wvrons

Akro

No Davis for sure.

Collect what you like. That is the key to a happy collector.

Did Akro buy the bags of Paul Bunyans from Ravenswood trying to get them of the market ? Due to competition, then never did anything with them. They look like Akro. In 1940 who else made 7/8 inch patches that look like these ? There are lots of these mesh and plastic bags floating around with the paper note attached. Less numbers of the mesh bags with the paper note attached. Then they were found later in the dust covered bins, who knows by who or when ?? But the Paul Bunyans look nothing like anything else Ravenswood ever produced. They never produced any patch marbles or 7/8 inch size unless it was Paul Bunyans ? I also found a local newspaper article interview 1992 with Edwin Safreed. In the article Edwin Safreed said they produced one inch marbles. Edwin Safreed passed away before I started with marbles. Good numbers of Paul Bunyan marbles were found by over a dozen people at the Ravenswood river bank dump. But no other 7/8 or one inch marbles at all. The Ravenswood marbles were all dumped over the river bank in 1986 after the factory had been closed for years. Today I think maybe somebody, someplace, for Ravenswood Novelty did make the Pual Bunyan marbles. The last five years I thought that Master made these. Fifteen years ago I thought that maybe Akro made them. But I have mostly now ruled out Akro. Tomorrow may change. Looking for any other answers or theories as always. The Paul Bunyan marbles mystery continues.

The 10 oxbloods are Akro for sure. The two light green base are questionable Akro, Master or Paul Bunyans ?

A Ravenswood employee was interviewed by myself and Bill McCaleb. Her last name was Elie or Ely. She worked for Ravenswood Novelty before WWII and than again after the war. Her job was packaging marbles in bags and boxes. I showed her some Paul Bunyan marbles and ask her if Ravenswood produced these marbles. Her reply was that she had never ever seen those marbles before. I showed her the bag of Paul Bunyans Ravenswood Novelty header and the paper note attached to it. She said that as well as she knew that was not packaged at Ravenswood Novelty. The first three Paul Bunyan marbles I ever bought many years ago, were from a woman in Ravenswood. She said her brother or uncle made them at Ravenswood. She said that when he gave them to her(about 15-20)that the marbles were still warm. His name was Edwin Safreed. Fae Safreed the daughter of Edwin Safreed, told me and others that her Dad made the Paul Bunyan marbles at Ravenswood. I have the marbles which I bought from her Dads collection. Of course it had 5/8-11/16-3/4 inch Ravenswood marbles and 7/8 inch Paul Bunyan marbles. I met Fae at my first marble show, the first Sistersville WV marble show. She said her Dad made the Paul Bunyan marbles on weekends. But not in the marble factory. There was a pottery factory a couple hundred yards below the marble factory. It was Trenle Blake Pottery. I also collected it. It was restaurant pottery white and the usual green stripes. Fae said her Dad made the Paul Bunyan marbles at the pottery factory. There could have been a furnace there. Maybe a 7/8 or one inch marble machine, maybe they were all packaged in the pottery factory ? There was no extra room for a 7/8 marble machine in the Ravenswood marble factory. When Charles Cox was at the Alox third generation run at Jabo. I showed him and ask him if Ravenswood Novelty made these marbles. His reply was, yes we made those. His father Paul Cox owned Ravenswood Novelty after Charles Turnbull.

I agree Rics marbles above are 100% made by Akro. They are not Pual Bunyan marbles.

I have went back and fourth with these Paul Bunyan marbles for twenty five years as to who made them. You can find them with a paper note stapled to the bag. It states that these marbles were made by Akro and lay in dust covered bins until discovered. True or a sales pitch, because Akro marbles were always more money than Ravenswood. A original Ravenswood Novelty bag header. Why would Ravenswood put this note on a bag with their header and Paul Bunyans ? I have seen more of these Paul Bunyan bags without the paper note than with it. Plus the note is wrong for sure these factories did not cease operations in the late 1940's. Plus I think the Paul Bunyan marbles began before the mid 1940's. Most of the info on this note is false. Were these bags of Paul Bunyans sold at the auction after Ravenswood Novelty closed and a seller attached the note ? Just one piece of the puzzle.

I have never found any of the different Paul Bunyan marbles as Akro for sure. There are about six or seven different color combo Paul Bunyan marbles. A couple are hard to find. I have ask and showed with witnesses, Roger Hardy the Paul Bunyan marbles different times. He has never dug one. He has none in any original Akro package. He has no idea who produced them. None of the Paul Bunyan marbles have any oxblood. I think the Paul Bunyan marbles date back to early 1930's up until Ravenswood closed in 1955. The Paul Bunyan marbles are in mesh bags. Most of this dates them before Master. We know Master got most of the remaining Akro marbles and empty packages. Master put Master marbles in Akro packages. Master put Akro marbles in Master packages. George Sourlis did a lecture and slides about this at a Decatur show about 4-5 years ago.

