wvrons

Sure is. Chuck Garrett and others collect these matched sets.

I got lost. The orange is Alley and I saw a couple Ravenswoods.

Pennsboro Alley.

I agree totally, it did not spin correct. Error marbles are very hard if at all possible to identify accurate.

Vintage Marble King Bumblebee. The first and only marble that I knew a name of back in about 1956.

First one did not spin correct in the marble machine roll grooves. Could be Alley or something else ? Second one is Alley swirl Third is Peltier rainbo

I have seen the white powder looking build up in some plastic bags. What is this substance ? Was it added with the marbles. The worst I have seen are plastic bags of Masters. Nola and myself attended a marble auction in OH a few years back. There were cases and cases of Master marbles. Some were cases of plastic bagged Masters. Some were twenty five pound boxes of loose large 7/8 inch Masters. Every case, box and plastic bag, was coated all over with the white powder. If you picked up a handful of the large loose ones, you could not see what color they were because of the white powder. But with a little rubbing the powder would come off. Packaged Master marbles are loaded with this powder. Why ? What is it ? It feels a little larger or more grit than most body powder. It is not as snow white as body powder. I have never seen it used with some companies.

Chad you are going to cause me to hunt Joseph Coats again. How large were they made ?

Thank you everyone. I had help along the way from some special people. Just sharing as possible same as they did. Thanks to Mike Johnson who supplied this crucible. I have a few others from other companies, including a four vane from Vitro. All that I have seen had even numbers of holes for color, 2-4-6. But we find five and seven, etc, odd numbers of vanes and colors for especially Vitro cage cat eye's. Probably when a six hole had one hole plug, they still used it and then had a five color or vanes, not six. Crucibles were used some at Jabo before and during the special investor runs. Crucibles are not used for only clear base glass. They are also used with opaque base glass. But they would not last long at Jabo. To high of a temperature for to long or wrong type refractory and they break or fall apart. Probably lots of the furnace brick seen inside marbles could be from a crucible. Crucibles are only one method or device used to deliver color. Refractory sloped slide chutes have been used to delivery color. Refractory pots of different sizes and shapes have been placed inside the furnaces to delivery colors. Large operations also had colors in a separate small day tanks(furnace)which was then fed through refractory to the main furnace with the base glass. These small color tanks could be near the main furnace or several feet, twenty or forty feet away. These sometimes could feed more than one base glass furnace at the same time. Adding colors was always changing and something new developed every few years. The bottom line with machine made marble production was always number of marbles per minute.

Below are pictures of a piece of equipment which Vitro used in making cage style cat eye marbles. This was dug from the river bank near the Vitro factory in Parkersburg WV. It is broken, not whole but you can see how it worked. Some will label it a crucible. A vessel of refractory material used for melting. Some may label it a injector. Used to introduce a factor or something into a object or place. Some may label it a color pot. These were usually a bowl shape in the upper part of a glass furnace to add color. It is made of special refractory brick material to withstand the heat. It is long cylinder tube or pipe shape. It was located inside the glass furnace near the front outlet. Colored glass was added to the compartments of the crucible. These were in a circle shape at the outlet holes. The crucible was cut to have V shape large grooves were the clear base glass flowed to the furnace outlet. The clear base glass flowed around and down the V grooves of the crucible. The colors flowed down the inside of each hole through the crucible. The colored glass flowed into the clear glass with clear glass flowing all around and encasing the colors. The hot glass stream then quickly exited the furnace to the shear. The one below is about 6 1/2 inches wide and could have been two feet or more long. Depending on the size of the furnace. The one below was for six color streams. These could be six different colors or all the same color or mixed. Crucibles wear out or fall apart fast. Usually faster than any other part of the furnace. It is possible to change out one while the furnace is loaded or in operation. But it is not easy and dangerous. Replacing one usually means a shut down. Which any shutdown is hard on everything. As the clear and now colored hot glass stream would flow out the furnace exit and down to the shear. The colors would thin and get wider making what we call a vane. Most times the colors ended up centered but sometimes the color would get off to one side of the clear. This can be from flow, or temperature. With the Vitro cage style Cat Eye the color or colors were twisted or swirled. This was probably done with a longer hot glass stream to the shear. The longer stream has more time and length to turn and twist as it falls. Like many WV swirls and most Jabos are made. Then the elongated hot glass stream is sheared twice and then the glob falls down a chute or tube to the marble machine were the hot glass glob is rounded into a marble. All the pattern style or type of marble being made happens upstream before the marble machine. The marble machine makes it round. Picture #1 Looking at the bottom of the crucible which would be pointed down near the furnace outlet. #2 Looking at broken crucible from the top or end that would be towards the top of the furnace. The cuts or grooves on each side of VITRO is where the clear glass would flow. #6 From the side and the bottom where the colors would meet the clear base glass. #8 Close up where you can see the broken refractory. Not easy or short to explain in words. Maybe with the pictures you can have more of a idea how color was added to make Cat Eye marbles. The above is just the basics. Crucibles can be made in different configurations and sizes. Crucibles are just one method or way to add color to glass machine made marbles.

CAC Flames

#1 Cairo Novelty or Heaton Agate- 50/50% chance. #2 Jabo #3 ? #4 Slag probably Akro

There are variety of opinions on what is oxblood color for marbles. Different companies had different shades of oxblood. Sometimes even within the same company. Some oxblood was a special formula. Some oxblood can happen when certain glass components are put together. Some oxblood color can be from cullet, that is close to oxblood color. Most Heaton marbles labeled with oxblood, is actually a maroon color Vitrolite cullet. Some from actual oxblood cullet. Some antique handmade marbles have oxblood. The earliest machine made marbles with oxblood were probably the MFC brick marbles. If it is oxblood or not is a decision that each collector has to decide for their own self. Most of the oxblood for Jabo marbles was from pieces of man made gold lutz. Many times it would burn up and disappear. A gold lutz and green aventurine mixture makes nice oxblood. What each collector calls oxblood is experience. It is difficult to separate oxblood by companies. Vitrolite tile oxblood modern oxblood applied to a Popeye marble Jabo oxbloods Alley oxblood

I will post information and pictures of a Cat Eye injector (if you want call it that) over in the General Marble & Glass Chat section. Later tonight hopefully.

Many of the green ones are heavy with av.

I agree with Mojo

MK I see Master with that very curved cut and the color combo.

Champion Heaton Green Sweet Potato

The first one is either Ravenswood or Jackson. The second one is Champion.

The yellow one is not any Alley that I know of.

#1 Vacor #2 I don't know of any transparent red base glass for Jabo pee wee.

I am not sure what the top of first marble is ? Not CAC . I do not see Jabo either. The second marble is a WV swirl. The top left picture looks Jackson. The bottom right looks Ravenswood. Champion also made these transparent flesh and white swirls. The colors have to be exact, like it looks in hand to get a accurate id. When the same marble looks different in different pictures, the id is not easy and can be wrong.

Alley Strawberry Shortcake to me.

Jabos

Jabo