes case compared to my case. See color code in photo. 90 marbles match exactly. 8 marbles match in patern but not color. 3 are similar but I am uncertain 49 - Pattern is different or there is too much white to see it. Since I sent the photo of my case to Marble Allan for his web site, and dated it 1948, I now think it is from Pennsboro production, thus pre 1937. The date my father received it was 1948. It was given to him as an "old" case I have another Anacortes case photo sent to me by Raelyn Dolton. It is a paper copy. The exposure is better. I will post it later when I copy it. It looks to me like a few non-Alley marbles have been replaced, interchanged or rotated in the eBay picture.

Chinese checkers tournaments among other games mentioned in newspaper articles. found on: http://newspaperarchive.com Some are for boys and others for adults. I've seen one in 1923 for "chinese checkers" but it discribed Mah Jongg tiles. I may be wrong, but I always considered Mah Jongg to be an adult game. Piqua Daily Call - Piqua, Ohio December 29, 1927, January 28, 1928, October 20, 1928, December 26, 1928, Findlay Courier - Findlay, Ohio, May 13, 1931 Soda Springs Sun, The - Soda Springs, Idaho, February 23, 1934, Billings Gazette - Billings, Montana, January 20, 1935, March 24, 1935 (see 1938 ad of M&M pharmacy in Billings on this site) Syracuse Herald - Syracuse, New York, December 05, 1935 (Conde Toy Shop ad & "Chinese Checkers Rated a Hit"on this site) Syracuse Herald 27 Jan 1937 says Local Co. J F Freidel was still working on wholesale distribution to many states. 14 months after the 1935 ad. Note the concentration of the Ohio cities in the ads in the north west corner of Ohio. Piqua 1927 & 1928, Findlay 1931, and Lima (ad on this site advertizes Brown Mfg Co. Clinton, MO game) 1937 - the same year of the copyright. These dates give credibility to the 1928 date in Lynn Pressman’s Obit, and the following interview with Bill Pressman by Bruce Whitehill (bgh) at http://thebiggamehun...inese-checkers/ Bill Pressman said that the game was discovered when either he or a salesman was traveling in the Midwest; it’s possible that they met the patent assignee or saw the star-shaped board. Bill Pressman was the sales manager at that time and describes the acquisition of the game–which at that time must have still been called HALMA–as “strange and ‘flukey’”; he said that the game was acquired in the “most haphazard way imaginable.” They were involved in litigation, and “people were fired from major chains.” These mysterious comments were all he would reveal until he finished writing a book he was working on, but, unfortunately, he died in 2011 and the complete story is still unknown. This information leads me to believe that Pressman simply knew a good thing when he saw it. It was already being called Chinese Checkers in 1927, and this name inspired Pressman to call his game Hop Ching. This still does not give the date that Pressman started marketing Hop Ching. From my family records Alley Agate started supplying marbles to Pressman Hop Ching games in late 1938 or early 1939. (Correction: late 1934 or early 1935) It was a large quantity; too large to be his original introduction. (I am still looking for someone selling a set of the original pre 1947 marbles without yellow.) The game in the September 1938 ad is the all wood board with only red printing and only the words "HOP CHING" without "Checkers". He later added "CHECKERS" and Blue points to the star. I think the red board is his first. (This is an edit of yesterdays post.) Up Date Feb 2013!! I am now sure that Alley did supply Yellow marbles and not Purble. No bags or sets are found with Purple. The information got twisted from this fact. Pressman did not use a Yellow star point in his wood frame boards, except what I believe is the earliest dragon board. This board is rare. I only know of one, it is in bad condition, and and the frame is lost. See new date in previous paragraph.