wvrons

No. It is damaged glass.

Vitro Opal, some call this color the Vitro corn flower opal. The Vitro Opals come in different color combinations. All have the transparent opal base. Most have the swirl pattern, some are more straight ribbon pattern.

Kokomo was high chance for me.

I am not sure MK ever had true black glass ? Especially modern MK. True black glass is very difficult and expensive to make. I would say Akro. The yellow can be a combination of colors during a color change. Is the base glass the yellow or the Black ? Break it in half and see what is inside ?????

One of the things that most of us including Dave M. learned during the Jabo special investor runs. We learned that by adding more distance between the furnace outlet and the shear made a lot more twist or turns of the hot glass stream before it was sheared. The hot glass twist as it falls. Earlier at the beginning or the special investor runs. The marble machine at Jabo was in place on two steel rails. Like small RR rails and the machine had steel wheels to fit on the rails. This was for moving it in and out under the furnace. The rails were bolted into the concrete floor. But with all the wear and tare, the rails become loose and a problem. So the rails were removed. We did not notice what was happening. About a year later the concrete floor had wore down a good inch and rough where the steel wheels had been setting. We noticed that the marbles for sure had more twist or swirl to them. After a few runs it was decided to remove the wheels form the marble machine. It lowered it about another three inches. That made even more turns or swirling in the marbles. When the last furnace was rebuilt, the furnace was raised higher. Which was the most twisting or swirling of any Jabo's. But of course there is a limit on the distance from the furnace outlet to the shear due to heat lose. I think the majority of the Jabo jorkscrews were made after the glass stream to the shear was longer. There is very little change to any marble pattern once it hits the roll groove. If any change at all it is within the first or second roll grooves. If the hot glass glob is smaller or larger than the roll grove. Then that will change the marble pattern because it will not spin correct. It has to spin constant in all directions on its own axis. If not you can get the ying yang, chevron or cork twist, especially on one or both poles of the marble. If the hot glob is the correct size for the roll groove. The roll will not put a twist or cork to the marble. The marble machine just makes the hot glass glob round. I don't think Akro had this kind of room or space to lengthen the glass stream. I always heard and was told that the spinner cup is what twisted the hot glass into a corkscrew pattern. If the cup did not twist the glass into more of a corkscrew pattern ? What was the need for it ? Why would it spin or turn before tilting and ejecting the marble ? If the spinner cup made the cork twist ? Why would a rod be needed to help twist or turn the glass stream going to the shear ? I always assumed it was called a spinner cup, because it would spin the hot glass glob in a corkscrew pattern. The twister pattern down the middle or center of the marble happens a lot with swirl marbles. Most times it is never seen on opaque marbles. But break a few Jabo's or swirls apart. They also can twist down the center of the marbles. Sometimes that color disappears. You add some green to white and or other colors, for green swirling and it never shows up. Because it all went to the center. Many times swirl marbles have a small spot of the swirl colored glass show up in a blank area. Because it came back to the surface after being twisted through the center or near the center. The twister down the center may be the natural twist as the hot glass falls. The color other than the base may be more inside or more on the outside. Depending on the glass, how or where the color was added, etc. Maybe a rod did make those certain marbles with the twister in the center ? I am not sure that Akro planned it or did it for standard production. I don't think they were experiments. If it was planned production there should be good numbers of them. Just my thoughts rolling around like a marble.

Sure, no problem.

Is it clear base under the white or just reflections ? Two ribbons ?

The pattern and well defined sharp edges and the sharp point in the last picture of the dull red swirl look CAC. The base does not look CAC, but it may be a later one, as things got cheaper ? Several swirl companies has the clip or dot or small separate spot of colored swirl glass coming back to the surface away from the main swirl. It is more common on Alleys, Heaton, Cairo Novelty and CAC.

Red Ravens

Rough CAC swirl.

I think they probably are all Vitro. Most look like Vitro Tiger Eye's and a couple Conquerors. With the picture a distance away, the multi color background, makes it difficult to be 100% sure.

I think it is a Red Raven. There probably a million different WV swirl color and style combinations. Some WV swirls are 0.10 cents each and some are $500.00 each.

Most times when the hot glass was sheared the elongated glob did fall into a cup or a tube like chute or trough down onto the rollers. I have seen a few of the configurations with the cups. But none of those were graphite. They are cast metal, made like a funnel, about 3-4 inches across the top funnel down to a smaller hole 5/8 to one inch hole at the bottom. These cups can be adjusted up, down, in , out, and at angels. This adjustment is critical. But these cups have to be wiped out or cleaned often due to the glass buildup. Most times the operator will squirt a little water around the sides of the cup or take a wet glove or cloth and wipe out the cup. This fractures and removes any thin layer build up of glass stuck to the cup. That would have been impossible due to space with the cork spinner cup. I don't know how steady or routine graphite pieces were used. This was experimented with in different spots and uses. The only steady use that I know of was the Akro cork spinner cups. With the Akro corkscrews, at least the spinner cup and equipment to tilt it would have been removed to make non corkscrews. Maybe even the shear might have been changed ? There also had to be different size spinner cups. They made several different size corkscrew marbles, most 9/16 to one inch or over. What ever attached or held the spinner cup, had to also hold different size cups or separate pieces of equipment with the spinner cup was used for different size corkscrews.