Could be one of several WV swirl companies ?????? These are very difficult to separate unless you have them in hand with known examples. They can be different shades of purple or brown. Some darker some lighter or thinner. Some have clear some do not. A slight difference in pictures or lighting can change the looks of these dark purple or brown and white swirls. All above reasons why they have very little value with collectors. Sometimes the pattern of the white swirl is a indicator of the maker. I do not think this is a Jackson. They are very dark and bright white, usually wider white. Jackson

The Alox bags have 100% for sure Paul Bunyan marbles in them. They came right out of the factory by Nancy Frier grandaughter of the original owner. T The last and only surviving Alox marble machine Third generation Alox run at Jabo on the original Alox machine. Which may have come from Ravenswood Novelty or L.E. Alley. Three generations with connections to this machine. Left is Frank Sellers- grandson of L.E. Alley Nancy Frier - granddaughter of John Frier Alox owner Charles Cox- son of last Ravenswood Novelty owner Paul Cox. Far right- Rae Weekly- Ravenswood Novelty.

Tough question. We have paper work documentation that Alox bought marbles from Ravenswood. We also have paper work documentation that Alox bought one inch marbles from Master. Of course we know Alox packaged 7/8 or 7/8+ sparker type marbles from Master, But no paper work list the name Paul Bunyan. Nola has a theory that the name for the Paul Bunyan marbles came about from the Pauls Blue Ox- Paul Bunyan toy above. The toy maker needed 7/8 inch marbles and they contacted Ravenswood Novelty. I think the patent for the Pauls Blue Ox was 1931. Ravenswood Novelty then named the Paul Bunyan marbles and supplied them to the toy maker. Then also packaged them under the name Paul Bunyan marbles Ravenswood Novelty Works. For several years. Of course, Ric your Pauls Blue Ox has 7/8 inch Akro marbles. Were the Paul Bunyan marbles produced by Ravenswood Novelty Works or Akro or Master ? Still no actual proof of who produced them. Will we ever know ?

The late Edwin Safreed. He worked at Ravenswood Novelty from the start until the last marble was made. He looked through the boarded up windows when Alley was making marbles at Ravenswood Glass in 1929. Which later became Ravenswood Novelty. The owners ask Safreed to come make marbles for them. He ran the machine, he hauled cullet in a Diamond Reo dump truck. He packaged marbles. He did the maintence repairs. He loaded RR boxcars, He did it all at Ravenswood Novelty.

Rare Ravenswood Novelty shoe string bag. The kids could use the bag strings for shoe lace strings.

The Automatic Crane, looks like a steam shovel to me. It was made and patented by the same man who made the Truckers Marble Coaster. It also used 9/16 Ravenswood marbles. Put the marbles in the smoke stack and they roll out into the shovel and load into a truck. Unfortunately he never lived long enough to see these make it into sales. Only about 12-20 proto type were made.

Truckers Marble Coaster all came with a red or green or blue box of Ravenswood Novelty marbles. There were three colors of the trucks, green or blue or yellow.

No I have never seen one with a lid. The bottles were made in Vienna north Parkersburg WV. The late Howard Powell past president of the WVMCC, worked for the company who made them. There is a article in a WVMCC newsletter with all the details of these little fragile bottles. Ravenswood Novelty was using them mainly for clear cullet. But they put two marbles in some and they were sold in the Ben Franklin dime store in Ravenswood WV.

All we can do is identify the picture. We don't have the marble. If the picture does not look like the marble. A correct identification is most times impossible. Colors are a very big trait for identifications.

modern

Yes they have a show in Oct. 2023. I am a lifetime member of the TX club. Check web site: westvirginiamarblecollectorsclub.com then click on News, which has show listings.

Most are Jabo classics made by Jabo. Jabo produced swirl marbles from 1994 until 2008. Sizes small pee wees to one inch size, before any investor runs were made and paid for by investors. The pink glass is from Fenton Art Glass cullet. Tons and tons of it used by Jabo and Champion.

Vitro Eight finger marbles. I have seen Vitro 5-6-7-8-9- vane cage style cat eyes. I don't know if i have ever seen a Vitro 6 finger. Vitro eight fingers are different than most cat eyes. The stripes, ribbons or colors are all near the surface, not internal. The stripes or ribbons can be different colors on one marble. They can be opaque or transparent base. There are Asian made opaque base marbles even up to 7/8 inch size that looks very close to the Vitro eight finger. But with those the color ribbons ends come more to a point near the cut lines. Once you see both, the difference is easy.