Steph

I have no sense of humor! ... but my goal was no loftier than narrowing in on the decade.

The 1989 MCSA price guide calls them corkscrews. A mint 5/8" corkscrew would average about 40 cents. There aren't many entries for machine mades that year. (Cool to see evidence in print of what we latecomers always hear about when machine mades started coming into their own. ) In Greenberg's I see a reference to a 1985 MCSA guide. Were corkscrews listed in that?

Bob said he recalled that name from the early 1970's. It was used by Randall and Webb in Greenberg's Guide in 1988. Sounds like they were most comfortable with the name "spiral" but also that they were aware of the name "corkscrew" being used somewhere else. They have a section called Spirals and they use that name throughout but they say "corkscrews" twice that I can see. First is in a caption under a photo from the J. Fred Early Collection which says "Selection of Akro Agate spirals (corkscrews) in a wide range of body color and striping." Second is in the value table where they say "SPIRALS OR CORKSCREWS". (edit: is that a value table? I think so but there is something odd about the entries. it's on p. 50 whatever it is)

I'm not sure yet. Still studying the trail.

AMMM = American Machine-Made Marbles. It seems that you may have gotten some of your information from that but you mentioned "books" plural so I wondered what else you may have been using. I've bought 3 marble-related books this past month so my budget is strapped but I'd probably find some way to buy another if it told more about Israel. ( : Just using AMMM if I were to have guessed that it was some geometry-savvy Akro employee who came up with the nickname corkscrew, I might have guessed John Early. AMMM left me with the impression that Early was more involved in design and manufacture than Israel. I got the idea that Israel was more into the business side. Just my impression.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww so cute

I didn't think you were saying he was the only employee. I thought you might be saying he was only AN employee. So I was doublechecking. I'm also curious about some of the other things you said, such as the time frame you might be operating under for which patches were made when at Akro but I didn't ask because that would be getting quite tangential. From American Machine-Made Marbles: "The Master Marble Company was organized in the Grasselli district of Clarksburg, West Virginia, by three longtime employees of Akro Agate: Clinton F. Israel, Claude C. Grimmett, and John E. Moulton." No, but that's okay. You're right. But I just wanted to understand what all you were saying about Israel. If you have more material about Israel than AMMM and would care to share I would appreciate that. If not then that's okay. Peace, etc.

p.s., I said owned Master because that was easier than saying "Was a cofounder of Master Marble and eventually owned Master Glass outright". Are you under the impression that he was only an employee at Master Marble, not an owner? Not clear on what technicalities you were trying to convey there.

nice!!!

Why do you believe he came up with the "corkscrew" nickname?

Aw, Ray. Hope you still get pleasure from your Christensen peewees.

I don't see purple! I kinda see copper and dark brown? Am I seeing it wrong?

Aaaaargh. Jealousy is such an ugly emotion. Bad Stephanie!!! (sweet box of mibs. )

I thought I knew that. But suddenly I don't feel sure about it. Did Akro make bricks? If so, what did they call them?

Me too. And they're in the salesman sample cases. http://i119.photobuc...lerboxes007.jpg (big pic, might need to double click for full)

Bump in case anyone can elaborate/corroborate ..... or just has other ideas.

They don't look modern to me. And they don't look like Champion to me. I obviously don't know enough about Alley to say they're not. I'm willing to take Ray's word unless Ron or Ric or someone like that disagrees. It would be cool to hear from them though. Here's the description from the auction, where Ray mentions the metallic spots, etc.

here's the auction pic for future reference since they're rather unusual:

Thanks Edna. ( :

That's pretty interesting isn't it. Chuck B suggests that people take that ad with a grain of salt. If I'm not mistaken that warning translates monetarily into something like this: Marbles with the wide black ribbon around the middle might command more money than an obvious all-red with a thin black line but not as much money as the obvious yellow-jackets with green or blue ribbons. And what about the ones with the white equator? Were those different in any way from the ones sold in All-Red bags?

Some call this a strip tease.

