Steph

(click pix to enlarge)

Acme Realers

Maybe you knew this, maybe you didn't ...

Before Acme was comedy

. . (1) (2)

it meant the very best, the highest point, perfection!

. . (ads from 1902 and WWII)

So what do you name an "extra high quality" glass orb with "genuine onyx color with cloud effects in contrasting colors" and a "real" marbled base?

What better than Acme?

(Love that ad! The realer is from PeltierMarbles.com.)

No apparent feathering, no readily visible seams...if anything the contents of this box look Akro. In the absence of compelling evidence that Peltier or CA made this type of nondescript slag it seems unlikely these are original but not impossible.

Probably under similar circumstances to this one: http://marbleconnection.com/topic/6162-whatcha-think/

-Brad

The sentiment on that one seemed mixed. (I was rooting for vintage. :-)

This box doesn't have the looks-too-new problem. So it's basically a nice but worn old box from a company with somewhat unclear jobbering practices. With a nice set of basically matching yet nondescript slags in safe slag colors. Nice assortment of colors, beyond the basic MFC palette, but nothing fancy. Definitely no extra CAC colors beyond the Akro palette. (edit: I'm sure my summary shows my bias toward the possibility of authenticity, but is it about right?)

The marbles are between 21/32" and 11/16". Does that mean anything? Like how hard would someone nowadays have to work to backfill it with marbles of consistent size, coloration and swirl? and would it be worth the effort?

Reliable sources confirm that there is reason to question whether the contents are Peltier. That leaves me wondering about the significance of "Factory, Ottawa" on the box.

Since the owner says this box doesn't have any extra labelling warning people that those are glass marbles not actually onyx, one might hypthesize that these were packaged prior to 1931. (Gropper lost the lawsuit mentioned here, Misleading Naming Of Marbles, (didn't start with eBay). )

However I also hypothesized a Peltier connection for the contents based on the "Factory, Ottawa" statement, so I am now shy about all of these assumptions.

Where did Gropper's jobber enterprise begin?

This 40-count box says

National Onyx Marbles

Manufactured by, M. Gropper & Sons, Inc.

Factory, Ottawa, Ill. U. S. A.

I asked the owner if there was any printing on the box other than on the side of the lid showing. She said there was not. She states their size as .666 to .680 inches.

When I saw "Factory, Ottawa", I assumed they were Peltiers.

Then I noticed the row of white slags.

So, who made these?

Here are my Ultra Peewees:

incredible

'salright! I'm happy.

(thanks)

Most or all from recent eBay auctions

(click to enlarge pix)

Marvellous Value, the "No Better" Box of Marbles:

Brilliant Marbles, Wonderful Value:

More lutz. Older than the box before?

Crocheted bags:

Pink:

Deutsches Roulette. Look at how the marbles' core resembles the flag on the box top. That is not an accident. "Schwarz , Weiss, Rot" means "Black, White, Red".

From German marble sites

A few items from murmelwelt.de. Several more at the site.

(click to enlarge)

A pair of mesh bags from among the many things to be viewed at maerbelmuehle.de, the website of the Thuringen Marble Museum. Colorful earthenware and wirepulls. I'm curious about the age on the earthenware and the mesh bag.

I may come back and edit this to make it sound more "official"!

But I want to say now, if you have any eggheady stuff you'd like to add in here, feel free.

Any projects you'd like to tinker on as you feel inspired.

Pictures from your marble digs.

Example pix in any germane category!

Pontil studies.

Slag color studies!

"Lessons" about your favorite marbles.

Unusual marble references you think worthy of note, and worthy of not ending up on the back pages as fast as they would in chat.

Your own lists of useful links! (My W.I.P. will thank you, because it is still debating what to include.)

Or ... ?

I'm sure there won't be a stampede to post!

But you're welcome anytime.

Steph

p.s. If you want to follow-up on any existing topics, it's okay to bump threads in general. Or start a new one, whichever you prefer.

But if someone is working on a technical thread and you aren't sure whether it's open for discussion, play it safe. Start your own thread for the follow-up or check with the author to see if it's okay to add to theirs.

p.p.s. It's always okay to bump my threads. Good for their circulation. ;-)

Did Akro Agate ever make anything out of Agate? SOme of their slag-types were also referred to as Onyx, weren't they?

Akro, MFC and Peltier all called their slags onyx. This is my book report on the subject.

I never learned whether CAC called their slags anything other than Toy Marbles as seen in Post #8 here, One Killer Box Of Really Big C.a. Slags:-).

MFC had already been out of business 13 years in 1930 but even after Akro stopped making slags it still used the name Onyx for one of its cork lines.

Edited: The name "onyx" was so widely known for toy marbles that at least four companies used it over the course of about two decades before the FTC complaint. That seems like a long time to wait before complaining. And it hardly seems likely that after all those years of playing with and breaking glass marbles, the public would think those particular onyxes were rocks. That's really weird, Roger. Still cool to know. But really weird.

From the Gropper Onyx Marble Corp., Ebay Item #120063544502, Gropper Onyx Marble Game NY Litho Rufus Rastus Darktown, listed in the category of Black Americana.

