Steph

I really really really need a doing-handsprings emoticon ....

!!!!!?????!!!!!!!!! wow

The first five color combos of the kind of tri-color cork we now call Specials appear to have been introduced in the early 1930's. These images are from Dani and Ernie's catalog. I think it sounds like the Aces may have been released to the market before the Tri-Colors. Sounds like they had some feedback from the public already and the Tri-Colors were just coming out of the experimental stage. ? ?? At least I guess those are what we now call Specials. That red, green and white one couldn't have been a popeye, could it? ?? Could the blue and white and brownish one have been an oxblood? ???

This is from the enclosure promoting the naming contest for what we now call Prize Names. It gives the names Akro used sometime around 1929. After that came the contest rules. There were to be five prizes, ranging from $10 to $100. The deadline for entries was Midnight, May 1, 1930. Winners were to be announced in the June issue of Boys' Life.

That makes sense. Thanks.

So, the company name for popeyes was Tri-Onyx? It seems that this is common knowledge ... but I never registered it until a couple of minutes ago ... when re-reading a section of Alan's ID pages which I would have said I'd read a dozen times before. Whoops! Was Tri-Onxy also the company name for lemonades and the other ades and the oxbloods in the yellow popeye boxes?

That's the word! A feast for the eyes.

The orange glass looks like it peels right off the blue in those spots. The blue looks smooth underneath. Still wonderful. Have you ever backlit it?

In some ways marbles are more fun before we learn what we are supposed to like, and just go with our feelings. It's a different kind of fun later when you know what's what and start being able to id them by maker and grade them and know their monetary value. Something's lost and something's gained. :-) And then I hear it's a whole different kind of fun when you can go to shows and mingle with other marble lovers. I haven't been to one yet.

Thanks Lloyd! Exactly what the doctor ordered!

I can barely see the "breaks" in the pictures! Smooth!

Plus, camera differences and lighting differences could make the same marbles look different and different marbles look the same. The side-by-side comparison gets both the camera and the brain to work better.

Wouldn't you know ... you pick out the patches. Several companies made patches. You might find some in the Akro boxes too. A lot of the board's Akro photos were in older threads, so they're missing right now. But I hope enough remain for you to find some for comparison. If we're talking monetary value (are we?), then clearies and solid game marbles are generally not very collectible unless they're in their original packaging. (There are some exceptions ... but it can take someone a year or more to learn to pick them out from the regular game marbles.) That said, I love clearies. The first marbles I got as a kid was one of Champion's Bicentennial bags and it was full of clearies from ultrapeewee size to shooters. They're a very happy memory for me. Plus I have a tray of solid colored marbles sorted by color. Every now and again I pull it out and admire all the hues.

That's a wonderful display. It is so cool whenever someone can show colors side by side in the same photo. Hard to imagine anything more helpful ... short of seeing them in person.

So far all of the yellow popeye boxes I remember seeing have had oxbloods and lemonades in them. All two of them. Is this a mere coincidence? What else is known both about yellow popeye boxes ... and about how Akro's oxbloods and ades were marketed in general? Here are pix of the two boxes. The first was shown by Lloyd here. The 2nd is Nancy/Pollyestr2's ... for a few more hours.

Here are a couple of Dazzlers boxes. Only the Giant Dazzlers appear to be labelled as Codeg brand. Both boxes are from Block auctions. Auction description for the giant dazzlers: A solitaire game, from another eBay auction. Don't know whose. And I don't know what it said about where the marbles were made. And there are bunches and bunches of Codeg examples here with a lot of discussion: Made In England?

