Steph

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

p.s. i would also lean modern and foreign on the middle pic but I don't want to guess which continent it is from. I've lost track of which "cage-like" ones came from which area.

The 3-vane 3-color cats are definitely from after the 1950's. Cat's eyes first became the rage sometime around the early 1950's. The first ones as far as I know had 4 vanes, with 1 color. I'm not sure when the 3-vane 3-color ones came around, and especially unsure when peewees would have come on the scene. My guess would be 1970's or later for the 3-vane peewees. Cat's eye collectors pretty much have to have a different standard for what is "old" since the oldest cats are still relatively new.

Lou took the board over from Alan. many years ago. (if I understand correctly)

Okie dokie. Now we're getting somewhere. Then I'll have to vote no on the Veteran Conqueror. Here's the version I'm reading of Alan's description of Veteran Conquerors: So the 'veteran conqueror' is not a phantom conqueror type. The 'white' is still brushed, not filamented. But the white isn't purely white. Also note where he says the type "has not been named but could be labeled ...". He's making a suggestion. I asked on the board about this name once and was given the impression that it never caught on. I don't know if Alan himself still uses it.

I looked up an old copy of Alan's page and didn't find "Victory Conqueror". Are you thinking of the "Veteran Conqueror" name which he proposed for an off-white Conqueror variant?

I am not familiar with the name "Victory Conqueror". I know what a Victory is, but that's a different marble. The "plain" Victory is the one with a single patch and a transparent interior.

I have not seen that book yet. I had read the bad press and decided to pass. But in the last year I've heard more than one person refer to it so I might have to get it after all. :-)

I'd like to know more about those. I'd guess Pelt myself. I find myself wishing we had more close-up pix of the late 1930's mesh bags, such as the Rippled Wheat bags. That's my best guess at the mo' for the packaging they could be in. I'm really just brainstorming but that is where some other rainbo glass pelt patches are found. I do have a glowing based bubbly white ribbon rainbo. Might be a relative. The base is slightly green tinted on mine. I can't tell if yours is tinted or not. Mine is noticeably tinted. I'm open to hearing more about the Vitro option, but right now I'm still leaning pelt.

Not my box! I wish! The pix came from a Marblealan auction. Sorry I didn't mention that. Someone else has it which is why I couldn't pick those mibs up and examine them closer to see if this one has wisps or turn this one over to see if it has more clear on the other side. One more friendly chuckle at the thought of those maybe not being considered popeyes and now I'll clear out of this topic. ttyl :-)

I don't imagine Bill really thinks these would be backfilled. Not all of them. But Bill, in case you do, of course they weren't. Some popeye boxes, sure, but not all. Some had swirly/corky moss agates. Some had tri-onyx agates. LOL. Speaking of which, I guess I should rephrase my opinion: A Popeye is a marble from a tri-onyx agate run. (imho ;-) Bill, I do think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater in your study of boxes and ads. Sure there are times to be careful, but we do have reason to believe certain things. And no we can't lay everything we know into any one thread. If you need to ferret it it out for yourself and not take our word, that's cool with me. I'm not going to keep arguing. I've stated my case. Can't do any more. I trust that neither of us is mad right now, and I want to keep it that way. Back to the topic - I do think it's amusing that people wouldn't necessarily consider just any marble from a tri-onyx run a popeye. but hey, it is a collector's name. Funnier things have happened.

Ditto what Alan said. Also, I trust you mean glass. Washing clay mibs could cause color loss.

p.s. But #1 comes closest. I don't care whether this mib shows any wispy white upon closer inspection. I don't care whether this one has any appreciable clear. If it came from a popeye run, I think it's a popeye! (lol)

Hi Pete. Welcome! The more Vitros the merrier!

Craig, what date are you estimating on the last ad you showed? Did I read it correctly that you're putting it before the 1933 ad? I'd have been tempted to put it 1935, 1936 or maybe even later. One confusing thing for me has been trying to figure out how long Akro was advertising the Carnelians as "new". One of the years they called them new was 1934, but I don't know long that went on or when they actually started! LOLOL