shiroaiko

@Parmcat You're welcome. 😃 The company started in 1998. Sorry for the mistake.

Yixing Jinzhu Glass Products is the maker. I agree that the bombers are modern because the company was found in 1998. The English name for these marbles is “milky marbles 6,” but in Chinese, they’re called “milky 8-petal marbles". It’s strange, but they use different photos and names for the English and Chinese versions of their website. So it’s worth checking both versions of the site. http://yxjinzhu.com/en/index.asp

@Ric I'm glad you found the little box interesting! These ohajiki and ishikeri were primarily made for the domestic market, which is why there’s very little documentation about them. This is in contrast to marbles, which were exported around the world—so while the records are still limited, at least some survive. In comparison, the ohajiki industry was much smaller than that of marble making. I’ve only found one patent document so far, likely because the production methods were quite simple. That said, before the war, Japan aimed to build an empire across Asia, including in places like Manchuria and other regions where Japanese communities lived. These kinds of toys, along with marbles, were shipped to children in those overseas communities. As for rock-paper-scissors—we call it “janken” in Japanese. It’s still very common for both children and adults, though I honestly don’t know its exact origin. There's historical document from around 1907 that molded glass ohajiki were popular among small children in areas like Nagoya and Gifu. Some of these pieces even feature Chinese characters: 石 (rock), 紙 (paper), and 鋏 (scissors)—but they are quite rare. Here is a reel made by ichijinnokaze2020 regarding rock paper scissors ohajiki. You also mentioned the Arabic numeral. We sometimes see numbers or even alphabet letters on these glass pieces. I've personally seen many with A, B, C, D, and E, but not the full alphabet. Letters like R and others are much less common, so I suspect there were production imbalances. Also, regarding the giya-bako box: all the examples I know of were made for the domestic market. These boxes began appearing in the Meiji era, when glass started to be mass-produced. I suspect glass boxes are not suitable for export. They're vulnerable to long journeys and the weight of other boxes if packed together. I have an Instagram friend I sometimes talk to via PM. Below are some of the ohajiki collection of umelandinsta, including giya-bako boxes.

I have Robert Block's ”Marbles”, where it says on page 130: “Marble making was one of the industries introduced to Japan as part of post–World War II reconstruction.” Most readers in the U.S. probably accepted that as a fact, and I suppose Mr. Block had his own reasons for saying so. What I'm curious about is what kind of historical documents or sources about Japanese marble production were available in the U.S. over the years. That would help explain how such ideas were formed.

My glass toy box (12 × 15 cm) has 10 cat's eyes. 9 are Stripeys. The 7 marbles which I could count 4 vanes. 15-17.6 mm. One got a fat vane which almost fills half of the marble. Mamekeri flat marbles. The yellow ones are about 26mm across, 8 mm thick. Mamekeri and ohajiki with numbers. Mamekeri are bigger than ohajiki. 30-18mm. Ohajiki with paper rock scissor designs and a flower. The green measures 21 mm. Other glass toys that I don't regard as original to the box. They are believed to be even earlier in the production time.

Steph, it is the first time for me to hear about the Winnie's thoughts. It’s encouraging when someone like Winnie had examples to support it. Her prewar box helps to give more weight to the idea that stripeys were already being made before the war. This is a prewar box of glass toys, including stripeys. A local find. Collectors refer to this type of box as a Giya-bako, which means “diamond box.” The word giyaman is an old Japanese term that originally meant “diamond,” but later came to refer to glass. Since all the other toys in and around the box are believed to be prewar-made, the stripeys are most likely from the same period. I am the current owner of the box. I took better photos this morning but the photo library on my computer does not refresh. I will post photos later.

That looks like Seike to me. Partial translucency in base glass sometimes shows up in his marbles. It resembles Yixing Jinzhu Bombers a bit, but they usually have 8 ribbons.

Just to review the timeline of the patents related to cat’s eye marbles: Seike submitted his utility model application related to cat’s eyes on March 3, 1938. Isogami followed to submit his own utility model focused specifically on cat's eyes on March 11. Later, on May 25, Isogami filed a design registration for the same type—most likely an attempt to prevent Seike from making marbles similar to his own. And by March of the following year, Seike’s “stripey” type marbles were already on the domestic market, and a photo documenting them was taken by Kan-ichi Hashimoto. As for the photo itself—I believe it was taken because the photographer was moved by the beauty of these marbles resting in the hands of a hardworking person.

It would be the earliest photo of cat's eye marbles... The search word "びー玉" or marble/s at NDL digital service brought me to the find this morning.

This is a Japanese magazine for photography, "Camera", November issue 1939. It features a photograph being entitled "Marbles" by Kan-ichi Hashimoto. The description below the photo reads " Late March, Tesser f/4.5, aperture f/11, Pan-F, 1/10sec, Yae FS paper, MQ developer, "Marbles" Kan-ichi Hashimoto, (1st exhibition of the Amateur Photography Federation of Tokyo Department Store/s)". We see Stripeys, cat's eyes and a few dark looking marbles on the palms. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ja/pid/1501861/1/41?keyword=びー玉　橋本

It's a German Marble Museum in Lauscha. The URL is https://www.murmelmuseum.info/ Please take a look at Cee's museum report before you do your research, because he has already learned something on Hopf from the Museum.

I see. How about German marble museum Brian once mentioned? They have artifacts and materials from the 3 bankrupt companies including Hopf. My old friend Helma was once very close to send an inquiry from me, but she kind of forgot. I think you are the best person to do the job. 😃 🫶

Thanks for the update. I've been waiting for the second reply from Renee as well, and it hasn't come either.

