Steph

Calling IT what IT is is different from calling SOMEONE something. That's all's I'm really saying. It's gonna be hard to call anybody anything if the board is shut down. The Bo who talked me through some of my struggles earlier this year seemed really good at stepping around the poop. I appreciated it. :-)

Unfortunately, the sense of humor seems to be the first casualty at times like this. :-) Your art really does have something refreshing about it. Thanks

Bo, that was not cool. It is not all good fun to call a board member a braggadocio. Sure this thread was provocative but it was going along okay. No good reason to stir things up. In fact every reason not to. If you don't care about the future of this board, keep poking fun at Steve. If you care at all, please don't. If Steve is stirring stuff for any unkind reason, let him stir alone. (Not saying he is. That's between him and him.) Please help neutralize the conflict and not feed it, that is, if you don't want Lou to shut this place down. Marble Mental has already been shut down (temporarily I hope) over these vendettas and agendas. The administrators are good people peforming a service. .

LOL. I'm not arguing! LOLOL Buttttt . . .

And duh, of course Martin's mechanization itself helped make the manufacturing process less expensive. Obviously a big factor. Of course cost matters. As I said (again and again lol) I wasn't arguing. This subject is simply fascinating to me all around, that is, the subject of the marble business back in the day. Did you know that hardware business owners back then were advised to sell mibs and pocket knives to boys as close to cost as possible? Ya know why? To get them hooked on the store. Get the boy's business and you have the man's in later years. :-)

I guess I take some issue with which market glass mibs were trying to take over. Maybe the answer is both. Being able to break into the German agate market is touted as one of Martin Christensen's accomplishments. His artful advertising - using names of various stones - was given part of the credit. But the marbles still had to be good. Martin was notorious for quality control. But I'm not arguing. Don't think there is too much difference of opinion here. Mostly mentioning facts I find interesting. Cheap German labor was a big issue to Martin. He did benefit from tariffs. A spokesman for U.S. glass manufacturers lobbied Congress for higher tariffs specially to protect the newborn American glass marble industry. All two glass marble making companies in the U.S. at the time, if I recall correctly. And Martin had affordable natural gas . . . until WWI. LOL. Just talking. Not really debating. I love thinking about these guys. Martin is definitely a fave.

Thanks Craig! Very cool. Every now and then I need to look through my marble books again. (doh!)

Right click. Save picture as ...

LOL. I was musing about Jaboland in that other thread. I can move some things around here but I can't transplant threads from one board to that next. Actually Felicia did post her flame at Jabo Land too. Maybe even posted it there first. Yay Fel!

Yah. s'far as I know.

Jabo did? I missed that. Or is Steve Jabo? I actually heard a rumor about that but I never saw the confirmation. I am definitely out of the loop.

Bo, do you think Jabo wants to compare itself to those companies? I never got that idea. I bet the people there, if they think of it at all, have a healthy view of their position in the history of marbles. They are the heirs to Bogard and hence to Heaton, and to Vitro. They are one of the last marble companies in the U.S. They kept alive all these years by making industrial marbles. And they got to make some kids' marbles too along the way. And Dave had his place in the history of Champion. Jabo can't compare in the kids' marble market because today's kids' marble market can't compare to that which Martin Christensen got into because it was so hot. American companies don't have the natural resources and cheap labor to keep a huge share of what is left of the kids mibs market. [Edit: one more important point before I give it up - today's marble market couldn't compare because in the old days it was important to make marbles which kids wouldn't snub in favor of real agates. It took quality control and good glass to keep serious players satisfied. In today's market, being as cheap as possible is what matters. yikes] But I shouldn't even go on. Sorry to bore you. Jabo should't have to get defensive or be defended just because someone likes to have a little "fun" with some of his fellow collectors. Thanks tons Steve. LOL ;-)

I'm the only one seeing something sorta of big cat -ish?

It's harder than that to get the eye catching ones. the pretty colors. etc. Changing the subject . . . because I know someone is very torn up about the current drama . . . why don't more Jabo lovers post at Jabo Land? Some of the more vocal Jabo critics have promised not to criticize there. Heck some have promised not to even post there for that matter. Why not celebrate the Jabos there more often? Not saying never post them anywhere else. But if you really like Jabos and really wanna celebrate them why not go to Jabo Land first? Sometimes I think the drama is more important than the marbles to some people.