Thanks guys. I added a quick note. I'll try to make a better update later. I don't remember where I heard/read that they got the old stock.

Starting a repository for whatever bits and pieces I come across for marble production by the different companies. I keep thinking I "ought to" so here now I'm starting it. Maybe it will take order some day. Maybe not. Just one company today. Heaton is the one I was reading about just now. Heaton Agate Company. Started marble production in 1947. Sold the business to the Bogard family in 1971. They are said to have used only one machine at a time because of gas shortages but AMMM gives them credit for "millions and millions of marbles" over the life of the company. I guess it adds up! They had swirls, chinese checker marbles, transparents and cat's eyes. Some marbles went to industrial accounts but not that many. Bogard would later shift the emphasis more to industrial marbles/

You might have to set your preferences in order to get back to the notices you're used to. The pop up window and email notifications and the like.

Just starting to collect information. The 1900 census says he was born in April 1848 but gives his age as 42. So the 1848 looks like an error. Later censuses place his birth in the 1850's. Some variation. 1887, 1888?: Immigrated to the U.S. June 11, 1900: Living in Tiffin City, Ohio, per census. His occupation is given as glass blower but it looks like he might have been unemployed for the past 5 months if I'm reading the form correctly. 1903: General Manager of the Buckeye Glass Company factory in Malta, Ohio 1910: Worked at (was proprietor of?) a hotel in Cambridge, Ohio. 1917: Returned to the glass business, working for Akro 1919: laborer, no company name given (in Clarksburg, WV, I presume - mental note: confirm with Brian - lol I'm sure that was it but ....) 1921: Clerk, Akro Agate 1923: chemist , no company name given. Source: Thread from Land of Marbles. Find link again. Note: 20233 1920: Identified as chemist in census Sept. 1923: Left Akro, where he was employed as a Glass Maker, per the testimony of J. F. Early at the Peltier/Akro Apellate Trial in 1926. Additional: Early also stated in his testimony that he saw Fiedler at Peltier during their inspections (of the Miller machines) of May 1925 and April 1926. Sept. 15, 1924: Signed two-year contract to work at Peltier. Fiedler's home is given as Hamburg, New York at the time of the signing. Fiedler is to start on or about Oct. 15, 1924. He is hired as a Glass Maker and foreman with a special duty of bringing other Peltier workers up to speed on the art of hand gathering marbles and other spherical glass items. The contract appears to have been extended for one year. Fiedler's pay is a healthy $100 a month from 1924 - 1927, more even than than Sellers Peltier. His residence in Ottawa, Illinois is given in company records and Internal Revenue documents for 1926 and 1927. The $5200 salary recorded for 1927 suggests that he stayed through the end of the year. There was a payroll check canceled on March 31, 1928 but no indication of the date when the check was written. It is thought to be from 1927. Source: Private collection Late 1920's?: A 1987 article by Jeff Carskadden and Mark Randall tells of information found in the Degenhart Museum in Cambridge which says that Fiedler owned the Christensen Agate Company for some unknown length of time. The information was provided by Elliot Pattison who was said to have been Fiedler's chauffeur when he was 14 or 15 years old. He recalls receiving a gift of marbles from Fiedler when he was in the hospital with appendicitis. 1930: In Aurora, Illinois, per census. No employment stated. Death: ? Bibliography: 1. Jeff Carskadden and Mark Randall. "The Christensen Agate Company, Cambridge, Ohio, 1927-1933", Muskingum Annals, Number Four, pp. 48-52. Zanesville, OH: The Muskingum Valley Archaelogical Society, 1987. 2. J. W. Corter. Henry Hellmers' Secret Batch Book of Glass Formulae. Sandy, UT: Ignaeous Glassworks, 2011. I don't have this yet but some have made it sound like it could have useful information. 3. Ralph K. Lucht. Arnold Fiedler: Glass & Marble Maker Par Excellence. AuthorHouse: 2007. I have only incorporated a couple of small details from this book. I'm still considering how to best make use of it. Some of the material is still under debate but some looks like it could be helpful. Decisions are complicated by a lack of a bibliography.