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Ron, that is an interesting publication. For the German impaired members of this list, here are the English translations of the marble factories of 1907 as well as 1927: http://tinyurl.com/adqgeyb http://tinyurl.com/b3rf24t I've heard (don't remember where, sorry, and it may or may not be true) that German marble production ceased abruptly when Germany went to war in 1939, but after the war, handmade marbles continued to be made right into the 1960's.

Ron, In an earlier post you said "I just can't imagine that the Germans were able to produce handmade marbles after World War I. The country was totally down by then and I guess they had other priorities than producing marbles." But here are two sides of a flyer from Glasfabrik Wernerhutte showing marbles for sale. It's undated, but I would guess from well after WW2, no? regards, Hansel

Thanks again Steph, and also for the link to Alan's message to the dixiemarblecollectorsclub . Whatever happened to the club? Seems current messages there are now all love related. Have they lost their marbles?

Where does H.E.Koehler come into the picture? http://www.ebay.com/itm/330863323804

Canada, without their own marble making machinery, probably kept importing marbles from Europe after the US had stopped. Amongst other types of German marbles found more commonly in Canada than in the US are large ribbon (and maybe other) lutz.

Hi Jeroen (and Ron), Very beautiful and rare marbles, thanks for posting. Not many collectors in the US have similar marbles, unless of course, recently bought from European sellers. These bright colored marbles are found more in Europe and not seen much in the US. Could it be that they were made at a time when German marbles were no longer being imported into the US, say between the World Wars? Hansel

Akronmarbles knows.

Steph, Don't fret. Here are some King of the Hill excerpts: http://www.hulu.com/watch/73724 I could probably find you some Bevis and Butthead episodes as well, if you'd like. Hansel

That is a neat, easy way of telling if the color is only on the surface. If the applied layer of colored glass is fairly thick, here is another way that works for transparent marbles. In a dark room, shine a fine sliver of light onto the marble, coming from an angle. I have used a slightly opened closet door with sunlight on the other side. It's the principle of the "slit-lamp", which ophthalmologists use to look at structures inside the eye. Looking only at the glass illuminated by the narrow beam, you can distinctly see the various layers of the marble, and any layer of colored glass will be seen.

Rich, More questions! (Please don't mind - just trying to sort out what you're saying) 1. Presumably the abused colored sulphides you works on had nicks and chips that penetrated the surface. Before burning off the surface color, did you notice if the cavities were lined with color? 2. Were the 10 colored sulphides you repaired all of the same color? i.e. could they all have been sun-tinted? (purple) Here's something interesting about colored glass, especially sun-tinting: "Colorless glass actually does have more utility in dating and typing than most other colors, though still of limited application. Some of the better dating reliability is for bottles with manganese dioxide decolorized glass. Upon exposure to sunlight, this glass will turn a light pink or lavender to moderately dark amethyst or purple depending on the amount of manganese and amount of ultraviolet (UV) light. This is called "sun-purpled" or "sun colored amethyst " (SCA) glass." http://www.sha.org/bottle/colors.htm Anyone know if SCA is only on the surface and/or will easily burn off?

Rich,Fire-polished may mean more than that to some sellers. I had asked the seller of those two marbles what he meant by "firepolished" in his description of the sulphides. He said you had worked on the marbles, removing bubbles from the figures. I only mention this because you had said in post #31 above " I always ask the owner to state that I have worked on the marble if ever they try to sell it. So far, each customer has honored my request." These were exceptions to your "rule", since you were not mentioned in the description. I have to stress that the seller was not trying to deceive anyone, but you may be mistaken when you think your restored marbles are always sold as having been restored by you.

Several have been sold as "fire polished", without directly mentioning you. for example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-3-16-SULPHIDE-LION-FIRE-POLISHED-/261137057067 http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-4-SITTING-LION-SULFIDE-FIRE-POLISHED-/261137059458 But the seller was not trying to deceive anyone here. He freely disclosed what "fire polished" meant, when asked.

It's a rare card; would be great if she had one. Even the head office of the US Playing Card Company did not have one when I checked some 15 years ago, and they supposedly saved at least one example of every card they made.

An interesting article about sun-purple glass http://www.patternglass.com/this_color_purple_99.htm and glass that glows yellow/green under a black light: http://www.patternglass.com/blacklights.htm

That's interesting. Anyone know if polishing removes sun-tinting? i.e., is the violet color change due to exposure to sunlight only on the surface?