Hey, don't quote me saying "entrepreneur"! (LOL) . . I'm still trying to figure out the right word for Martin Christensen! hehehe An ingenious tinkerer, a very efficient businessman and manager, a philanthropist at least to some degree, a retiree who couldn't stay idle, . . . He started making glass marbles after he retired, because he realized he could adapt his ball bearing machine to glass. He planned to sell the new patent as he did the original but then decided to actually get into the business, because it seemed like a good moneymaking idea (to the best of my understanding). To me the most mythological and misunderstood person might be Berry Pink. I think he claimed he was in the business for the joy of the children, but how much of what he said was him trying to sell an image so he could sell more marbles? Let's quit comparing Dave McCullough to Fiedler and start comparing him to Martin! :-) Tinkerer, retiree who won't stop, generous guy, etc. :-)

I believe the people who say they participated in the Jabo runs for the love of the marbles, and to support Jabo, and not as a means to turn a buck. Not that there's anything wrong with making money. Which marble company owner didn't hope to make a profit when they started making marbles? Martin Christensen didn't get into the business for the love of marbles or the love of kids (to the best of my understanding). He was an entrepreneur.

Interesting thought Gry. You made me think of something which might be a more meaningful comparison. The word "vintage" isn't always associated with MFC or CAC. That is, of course they are vintage, but other marbles are considered vintage also. Take Marble King. Of course it's provocative to compare Jabo to CAC. ROFL. But toss Marble King into the mix. Where do Jabos fall in comparison to Marble Kings? Beauty, value, etc. Still apples and oranges, but maybe not so very different monetarily (for example). If you like fancy lines and colors, Jabos would beat the Bumblebee and other Rainbows. This spoken as one who loves the clean simple lines of the classic bee.

Ah, I see Sue. And yes, Winnie, I do appreciate your dilemma. I too consider the history of something as part of its innate value. No matter what the colors, I cherish the well-identified WV swirls I received from Ron. Luckily you count Ron among your marble friends. He probably wouldn't mind if you leaned on him even more to help broaden your collection. Also, you might want to get your hands on some of these Jabos if only for comparison. Luckily it will be a little while yet before these get seriously circulated among WV swirl collections. Jabos are good at sparking debate. Felicia, what size is this one?

I wasn't complaining about the marble. That's a sweet mib. I was stating facts, the basic fact being that one blew me away when Felicia told me what it was. "Terrible" pictures or no there are clues to pick out from lighting and texture. I had gotten a preview of it when Fel sent it to me to post into photobucket for her and I was trying to figure out whether the clues in her pic pointed to Alley or Champ. The mib looked so familiar that I was about to pull out the box of Pennsboro Alleys Ron sent to see if that's where I found it. Or was it in my miscellaneous swirl box? I needed to check. And then she told me what it was. And wow. Fact: that one is gonna throw a kink in ID's and I'm glad to be aware of it! LOL Yup, there are conflicting ideals - analyze a mib (and be good at it) vs. enjoy the mib for its aesthetics. This achievement by Jabo might push me closer to the enjoyment ideal. as you suggest, not such a bad thing.

I quit. I mean it. I give. No way I'll be confident identifying WV swirls when those start getting mixed into the general population. Would we be able to tell them apart from vintage in hand? I sure can't in the pic.

Jabos have their moments. And they're more affordable than CAC's. That's good for us little people. Good luck with your next runs. Hope you get some winners.

For what it's worth, there appear to have been Akro boxes which weren't stamped Akro. A couple of discussions have been had about that here. In some of the gift sets it seems that the ID was done with an insert on a separate card. Lose the card and lose the ID. I gather that most were marked in a permanent fashion tho'. I still don't know what to think about the black interior.

Was this box an Akro item? Of course I know they had stained glass boxes. Not familiar with this one though. Can't remember seeing any with black inside. auction again (the one Bill posted)

that pelt is uncredible!~

Life Magazine is on Google Books now. They have some marbles articles. Here are the ones I know of right off hand. (They also have one with a mouse collecing marbles, I think, but that's not quite the same thing. ;-) (click on pix to get to issues) May 10, 1937 (just the cover I think) April 25, 1938 June 22, 1942 June 21, 1947 June 26, 1950