hdesousa

Andy phoned asking me to tell y'all he did not make these marbles. I've bought marbles from Andy for the past 15 years. He's now 85 and still going strong. So much for my "short term investments".

Can't help much on this one, sorry; I've never looked closely at either Andy's number sulphides nor the Italian variety. But I do have an amusing story. Some 10 years ago I bought a large 'antique' bird sulphide on ebay. The seller had described the marble as having a couple flea bites under the figure. Sure enough, there were a couple fleabites - larger than flea bites actually - which spelled "AD"!

I agree. No way #18 and #19 are the same marble. Just for starters, #18 has groupings of three thin white bands close to the surface. Not present in #19.

There are undoubtedly many marble experts, specialists in their particular fields; but I know of only two that have the perspective Steph is talking about. One was fooled by the California sulphides, at least until he got home and his wife pointed out that the cherub was a copy of The Grateful Dead's album cover. He has since dropped out of marbles. The other expert I rely on all the time for IDing machine mades. Both however, became reluctant to ID marbles at shows, since telling a collector that a particular marble was not as good as they thought usually turned out to be a lose-lose-lose situation. (angry collector-the dealer who sold the marble to the collector - and the expert who had to fend off wrath from both sides) In other collectables hobbies, such as stamps or coins, one can always get an item reliably authenticated. Any ideas on how to get a reliable ID for a marble?

Hey Scott, You should be the first to make a marbles equivalent of something like this: http://www.mystudios.com/artgallery/ Take your pick and order a genuine hand painted (made) oil-painting (marble).

http://www.douglasauctioneers.com/marblecatalog1/catalog260.html http://www.douglasauctioneers.com/june15catalog/catalog.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/HUGE-SULPHIDE-MARBLE-FISH-INSIDE-RARE-NO-RESERVE-/260796779631

Is this a SP marble?

My apologies for assuming a "Christian evangelical aspect" of the GR. "Examples of statements that mirror the Golden Rule appear in Ancient Egypt, for example in the story of The Eloquent Peasant which is dated to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 2040–1650 BCE): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do."[6] Rushworth Kidder states that "the label 'golden' was applied by Confucius (551–479 B.C.), who wrote a version of the Silver Rule: 'Here certainly is the golden maxim: Do not do to others that which we do not want them to do to us.'" Kidder notes that this framework appears prominently in many religions, including "Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's major religions".[7]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Rule

Ahh! Spoken like a true politician. Christianity as well as providing for the children; how could any patriot (like me) complain? I should have been as pious, and instead commissioned crucifix sulphides and holy medals for the children. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Benedict_Medal

I suppose that automatically buys him two one way tickets to the dark side?

Steph, Several years ago, Galen had posted on LOM a link to an article in Time magazine, with this: "All company officers and salesmen carry a marble encircled by a gold band on which the Golden Rule is printed, take it out for inspiration when they have a business decision to make." http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,833811,00.html (Sorry,I can't get that link to work, but here it is, in posting #15: http://www.landofmarbles.com/phpbb/showthread.php?20608-For-Travelers&highlight=samsonite) I've not been keen on collecting this marble, since most known marble transactions have been more like this: But some time ago I finally did get one; a real agate Golden Rule marble on eBay. Forget what it cost.

Brian, Took me a while to get to an original poster. Nope, nothing on the back.

My poster is one of several identical (but in better condition) posters I bought in Germany in 2002. I was told they were "found in the basement of an old house" in Lauscha. I think the poster sent to Roger Miller had a stamp from the Kuhnert company on the front. This poster is printed on thin, fragile paper and I'm guessing was probably mass produced and used as an advertising flyer.

Not sure why you think that about BG. Brian knows more about MFC than anyone. He has access to the information collected by Fred Wright, a marble historian who in the 1960's investigated the MFC factory site and interviewed at least one top MFC employee; he has/had access to a lot of MFC documents and marbles left in their main office in Akron, he can pass as an experienced archeologist as well as a trained glass artist capable of re-creating glass and marbles from scratch, using original formulae and historically accurate tools. Brian's a big-wig at the American Toy Marble Museum in Akron and also runs the Canal Fulton Glassworks. He may not be as forthcoming as we'd like about sharing his vast knowledge on this board, but that's his business, and we should be happy with whatever cuppy cakes he cares to throw at us. I've been patiently waiting at least 8 years for his promised book on MFC: http://akronmarbles.com/books_on_akron_marbles.htm

Cohill's MFC book has a partial recipe for PT glass on page 77. But I doubt that's an unique color. You see turquoise glass in antique glass from all over the world. And here's a couple formulae, on pg 14-15 of the book, or pg 34-36 of the .pdf format: http://ia600409.us.archive.org/28/items/recipesforflintg00lond/recipesforflintg00lond.pdf

did you remove the PT fragments from your picture?

Nice! Do all HG marbles have '9's? Why no Persian Turquoise (PT) fragments? I understand you've made PT glass from scratch, using MFC's original formula, of sand, soda ash and metallic oxides for color. Almost by accident wasn't it, when you were trying to make oxblood. Speak to us, Oh Marble Guru, and throw us some cuppy cakes of your knowledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cuppy%20cake

Winnie, Can you display the rest of the account, and could someone here translate pertinent parts? The account is for someone, or a firm, in Scheibe-Alsbach, a town less than 5 miles from Lauscha, as the crow flies. The town is famous for porcelain. Wonder what glass products they were buying from Kühnert. Doll's eyes? http://www.porcelainmarksandmore.com/thuringia/scheibe_1/00.php We were told by our German marble-dealer guide that scenic chinas were made there. It would be interesting to know if any marble fragments have really been found in any of their dumps.

Nope, I meant vocation. For Tom, I believe marble making is a full time occupation. What I mean is, for all the time and expense that goes into making these marbles, and for what he sells them for, he must be doing it for the love of it. vo·ca·tion    /voʊˈkeɪʃən/ [voh-key-shuhn] –noun 1. a particular occupation, business, or profession; calling. 2. a strong impulse or inclination to follow a particular activity or career. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vocation

Clyde, They may all have nines. I just can't see them easily. Do all HG marbles have to have nines? I don't think Chris Robinson's "road and tunnel" slags did, but I'm not sure. Brian Graham, who's makes HG marbles and studied MFC marble fragments, would be the one to ask. As far as the origin of the marbles in the early Akro boxes, when I sent you a pic of the Akro Universal Assortment (not MFC's Persian Turquoise) some 6 years ago, it was just after the Akro HG finds, and I was asking if you had any idea as to the date of that box. Since then, George Sourlis dated that box, as well as the tapered Akro boxes, to circa 1914. (Everyone collector should own a copy of his excellent poster on Akro Agate Boxes, 1911-1930) So you are correct. Those may be Akro marbles in the Akro boxes. To properly answer your question, we should find out why George believes these boxes are from 1914, and if 1914 precedes the date Akro started making marbles. Thanks for reminding me of my earlier doubts.

Steph, Here's a box of No.1 MFC Persian Turquoise. I'm sure it has not been back filled. Peculiar thing, only a couple marbles have easily discernible "nines". Almost all have a cut line though, easier felt than seen. emailingmfcpersianturquoisebox001_jpgmfcpersiantur.zip

Al, Here's a very early Akro Box, probably with MFC marbles, including Persian turquoise. George Sourlis thinks the box is circa 1914, one of the first from Clarksburg.

Al, Here's another Akro box with MFC Persian turquoise. It's from Page 96 of Stan Block's "Marble Mania", 1st Edition, 1998 and probably in the 2nd Edition as well.

More than just art. For the (low) price these marbles are originally sold for, it must be a vocation.