Notable Threads & Other Resources [This is quite dated -- probably many broken links again -- but I'll leave it up awhile longer at least.] This started out as one long list. As it became even longer I broke it up into smaller, more manageable lists. I still haven't read every thread on the board. Even when I think I have "finished", I'm sure I'll have missed something interesting. What I'm getting at is if you have any leads on good threads to include, they are ALWAYS WELCOME. Thanks! MAJOR new resource. Already great. Additions still being made as of the time of this writing: Joemarbles.com Click on any of the following topics for a list of threads to browse: Original Packaging Advertising Nifty Items Which May Not Roll Far Marble-Related Collectibles Salient Features in Marble Construction Marble References Nomenclature Restoration Photography Handmades Early Machine Mades & Transitionals (slags, bricks, transitionals, etc.) Marbles from Outside the U.S. Cat's Eyes Contemporary Artists Mysteries and Tricky ID's Interesting Threads I Can't Categorize Yet Links: Marbles By Color Marble Manufacturers Early Marble Companies Barberton (1906-1908) Navarre (1897-1901) Navarre Glass Marble And Specialty Company 1897-1901 American Marble and Toy Mfg. (1891-1904) Just Some Ugly Dirt Marbles Albright (? - ca 1938), inc. the Albright & Lightcap Co., and the J. E. Albright Co. Ravenna Ceramics Corp (ca 1938 - 1942?) -- Ravenna is the successor to the J. E. Albright Co. The Standard Toy Marble Company (1893 - 1922) The Calfornia Agate Co. (around the 1920's and 1930's) California Agates -- Incredible "find" M. F. Christensen & Son (1903-1917) Christensen Agate Company (1925-1933) Alley Agate Company (1929-1949) Akro Agate Company (1910-1951) Master Marble Company/Master Glass Company (1930-1974) Peltier Glass Company (1886-present) Vitro Agate Company (1932-1992) Champion Agate Company (1938-present?) Ravenswood Novelty Works (roughly 1928 - 1955?) Marble King, Inc. (1949-present) Jabo-Vitro Agate, Inc. (1987-present) Vacor De Mexico, AKA Fabricas Selectas USA (dist. by Qualatex, Alamo, Mega, Etc.) Other U.S. Marble Companies Heaton (1946-1971) Jackson (1945-1946) Playrite (1945-1947) Cairo (1946-1950) Davis (1947-1948) Alox (1919-1989) Bogard Kokomo Mid-Atlantic (? - 2002) Another Leighton link (stored here temporarily): http://marbleconnection.com/i...showtopic=11401 (p.s., the Navarre co. was also mentioned on the page where this clip came from)

Here is a box from an old IAMC show report. The original thread isn't here anymore but I saved the picture. (Don't know whose it is.) (click to enlarge) It's a 25-count, No. 0 box for "glass marbles". Stencilled above the pastedown label is the word "Professional". Handwriting at the top of the label says "No. 31 Two Color". Is it known what Albright brand glass marbles looked like? Update: The box with marbles inside is up for auction now (Feb. 2009). I don't at present know if anyone else knows whether the box was backfilled. (click to enlarge) Some discussion: Albright / Cac's @ Morphy's

Well, me and my camera had a little talk ... and it decided to cooperate today. Here they are, on a brief stroll outside their cozy gift box. How does anyone put all that color together ... whether glass or clay? That takes ingenuity.

Yea!

James, it sounds like your display mode got switched to Outline. If your layout is like mine, you have an Options option in the upper right corner of the page. Click on it to see a dropdown menu. If you switch to Standard display mode, you should get back to normal. Crossing my fingers, Steph

Here is another package from Argentina. The marbles inside are loose, but I've heard others mention old style swirled marbles from South America. Again, the box says "Industria Argentina". (The photo looks like it probably came from an eBay auction, but I found it here. Jeff Hale describes the marbles as a sort of wirepull shooter.)

A Master Marbles bag from a Block auction: Auction description:

So, there will have to be at least one more post. I must report that they are BEAUTIFUL in hand. And Mr. Tallucchio is VERY nice.

Marbles from Argentina: These are pictures Rick posted awhile back. Their original thread was lost in the recent downsizing. Luckily I'd saved the photos. These are way cool. The bag says "Industria Argentina", indicating that's where they were made.