Steph

fun!

I wonder if the two words after the 59 are also part of the phone number .... like how people here used to start phone numbers with words like "Murray Hill". Anyone feel like reaching out to a professor of Japanese culture at a university?

Hamburger flavored before cooking with copious amounts of Teriyaki sauce, ginger and onion flakes, plus not so copious amounts of crushed red pepper. Yum.

We still need to contact someone with knowledge of Japanese cultural history to find out when they used two-digit phone numbers.

The graphics changed between the transitional box and the cat's eye box. And the label stuck to the box instead of being part of the box _might_ indicate a change in how packaging was done -- maybe something more expensive to something more generic. But if this second thought is a stretch, we still have a modernization -- and Westernization -- of the logo to account for.

:thup:

Yes, they definitely had machine-made marbles in 1926. Slags, Cornelians and Imperials. And they had Flinties and Moonies in 1929. I just don't see room for the patches -- or for Spiral style corks -- between this advertisement from 1929 and the "beautiful new line of marbles" Akro introduced for children to name in 1930, AKA the Prize Names. I don't recognize two of the patch/ribbon patterns in the machine as ever coming from Akro. One of the patch patterns does look like it could have come from Akro but, again, in a later year.

Mondo kewl!

Darn, this is still not in color: https://books.google.com/books?id=ScvNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA765 https://books.google.com/books?id=9hMTAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA43#v=onepage&q=aluminoid&f=false

It's not often that we can see a date for a Japanese Cat's Eye bag ... but here's one.

Could be. However, the patches and ribbons still don't fit American manufacturers from that time as far as I know. That's my main point. It's earlier than I thought of for Japanese patches, but Japanese patches are still somewhat mysterious, while dates on American marbles are fairly well pinned down ... or so I thought.

Did some checking. In 1955, news articles about the failing marble industry said that Japan could ship marbles for $10 a ton by labeling them as ballast. Also worker's wages and taxes were said to be considerably lower in Japan. Shorter of two articles I found: http://s119.photobucket.com/user/modularforms/media/History/1955_01_24_MarblesFromJapan_Vitro_c.jpg.html So that doesn't necessarily tell me about 1929, but my working theory is that the situation was similar.

I haven't broken down prices yet. I have a pretty good feel for the marbles made in the U.S. in 1929. Or I thought I did. But either I don't have as good of an idea as I thought. Or those marbles are foreign. Those seem to be the two choices. I did think about the possibility of them being scrap, but how much scrap would they have to have to decide to take out an ad promising marbles for vending machines? Time for me to do some more digging.

Thank you kindly. I feel so much better than two months ago. I think I slept on it wrong last night. The elbow hurts a little again. But it feels like ten steps forward and only one step back.

heh ... thanks

They don't look like Akro corks to me. Akro DID supply marbles for vending machines. However, those pictured in the overlaid photo from 1930 don't look like the Akros I recognize from that time. The way a 1931 Akro ad is phrased, it makes me wonder if it's selling surplus Akro slags: http://aa.arcade-museum.com/Automatic-Age-1931-03/Automatic-Age-1931-03-110.pdf

The first Akro corks were officially introduced in 1930, according to the earliest documentation I can find. It's possible that they were being made in 1929. However, the only styles I think possible at any time in 1929 were Prize Names, Onyx (including Cardinal Red) and Imperials. Onyx and Imperials both appear in 1929 advertising, but it's not likely that they took corkscrew form yet. The contest where Akro introduced their new line of marbles and invited children to help name them -- promising a prize to the best name -- was run in 1930.

I am 99.999999999999999999% sure those are not Akro Spirals. Not in 1929. And I am reasonably certain that foreign marbles could be shipped very very cheaply. I know that some people say it's myth that marbles were used as ballast, but I think they were used in a related way. Like categorized as "ballast" officially in order to get breaks in the cost of shipping, even if they weren't technically being used that way. The word "ballast" was used at least once in news reports in the 1950's in connection with American marble manufacturers trying to get Congress to put a tariff on Japanese marbles in an attempt to save the hard hit American marble industry. Japanese marbles were being shipped in a bulk way which undercut American costs. The Japanese marbles we recognize were lower quality than MFC's, Akros, Peltiers and CAC's of the 1910's through early 1930's ... and I don't recognize any 1920's American marbles in that marble machine. Alox was not making marbles in the 1920's. Alley was getting started in 1929. Ravenswood in 1928.

More cranberries. More. MORE. MOAR! Big bowl of cranberry and raisin oatmeal cooked in milk. No sugar. Gobs of fruity goodness. Mmmmmmmmm.

Melvin Belli -- the famous lawyer -- was a demon on Star Trek. Goes from defending Jack Ruby to having a guest spot on Star Trek. The episode where the evil being corrupts the children. His son, also named Melvin Belli, was one of the children. Still need to learn who made that happen.

Don't hurt yourself! Just having to move some furniture around in my head to make those marble styles fit. Bumblebee thinks not cats -- which would be convenient for my brain blueprint -- since I would be astounded to learn of cats being made so early. But still some other interesting marbles in the bunch.

The top center one looked like I could see separated vanes. And then about a third of the way down from it, I thought I might be seeing a light-colored cat's eye. Even if not cats, we still have some surprising patches and ribbons.

Don't recall ever seeing anything like it. Interesting. Someone might yet meet the reserve -- they could be waiting to snipe it.

I know I have seen the answer! (It's not you, is it?) I'll hold back from googling for now ......

Ohhh ... you made a cast of it and then made the sulphide figures?