wvrons

Ric,does your marble have a seam ? Is your marble oxblood,brown or red? From what i remember,it is not oxblood,and no seams. I also remember the blue in your marble is more solid and more coverage of the marble than Vitro aqua marines. I need it in hand again,bring it along in a few weeks,but now i still lean to Alley,but possible swirled,no seams Vitro aqua marine.

THANK YOU Joe ! Lots of work and effort. Most marble collectors can use all the marble web sites we can find. There are some great articles and information here. Keep going,don't stop now. Glad to be any small part of it. WVRONS

GOOD QUESTION ????????? Listed dug Davis Marble Works marbles. Not any that i have seen or own and i am sure, i have or seen every color or type of Davis. Wilson Davis would not be happy with someone digging up his ground. Plus there were no marbles left behind not even cullet,several years ago. ????????????????????

Good luck Dustin,LOL !!!!!!!

Bill,nice pictures of Mr. Big. But it is still much more eye popping in hand,and with 25-30 points. You have your work ahead of you to ever find one better. Mellow Yellow,with a new home,was also a top of the Alley line. As you know it is only going to get more difficult and require more cash.

Sorry that i missed this,i was at Amana. GREAT job by ALL who helped. THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure you have created some new interest for the future of marbles.

Are you building him a TRIKE yet ?

What a post,took some time and effort,as usual. The marbles on the show marble bags are hand cut out and hand painted. Most of them represented some of the special expiermental Jabo run marbles. It was a big pleasure to see everyone back again and some new faces. Thanks for the special marbles and special box sets,that people gave to me and others. Thank You,Pat for that nice Alley. I could do a whole post of Thank You,s. It was nice to see marbles trading hands,even without money. That is what this show and group is about, Friendship. The WVMCC 2010 show location is moving back to the Mineral Wells location,just off I-77 south of Parkersburg. Lots of plans and work being done already for 2010. Plan to return or visit us next year. THANK YOU Edna !!!!!!!!!

I will be looking for the replacements at Amana.

Grill,sure,no problem.

I should see it soon.

I would guess,ground down out of a chunck of cullet.

What was the factory store name? What factory name,where,when?

If it was your property,land and marbles,what would you do? Do you have a good lawyer? I don't know of any club that ownes an old marble factory site or would take on the liability. The good old days of digging are gone for a long list of reasons. It is good that a lot of history was brought to the surface when and while possible. Not to many years ago,people did not want any dug marble,they were all junk and useless. Digging was not a large problem until there was a value of cash in it. Years ago diggers were called nuts,ask Roger Hardy.

Unmarked (as were most) box of Vitro Tri-Lite marbles. The corners of these boxes are interesting. Bill,that was a nice box,and still is. With a good home in Indy.

I agree,Steph,you are AMAZING !!!!!!!!!! As usual,great info.

Monster perch,i hope the interstate weigh stations are closed. Have a safe trip home.

THANK YOU ALL past and current. Have a safe Memorial day weekend.

Nice job by all. Sorry i could not make it,was down with the flu.

Scott, If you are in the area tommorow or tommorow evening,i can bring the box of marbles to you. Pm me or call this evening with details. Thanks Ron S.

And i have almost a full Jabo case of, roll marks and fractures from a recent run,which almost went to the trash man yesterday. Plus cullet from the other runs. Thinking about years past, all that the trash man already took to the landfill. Plus all the older companies cullet and etc. that went to the landfill,some i still have. After years of trying to get someone to use it,much of it went out the door. It is nice to see it being used. So far Andy Davis is the only one who has put to use any of my cullet. He made some tops and gearshift knobs with some of it. Thanks ANDY.

The tank wash outs are done before each special run. It is to wash or clean the tank of the majority of glass that was being run prior to the special run. Before the special runs,many times the same tank is being used to make industrial marbles. The special runs with so much money involved is different than industrial marble glass,may be color or better quality glass. The tank needs washed or cleaned and then set with the new base glass for the special run. Then after it is set with the new glass it has to cook a while before the run begins. A marble factory is a 24 hr. continueous operation. It is to expensive and time consuming to shut the heat off of a tank once it is in operation,unless it is going to remain down for a long period. Duffy's speckled ones,this may be the ones with gold lutz or colored glass speckled ones. If they are the normal or smaller size,not the 3/4 inch,then they are from the tank washes before the recent special runs. With the gold lutz ones sometimes it may be on the inside of the marble. If so,then the goldstone was added to the glass inside the tank. The gold may sometimes be on the out side of the marble. If so then it was added to the glass stream as it exited the tank before it got to the shears. The colored speckled glass is called fritt. Colored glass is crushed into small pieces to make fritt and can be added to the glass inside the tank or sometimes again added to the glass stream as it exits the tank before it reaches the shears. There are different methods of adding glass and indgrediants to the inside of the tank. There are different methods of adding colored glass or gold and other things to the stream exit the tank,before it reaches the shears. The marble named Duffy's gold,a 3/4 inch marble from the Tribute to Friendship run has some of the special things like aventurine and gold added to the inside and (Steve) Duffy was blowing gold also on the outside of the glass stream before it got to the shears. For the Edith Irene marble of the Tribute to Friendship run,the main colors were in the tank and some in the crucibles. Plus Ed Parsons was adding a orange colored rod in the glass stream before it got to the shears. At the same time, i was adding a pink rod into the stream before it got to the shears. Plus many of these also have gold lutz on the outside as Duffy was blowing the gold on the outside of the stream before it got to the shears. It is not easy to explain the details of making machine made marbles. There is lots of variables,different methods,equipment, to many to list. These are not in any book,but in a marble makers head,from years of experience. This is why any of these special runs have been a education for many or all of the people present for the run. The final end product is not the only benefit from all these special runs.

The West Virginia Marble Collectors Show is saturday. People started arriving yesterday at the hotel for in room trading,buying and selling. Today about 9am, i am taking a small group to Ritchie county,to tour around at about 8 or 9 of the old marble factory locations. Give them a little history at each site,take pictures and give them some local stories about each site. This years show is dedicated to Jabo. A nice 90yr. old piece of wild cherry wood,handmade wall plaque will be give to the person for the best Jabo display. I believe there will be several other special presentations during the show this year. Some very nice items being donated for the silent auction. The WVMCC annual meeting is friday evening 7pm in the hotel host room. WVMCC membership dues for 2009 are due now. A busy three days ahead. For those traveling here,have a SAFE trip and return trip.

Thanks Bill. I was hoping you would post a pic of some of the herd.

Give yourself some time,it will get better. Just don't stay away to long. Sometimes any of these boards can get to us. Sometimes it is very good and sometimes it is not so good. But in the long haul,most are a huge benefit to many. Sometimes things put in print do not end up as ones thoughts or intent. Hope to see you in a few days and back here soon.