Left= Alley or Ravenswood ???? Center= ??? Bottom= Ravenswood or Champion or Alox ???? Colors have to be exact in order to even come close on these transparent single color swirls. The pictures look good. But a different light, background or camera setting can change the shades of color. In person in hand, I feel comfortable that I might identify 30 or 40%(at best)out of 100 of these WV transparent single color swirls accurate.

A new modern torch made marble. Size and a plain background helps. All the black, lines, webbing, on that marble looks like from a wrong setting on a torch used to make marbles. Looks modern torch made, a remelt or modern cullet marble. You said these marbles. How many of this same or similar marbles do you have ?

Thanks for the drawings. Maybe the rod is actually a line or mark #25 on the drawing for the groove on the far inside of the spinner cup ? The cup in the drawings looks like it is upside down. With the smaller diameter portion of the cup turned up. The drawings look like the cup is the same diameter top to bottom. You can see in the pictures of actual spinner cups above that at least some were different diameter top to bottom. I thought maybe the smaller portion bottom of the cup was some way that the cup was anchored. The rod(if true)would have to be short not much longer than the cup. Because there is not much room above the cup for the shear. I still have a lot of mystery around this maybe a rod. If the rod was flush with the top of the cup ? The cup could tilt and eject the marble without the rod being retracted. Were there different size rods ? Some of the cups bottom holes are different sizes and some have no hole. Would the hot marble slide easily off the rod when the cup tilted to eject the marble ? Would that hole in the marble from the rod fill in and close itself up ? Every time I think about this rod, I have problems with it working. I am still missing pieces of the puzzle. Which might be a explanation or answers to questions ? The cut away drawing might be causing some confusion. Like identifying marbles, it always easier and more accurate in person in hand than from pictures or any drawing.

I have never understood this rod or what ever it is, in the center of the cup ? The shear had to be very close to it. If not retracted some way, the rod would be near the shear. If the rod remained in the cup, the marble would have a hole or space where the rod was. I would think that could lead to a weak point in the center of the marble. Would this rod be made of graphite ? The spinner cups are graphite or some soft carbon. Most people say the cups are graphite because the hot glass would not stick to them when it tilted to dump the marble. I agree with what happens to the rod when the cup tilts over to eject the marble ? I also think maybe the hole in the bottom of the cups was to release air or hot gas. But some had holes and some did not ? Plus the holes are not all the same size ? So many questions may be some of the reasons probably why no one ever copied this piece of equipment to make corkscrews. That and the cost to build it.

The weather predictor says you have more water coming soon from the Pineapple Express.

The bottom more green one is what some glass collectors refer to as Vaseline glass. It can also be some lighter shade of green or yellow.

I also think it may be handmade or transition period. I see where it looks like the blue color disappeared at the pole. Maybe where this was cut from the cane. If cane cut it would be early. Some of the handmade marbles were made in Iowa, Ohio, MA. Some Leighton marbles have good oxblood. Some American companies which produced handmade marbles. Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing 1880-1882. Boston and Sandwich Company Massachusetts. Marble companies hand gathering marbles in Akron OH Samuel Dyke, Navarre OH 1896-1901, Barberton OH, Steubenville OH 1902. Then we get into MFC 1902 his first marble machine patent. In 1905 MFC got a grounded patent for a marble machine. A wider more definite patent. So many handmade marbles were produced in the US before 1902.

More sad news. I got to spend a little time talking with him. He has left his wide mark with many marble collectors. My condolences to the family. He and his marbles made lots of smiles.

Not all black lights make marbles glow the same color. The exact same marble can glow different colors with different black lights.

Is that a roll mark in the first picture, where the marble did not spin correct. Maybe just a strand of white ? It may have spun in one direction for 1/10 or 1/2 a second. The hot glob has to spin constant steadily in all different directions on its own axis at all times while in the roll grooves. If it does not spin correct, it will get a odd or more of a cork twist pattern especially at the pole or poles of the marble. Some named this ying yang or chevron, and some thought it was by only one company. All machine made companies made marbles with this fault. It is a mistake, a error, not intentional. When the marble spins just a few turns in one direction. It pulls the glass around in a cork twist pattern especially on the pole. I am not sure it is a Vitro cage cat ? The white also got off color probably because of the odd spin, maybe spun to slow, and temp got just a little higher for a few seconds. WV machine made clear base white swirl ????? We sure nit pick these kids toys. The people who produced them were always so amazed that anyone would examine a toy marble as it is done today. Collectors today look at the toy marbles closer than the makers and workers did when they were made. They were a cheap toy for kids. Most made from scrap glass.

When I see the sharp pointed tips at the end of the white. When I see that T of the white. When I see very dark purple, Alley and Jackson had the most dark purple. Even the pattern of the white under the surface. All of the above point me to Alley for this marble.

Probably Alley. Very difficult to id these accurate. Some are actual brown, some are dark or light purple, some can be green. It depends on base color and the white color, all that combined with the swirl pattern. If the white gets thin along the edge sometimes you can determine the true color there. There are different shades of white, thick, thin, bright and dull. There is very little true black in most machine made marbles. About the only companies that had true black glass was Akro, Peltier, and CAC. True black glass is very difficult to get or make from cullet. Dave M. at Jabo tried many times, but never ever had true black glass.