Galen, It's less CYA than making big money by denying patients health care. Watch "sicko". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicko Hansel

Here's a pic of the tissue, Jeroen. May not have much to do with the marbles, but why would it be in Dutch, when the box and bag says "Marbles"?

Any information about this box would be appreciated. All the marbles have "pinched pontils - curved with messy spidering" as Roger Browse would say. http://members.kings...ics/trans2.html The only other markings on the box is "49 cents (?)" written in pencil on the bottom. However, in the bag is a crumpled tissue advertising Dutch washing soap from the colonial era (1930s-1940's ?) It's been said that these marbles are often found in Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. Does "Marbles" have the same meaning in Dutch as in English?

Wow! Tell us more. How did you flush the toilets ? (our 22 year old daughter who lives in Manhatten, in the zone that was "blacked out", toughed it out until she could no longer flush the toilet. She then walked to the bus station and luckily found a bus that would get her to where we could pick her up) Cook? Bathe? Laundry? See after sundown? And the kids with no TV nor computer? Cell phones work? Rechargeable? Roads passable to grocery stores and gas stations? Did many have generators? Get to meet neighbors you seldom talk to? Don't know if I could have toughed it out without utilities for 8 days - might have had to go to a shelter.

Jeroen, Marble collecting is replete with terms that are meaningless or inaccurate and hence confusing, especially to newer collectors. Some examples: end-of-day, submarine, chinas, indians, line crockery, lutz, clambroth, corn-husk, peppermint, butterscotch, onionskin, mist, handmade slag, handmade corkscrew, single gather paperweight, mist, transition, etc., etc., and that's not counting any names of machine made marbles! The hobby needs crusaders like yourself to develop a better nomenclature. However, it's ironic that you've picked on transitions, because ever since akronmarbles published evidence that Leighton did not make leightons, few serious collectors use the term 'transition' or 'leighton'. Instead, the definitions given in post #4 are currently used, and if necessary with the prefix 'hand-gathered': faceted pontil = german made earliest glass marbles melted pontil = James Harvey Leighton made marbles A couple points about your initial posting, so as not to add to this confusion: Leighton certainly did made marbles - reference to documentation can be found in the links provided by akronmarbles above. Light green flourescence seen in soda glass under ultraviolet light has nothing to do with radioactivity nor age, although radioactive glass is highly flourescent and old glass usually does contain manganese, which I think is primarily responsible for the greenish glow. (I don't understand flourescence in glass - google it, if you want to risk getting really confused.) You're proposing the term "single gather handmade marble". Since all marble gathers are 'single', the word may be redundant. Keep up the crusade - the hobby needs keen collectors like yourself - just try not to add to the confusion. regards, Hansel

I was trying to be funny without using a :-) Jeroen's looks like a piece of glass cutoff from the glob at the end of a punty rod before the artist turns the cane (or gather?) into art. Don't know what that glass dingleberry is called, but there is a proper name for it. Your marbles are particularly colorful. I've bought a few black/white dome shaped and round ones sold as game pieces. Two lots of ancient marbles were sold at Christies in 1993, relatively inexpensively: (Bert Cohen should still have the catalog and pictures) http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/mosaic-and-polychrome-glass-marbles-3042246-details.aspx?intobjectid=3042246 http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/mosaic-and-polychrome-glass-marbles-3042247-details.aspx?intobjectid=3042247 here're a couple examples of game pieces with pics: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/ancient-glass-beads-and-gaming-pieces-circa-1519889-details.aspx?pos=2&intObjectID=1519889&sid=&page=23 http://www.crumiller.com/chess/chess_pages/chess_ancient_pieces.htm And of course there are fakes. Artificially ageing glass is relatively easy to do, I'm told.

Clyde, These are not round enough to be playing marbles. Probably beads that have not yet lost their virginity. Hansel

The marble says "F**k you Hansel" in remelted oxblood. Do you really want to see pics of it? If so, I'll have to get it out of the bank vault and take some pics. It'd be easier (and prettier) if Rich made one for me cut out of copper.

shouldn't that be 'knuckles down'?

Ronnie, your plastic fills were very good, especially the way you had a knack for feathering in the fill edges and recreating a rounded contour. But the fills can easily be detected by gently tapping over the marble surface with another glass marble. The sharp 'clink' of glass to glass becomes a dull 'clunk' when tapping over the fill. Hansel