The game, the rules, the box, the marbles currently with the box:

From the auction description:

Vintage Groppers No.300 Popular Toy game, by Gropper Onyx Marble Co., Brooklyn, New York. It is a marble & card pinball type game, marbles have to be shot in certain holes to score points. It is in excellent condition in original cardboard box, with directions on back of game table. It has wonderful coloured lithograph of Black cartoon characters Rufus & Rastus Brown of Darktown Building fame. Also has ERUPTION & KING "HOBO" COLE. Made of wood, metal & paper - I don't believe that the marbles are original. The game board is 23" x 15" x 1 1/4".

Top Assortment, High Grade, from the Gropper Onyx Marble Co., ca. 1933.

They are fun to play with. Wind it up and let it rip. So easy a child can do it. :-)

Do you know how the case turned out?

That is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool!

From Akronmarbles.com's Glossary of Marble Terminology:

GROPPER ONYX MARBLE COMPANY, THE: Of New York City, a distributor and sales agent for The Christensen Agate Company and The Peltier Glass Company. Often repacked marbles into boxes carry it's own company name.

Which company would have made these?

Opal Agates:

.

wondrous

All Alley marbles.

Thanks!

I had about a case of the bullseye and big shot mesh bags. Don got most of them. The red/white/blue boxes come as, Big Shot-Bulls Eye- Big Nickle-Big Dime. I like the Big Shot box at the top. This is the first one i have seen,would like to find one. The other marble company which used Big Shot as a common name on their bag labels and boxes was Heaton agate. Pressman distributed Alley marbles,labeled as Big Shot. Many Heaton bags and boxes also have the name Big Shot. These were the two companies that used the Big Shot name the most,but others also used the same name Big Shot.

Cool info. Thanks!

I don't know who had that nice box. I tried to retrace my steps to see where I might have found the photo but no luck.

Mostly auction pix. Sources given when known.

Click pix to enlarge

Big Shot Agate Marbles box:

Bull's Eye Marbles bag, from a Poplarhead auction, in which Don identified the marbles as Alleys:

From Don's auction listing:

HERE IS A VINTAGE LATE 1930S PRESSMAN BULLSEYE MESH BAG OF ALLEY AGATE SWIRL MARBLES. EXCELLENT CONDITION! LABEL SLIGHTLY BENT OTHERWISE NICE BAG. I BOUGHT THESE A FEW YEARS BACK FROM GENTLEMAN WHO FOUND AN ORIGINAL CASE OF THEM AND ONLY HAVE A COUPLE LEFT TO SELL.

Mesh bags. Bull's Eye and Big Shot from Marblealan auctions:

Note: There are other pix in the links here, Compilation: Original Packaging.

And another bull's eye bag here. Bullseye Mesh Bag W/ Coral Marbles & Mk Mesh Bags

Two threads from 2020:

Named Heaton types

Dug Heaton mib pics

 

Big Shot mesh bags. The first is from a Marblealan auction.

Two more:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/th_002a.jpg http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/th_003.jpg

Plastic Big Shot bags:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/th_IMG_0009.jpg http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/th_IMG_0008.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/th_BigShot010a.jpg

Dug marbles, from Rinesmarbles auctions:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/Rines001a.jpghttp://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/Rines001b.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/Rines002a.jpghttp://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/Rines002b.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/Rines03a.jpghttp://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Heaton/Rines03b.jpg

From the auction description:

Box of contemporary handmade marbles from the Zia Marble company.Each marble is individually handcrafted of glazed clay and is in the 7/8 inch range. Box also comes with special handcrafted leather drawstring bag.

.

Cardinal Red corkscrews, shown in a thread at LOM. Thread is no longer available.

(click to enlarge)

Post #11 here shows an ad for a box like that, plus a Fire Opal box and 4 Display Cartons (No. 32, No. 64, No. A-16, and No. A-112). Underneath the illustrations of the display cartons is the recipe used for filling them! For example, the No. 64 contains

two No. 1 "Cardinal Red," one No. 1 "Imperial," one No. 1 "Moonie," and 14 No. 0 Assorted "Ace" and "Tricolor" Agates.

(click links below thumbnails to enlarge)

Akro Moonies:

(I think from a Rabbit Auction)

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Akro/post-279-1187051523.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Akro/post-279-1187051532.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Akro/post-279-1187051538.jpg

Akro Flinties:

(I think a Morphy Auction)

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o151/modularforms/Akro/post-279-1204325489.jpg

Brian Graham's corkscrew spinner cup has been lost twice. The thread he originally posted it is no more and the copy he let me post is no longer where he hosted it. BUT Dani has a spinner cup and other equipment in this thread:

Akro Stats, Cork Counts

These patents have been annotated to show where the spinner cup should fit. I didn't do it. I'm still not quite able to picture it myself even with aids like this.

(click to enlarge)

Check out the color coding to show which glass tank the ribbon is coming from!

Here's a thread at the Akron Marbles forum, What exactly is an Akro Agate Imperial, with an Imperials box. The contents are oxbloods.

edit: Thread no longer available.