Hi Akroorka, and everyone😃✨ It appears to be a Japanese pinch pontil to me.

Elias, that sounds exiting! I hope to hear good news from you! 😃

@I'llhavethat1 happy to see the whole advertisement! 😃✨

I was wrong in saying a sticker but a leaflet...

@TheVacorFan, we need your help! The yellow sticker looks kind of new. The fragments read ... in der bayeris..., ....bei Coburg..., and ....neustadt.de. The last one looks like URL.

@akroorka, thank you for helping keep the conversation headed in a good direction! I now realize that my mention of the word wasn’t appropriate for this forum, even though I meant it only as a light joke. I had hoped it might bring a smile, since hearing from the deceased isn’t actually possible. I sincerely apologize if it made anyone uncomfortable. I appreciate the thoughtful discussions here and the time people devote to marble research. I agree, this kind of work requires patience, and I have a great respect for that. I’ll continue doing my part while learning from all of you. @I'llhavethat1, the photos of more original bags are helpful. I see the city name "Coburg" on the yellow sticker in the second photo. What does the whole text say?

Completely changing the subject—but just to let you know, I might not be able to visit the forum much until sometime in next week. On Saturday, May 3rd, I’ll be giving a marble talk at the Yamagata Prefectural Industrial Science Museum. The event is for ten families with children, elementary school age and up. I won’t be speaking for that long, but I’m busy with preparations, so I may be mostly offline until then. It’s currently Golden Week in Japan, a string of national holidays, and we’re right in the middle of it now. The holiday continues through Tuesday, and I plan to spend some time with my family. I’ll be back to work on Wednesday—and that day is also already fully booked until late in the evening. 😃✨ Yamagata Prefectural Industrial Science Museum: https://y-sunka.org

Hi Nantucketdink, I’ve thought about your comment for a day, and I’d like to share the basis for what I’ve been saying. Here are the points I’ve gathered so far: ① Renée Holler told me that the marbles featured on the cover of her German marble book Murmeln are from the Hopf factory. The cover photo includes wirepulls. ② Shackman poly-netted bags contain the same kind of wirepulls and have a “Made in West Germany” sticker. ③ Renée visited the Hopf factory in 1986 and witnessed marble production. This confirms that the factory was still operating at least until that time, which helps explain the “Made in West Germany” labels on Shackman bags. If Hopf was still active then, we no longer need alternative explanations—like old Veiligglas stock being repackaged in West Germany long after the company had closed. That kind of explanation now feels forced and unnecessary. ④ In 2006, cvdv visited the German Marble Museum and learned that a mesh bag containing wirepulls was dated to around 1965. This information came from the museum. ⑤ cvdv also learned from the German Marble Museum that Hopf & Hopf produced wirepulls from around 1950 to 1980. ⑥ I own one of these mesh bags. The wirepulls inside resemble the marbles shown on the Murmeln cover. Of course, what you think and believe is entirely up to you. I’ve explained everything I can in this thread, and I really don’t have anything more definitive to add. If you’re still looking for a more definitive answer, maybe the only option left is to hold a séance and ask the people who were actually there!

Hi @LevvyPoole If you found the pictures helpful, I’m happy! Big bubbles are caused when the glass stream is cooler. If the glass is soft enough, it simply accumulates in a metal cup without leaving gaps between the layers. But when the glass is cooler and harder, it tends to trap gaps. These hollow spaces then become big bubbles inside the marble. I guess lowering of temperature can happen with any maker.

This morning I decided to open the mesh bag for taking pictures. According to cvdv (Cees), this type of bags is from around 1965, but we don't know from when to when these bags were in use for Hopf packaging. The paper header was stapled through 3 parts. I think I did a good job removing staple pins. The mesh felt brittle. I dealt with a care. "Hello, marbles! At last I see your faces clearly!😃" The diameters range from 18.5 to 21 mm. Most of them are spherical, but a few exceptions. Below are close-ups. Because of the white background, the white in the ribbons becomes hard to see. The light also comes thru the ribbons. Because of these factors, the marbles might look a little different from how they actually appear. 🙏 We see some tiny fractures along the yellow ribbon. Below are Hopf wirepulls on a darker background. I see small bubbles along the ribbon only on the blue one. This group photo shows more of what my eyes actually see than close-ups. 🫧

@Da Roberto, @TheVacorFan and @LevvyPoole, the idea of comparing sounds fun. I also feel that it would be a good idea to start a new thread focusing on Hopf vs Veiligglas wirepulls. Thank you, Elias and LevvyPoole, for bringing up the suggestion! It will help keep this original thread focused on Hopf information, and allow us to organize the comparative discussion separately. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's wirepull examples there!

@TheVacorFan , as @Ric mentioned, one of the features that can help distinguish Hopf wirepulls would be the presence of reflections and bubbles along the stripes. However, the examples I have from the mesh bag don’t show much of these characteristics, and the same can be said for my loose examples. I think there are some exceptions. In the color part along the ribbon, you can sometimes find tiny white grains, very much similar to grains of sand. These grains seem to be incompatible with the glass and cause small fractures, which in turn create the reflections. I also notice bubbles along the ribbons in some wirepulls, but I’m not sure if they are related to the sand-like particles. I took some pictures today, but most turned to be not good. The wirepulls below are what I found in German lots.