Steph

silica = sand? Did the old marble companies process their own sand/silica? I understand that natural gas is not so easy to come by anymore. Is the sand/silica dried up too? (no pun intended!)

Why did Ohio and West Virginia become centers for marble making? Any particular reason(s)?

Is glass addiction the same as "the melting pot". Their subtitle says "where all glass addicts melt together". Have I found the place? http://www.thegldg.com/forum/index.php Okay ... I think I've answered my own question. ... no, not the same. Glass Addiction

Update: In case any one hadn't already guessed this from the more careful marbles labelling all around in 1933, here's the final outcome of that "pending" 1930 case against Gropper. From the Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30 1931. (http://www.ftc.gov/os/annualreports/ar1931.pdf) p. 56 indicates Gropper was found guilty of "Misbranding; false and misleading advertising." A cease and desist order was entered. p. 157 has the details: PROCEEDINGS DISPOSED OF IN FISCAL YEAR . . 157 Gropper, M. J., & Sons (Inc.). (Docket 1722.) Order entered November 17, 1930, requiring respondent, engaged in the sale of marbles, to cease and desist from the use of the word "onyx" to designate glass marbles, without the use of other words clearly showing that such marbles are not made of onyx.

No. 6 Shooters. This style box can be seen in a 1954 Tiger-Eyes Ad. (click to enlarge) No. 1 "Shooters". No. 1 is typically 5/8" mibs. <-- edit: why did I say that? Is that right? ....

Another clue maybe. This is from the 1933 ad Galen posted. A No. 5 box saying National Rainbo Marbles.

Here's a pic I've been waiting to add to the thread for current or future consideration. Waiting until the auction listing was over ... it was a 10-day auction. lol From the seller's description: I'm too tired right now to think about what all it might mean, but I think it's a clue!

We know that some Akro patches were corkscrews which didn't cork. Made when the spinner cup wasn't spinning. For example, this popeye patch, pictured along with its sibling. (They were found in the same popeye box.) So, here's my question. Was the corkscrew machine also a patch machine on purpose? And the spinner cup was just held still when the patches were being made? Or were the patches which came out of the corkscrew machine(s) more along the lines of accidents. And did Akro have specialized patch machines? For example, were moss agates made on special patch machines? Or on corkscrew machines with the spinner cup held still.

wow ... politics and intrigue ... and potentially global economic ramifications and they're just toys ... rejected toys at that.

aw shucks. That's so sweet.

Oh ... not for me, hmmm ... just because I could picture myself as a 10-year-old knuckling down with your ruby bee in 1940? I wouldn't really, you know that Carole! Those are some mighty fine pelts! p.s., I am slowly putting together two sets of marbles I wouldn't mind bashing up so that my husband and I can learn to play. He says he's game if I can find some I won't squeal about whenever they hit each other!

Wow, that's a marble! That would look great spinning across the dirt, whomping up on the other mibs in the ring. (j/k ... except that it would! )

Here are my sunsets. The top one is 1 5/16". The one on the right is 31/32+. They did have at least one other color option (white and yellow). Beyond that I don't know.

Hi Wayne. Nice to see you. :-) I wish I had a Dalmation too. Any size. That's a cool looking marble for something so simple in color. Yes, I think the Owl is the same as the Wicked Owl. Maybe slight glass formula changes as with so many Megas, but still the same essential style. imho. :-) Here's the 2006 version from KC Marble Club's catalog pages. My contact for Mega marbles has been Albert at LOM. I recently got a whole lot of Megas/Vacors from him, including a 1" Sunset. Very nice. (Albert, just in case you ever read this board and see this post, know that I'll be sending you something in the mail soon. Including my email address so we can get back in touch. I haven't forgotten about you!) Steph

and still in the "silly" vein, here's Blendtec presents: .

I'm the someone else. LOL Sue, I was looking at Carole's pix here, Show Your Atmospheres, as an example of something which "worked" with her particular camera, in her particular lighting setup. I want her to be able to show off mibs like her "interesting little pelt" to their best advantage. So, that's why she used the darker cloth, and it happened to be purple. Carole, it sounds to me like Sue agrees that the pix are getting good! And dark seems to be the right idea. AND purple worked well here, but if you take a picture of your new cubscout shooter, dark gray will probably go better with the colors than purple. For example. Do I have this right, guys?!

sweet

Jane, that's pretty neat effect and tough to capture. I'll be looking for it in my bananas from now on. Elizabeth, ....... (I don't know what to say. I've loved that picture for a long time. Thanks for sharing it here!) That red and yellow striped one looks .... different ....

I agree that looks like a Kokomo, Jay. imho! Here's a bag of Kokomos Craig posted a couple of years ago. Can see why they could get mixed in with whities.

Yeah, it's great! But so is yours! Wish they were both mine!

Here's a picture Chuck showed me at LOM to illustrate what he described as a "bow-tie" effect at the seam. He said it was a common characteristic of whities. I was never quite sure why it was called a bow-tie. Was it was how it was cinched neatly at the seam, or how the ribbon sort of seems to fold back on itself. or maybe just something about the overall shape of it? I don't know, but I do see the ribbon on Chuck's slightly doubling back. And I think I may see a hint of the same thing on the portion of the seam showing in your first picture. Do you see it in hand?

Post #4 here has a picture Chris posted of whities, Nice Vitro Shooter Or Is It?, packed with aventurine.

Here's the most recent thing I know of on Kokomos at this board, Aruba, Jamaica, Girl I Wanna Take Ya.... Bob's original pictures have been replaced with others ('coz that's just what happens with his server) but there is still a lot of discussion plus some scans of text about Kokomos. I should know where the old board is. LOL (I posted there once, just to see if I could. ) Maybe I can find it. p.s., as BJ notes in that Aruba thread, WVMCC has a Kokomo marbles page at their site, http://www.westvirginiamarblecollectorsclub.com.

Some Japanese "Pinchers", from a Bob Block auction. A couple of these are multi-colored, which apparently isn't all that common. (click to enlarge) These are similar to what are often called Wales marbles. Here's a thread where I gathered together some "Wales" pix: Wales Mibs For Mike