Steph

I was so relieved when I scrolled up and saw which marbles Galen had posted. I didn't want to have to learn a new version of Pelt Sunset. But luckily I don't have to. That's the version I'm used to. 1931, Sunset Agates

Still working on how to do thumbnails.

This thread is about the "new book". The new book is in error. How much error is open for debate. It is your right and perhaps your cranky art historian responsibility to not believe Mike, Galen and myself about the nature of the Peltier documents. Do you believe the information presented in this new Fiedler book? Do you believe that Fiedler started the Cambridge Glass Company (1901) and named the Christensen Agate Company (circa January 1925)? You reported on the content of the book without having seen it. Now that you have seen it do you recommend it? What is your current evaluation of it now that you have read it?

There's a two-year contract saying Fiedler was to start work on or about Oct. 24, 1924 in the capacity of Glass Maker and foreman. One of his particular duties was to teach the men "the art of glass gathering". [Edit: yes, what Galen posted while I was editing this.] That contract was apparently extended since he was there another year with the same pay scale. There are IRS documents from 1926 and 1927 showing Fiedler's Ottawa address and his considerable pay. There are other detailed documents from 1925 through 1927 showing his pay as it related to production costs and as it compared to the pay of others in Peltier's employ. And of course there is the aforementioned check which was cancelled in March of 1928.

I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to buy your snake oil, Mike.

I've seen the documents too. They're quite comprehensive. Not that Mike needs anyone to vouch for his word about documents he is holding in hand. It's really an amazing treasure. It will be nice when they can be made available for all. Until then, I feel very fortunate to have been able to see them.

They were sold as Prize Names. (Prize Name Agate, not Prize Name Corkscrew) The original plan in 1930 appeared to be for children to rename them. (link) "Prize name" seemed to just be the temporary name on the box while the naming contest was being run. But the winning contest name was "Fire Opal" and it never replaced the "Prize Name" name on the boxes. Fire Opal went on to be the name of a different kind of marble. p.s., If you can read the little print you may note that the description says that there were five color combos. There were many more than that. ... obviously! lol. That's just an example of how Akro reused bits and pieces of ads without rewriting. Five specific combos were described in earlier ads but those don't match the color combos here. The variety quickly expanded.

Another issue with the timeline in addition to the claim that Fiedler started the Cambridge Glass Company (1901) is the conjecture that in 1903 he was making caster balls there using MFC technology. Even if he was employed at Cambridge Glass at the time, it seems highly unlikely that they would have been using the brand new MFC technology, which Martin Christensen appears to have first announced to the world in the summer of 1903. Cambridge was a pressed glass company. The items in their 1903 catalog apparently came from their parent company's earlier line, so it seems to me that those were probably bullet mold casters. We know someone made the bullet mold casters. Looks like Cambridge might have been one of the manufacturers. An article on the history of the Cambridge company (link) supports the idea that they would have been using molds in the early years. So I don't think their furniture casters were likely the instrument of Fiedler's debut into machine made marble making. Lots of interesting info about glass making in Ohio at the turn of the century, but I question Fiedler being involved with Cambridge that early.

Yay, you made it! Thanks for sticking it out. Worth the effort. ( :

From Photobucket did you try to copy the code which says img on one end and /img on the other (with brackets around the img)? That's how I load things from Photobucket. I either type the img code myself or I copy that line from the Photobucket options. Edit: Nevermind, I see you figured it out. (alright!)

Anything machine made. Would love to see!

Yay! Thanks! Keep 'em coming!

Some stories are more credible than others. Some have more corroboration. People have a natural impulse to evaluate the credibility of the information they are hearing. Where there is secrecy warning flags go up; it's instinctual. People probe more. Now that many have read the book there is less of a feeling of secrecy but there are also more specifics to judge the book on, and it's natural for people to want to give feedback. I have a growing list of questions. If Fiedler was working at Peltier in 1925 to 1927 as indicated by Peltier records, would he have been at the Christensen company in time to name it? That's one of the things said in the book - that Fiedler named the Christensen Agate Co. There are other smaller errors. Like Peltier being in Indiana. It's an interesting book. I'm glad I got it. Even if it is a compilation of stories which some others are familiar with, I wasn't familiar with them. So I'm glad I got it. But that doesn't mean I don't have questions. I even ordered a copy of Greenberg's guide to marbles so I could read more about the Eagle Sulphides Fiedler was reported to have made. My interest has been seriously piqued.

If you're used to getting notices about replies on threads you've posted in, you might need to change something in your settings to keep receiving them. They stopped coming to my inbox until I checked the email box(es) on the notification preferences page. Looks like the popup notice for new PM's might not be automatic anymore either. There's a box which looks like it's for that purpose a little ways down the notifications preferences page.

I have found some items in the book which appear erroneous to me. I admire Mr. Lucht's effort and if it opens a dialogue on Arnold Fiedler then that will be great. It has certainly led me to question a lot of what I assumed common knowledge. Makes me wonder how much of what has been written elsewhere about Fiedler is true and it has started me on a quest to find more records about him if at all possible. An example of something from the new book which I had never heard before and would like to have corroboration for is the claim that Fiedler started the Cambridge Glass Company. But the more I study the more I realize I don't have backup for a lot of the stories I've heard about Fiedler in any source. Even Baumann's version appears to have at least one error in it. Where did the information come from which we all consider "fact"? Is there documentation, or does everything we believe about Fiedler come from the same pool of anecdotes? The book has a lot of great pictures and some leads to things I'd like to see more of. And it has sure been fun thinking about Arnold Fiedler so much. I love a good mystery.

Oh no!! lol All my self-made thumbnails for pix I have at Photobucket ... clicking on the little pic doesn't take you to the big pic anymore. Well, it doesn't take me there. It just brings up another copy of the small pic. Like here: http://marbleconnection.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=10360 ooopsie. I have a LOT of editing to do. :ph34r:

Has anyone been successful at attaching a thumbnail?

I was able to upload this to the gallery so that's progress but I wasn't able to attach it as a thumbnail.

A new name for my list: http://glasswizzards.yuku.com/topic/1784

Well, I just edited that post all over the place. Here's the cleaned up version: Cloudys are solid colors. The patches are Meteors. To the best of my understanding.

I believe the ones on the right side of the box are Meteors. Here's the whole list of styles from a 1933 flyer: The flyer that came from: . . Those "thumbnails" aren't working now, so click here for the larger versions: http://i119.photobuc...sterFlyer1a.jpg http://i119.photobuc...sterFlyer1b.jpg edit: look at the No. 2000 De Luxe assortment here. http://i119.photobuc...sterFlyer2a.jpg . It calls the bottom row of patches Meteors. (Might need to double click to get full size. p.s. a larger scan is available) p.p.s. Here's a larger version of the No. 2000 description. http://i119.photobuc...er2a_No2000.jpg

Thanks, Hansel. I got that fixed at least. A little bit of progress.

I found some auction pix I'd forgotten about. I had 'em buried in with some moss agate pix.

Clinton Israel? The guy who owned Master?