wvrons

I would say European.

Alley from the Sistersville location 1931-32. When Alley, Pink and Rosenthal were partners at Sistersville WV in 1931-32. L.E. Alley made the marbles. Berry Pink had the patent on this type mesh bag. Divided down the center into two sections and another one with three sections. Very rare bags. Pink supplied the bags. Rosenthal was a jobber filling bags and boxes and selling them. All three combined to make, fill and sell the Lucky boy bag below while at Sistersville WV in 1931-1932. I have the original advertisements below framed . Last is another rare Lucky Boy mesh bag with Sistersville Alley marbles. Which I got at the Nov. Decatur IL show.

The MK Irish has more white, brighter white base and is 5/8 inch or 3/4 inch. The green and red is also brighter on the Irish. Plus not sure the Irish was made at St.Marys. I think it may have been made later at Paden City.

Every WV swirl company made dark purple and white swirls.

Yes

In 1969 Henery Fisher sold very cheap the Vitro Agate Company to Gladding from Syracuse NY. Actually Gladding-Kalamazoo was a WV corp. who made the purchase. The name then changed to Gladding-Vitro Agate Company. Gladding-Vitro Agate then was sold to Paris Manfacturing Corp. of South Paris, Maine in 1982. They sold old stock under the Gladding-Vitro Agate packaging. In 1980 Gladding had only two machines running making 316,000 marbles per day. They were shut down as much as they were running. Many employees laid off out of work. When Paris Manufacturing bought the factory, production doubled. But the business went downhill fast through late 1982-84. Their cullet supplier cut them off for non payment. March 2,1988 production was stopped for three months. Paris Industries filed for bankruptcy. August 1987 Viking Rope Company of Anacortes, Washington purchased Vitro Agate Corp. In Sept.1987 Viking Rope Company became a WV Corp. In Oct.1989 the move of everything Vitro to Anacotrtes WA began. Anacortes production ended in 1992. December 1992 trucks began hauling everything Vitro back to Reno Ohio where Jabo Inc. was formed. The Vitro Company name was owned by Jack Bogard and Jabo. Jabo Inc. is no longer in business. The Jabo property and all contents have been sold to different people.

The fourth Melongirl that I know of was found just a few months ago by a person on All About Marbles. She posted it for identification. A few gave it a shot but no one knew what it was. I let her know what she had. She sold it. Who the lucky buyer was I don't know. So they are still out there someplace.

Jabo

Is it true black. Only a few old machine made companies had true black glass. Looks like I see purple in the white, Some can look black but are actually dark purple, dark brown, dark green, dark amber or dark red, once they are backlit well or thinned enough. Slice it into pieces or smash it with a hammer and you will find out.

A few more old St. Marys Marble Kings. A old Melon Girl wanna bee. To much white showing and more to the orange color than red. Do you remember which one was the most rare in 5/8 inch size. Here it is. There are more but this is some to hunt for.

More old Marble Kings from St.Marys WV. Old Girl Scout with nice oxblood. Value $100.00=-$150.00 each. No name old MK. Most of these have fractures. Old MK Signature Cat Eye, blue and orange. Other old MK cross through Cat Eyes colors, blue & white- red & white - green & white - yellow & white - most common yellow & blue and the four colors in one cat eye. In sizes up to one inch. Old Old MK opaque Berry Pink 7/8 inch. Value $150.00-$200.00 each. There is a Naked Berry Pink same colors but a clear base, Value $75.00- $100.00 each.

The bad news I forgot to photograph the old Hercules blue and black. A few hybrids below. Half Girl Scout and half Cub Scout. Value $75.00- $150.00. What the local old time MK collectors called MK Seven Up. Because of seven colors. They counted white base then. These are often mistaken for Vitro. Value $30.00-$40.00 each. Old MK Red Bumblebee. I do not see many of these. Value $100.00- $150.00 each. There is also a dark chocolate bumblebee. Brown not purple. Next is part Bumblebee-Girl Scout and Cub Scout. Value ????

The local old timers told me this was the first Marble King Watermelon. All that I have seen are 9/16 size or slightly larger. Value $150.00-$200.00 each. Some people have labeled these now as poor mans watermelon. I do not see many of these. The old timers also said that MK considered these as a Watermelon. Most are 3/4 inch and 7/8 inch size. I have only seen one 5/8 inch size. Value 3/4 inch $200.00- $300.00 each. The old MK Ruby Bee. Many of these may have a lighter color of yellow. Value $150.00- $200.00 each.

We cannot leave out the old Rare Green Hornet. Value $500.00- $650.00 each. Next is the old MK Dragon Fly. Value $250.00-$300. I think they should be more. Old MK Clown. Value $250.00- $300.00 each.

People ask if they have a old St.Marys Marble King. Here are some of the old more rare sought after higher dollar Marble King marbles. Part of the Nola Mogan MK collection. The recent You Tube video only showed a portion of her collection. Maybe pictures of the old 7/8 inch MK marbles in the future ? My pictures are at 10x super macro to show the cut lines and details well. The marbles look great in hand. Below are the sought after old Marble King Watermelons. Value $400- $500 each. Probably one of the rarest old Marble King s that I know of. I have only ever seen four and three are here. The old MK Melon Girl, half watermelon and half girl scout. Value $500.00- $750.00 each. The old MK Spiderman. Value $50.00- $100.00 each. The rare old MK Spidermelon, half watermelon and half spiderman(blue). Value $400.00- $600.00 each. More ahead.

If you learned more, it was worth the effort.

That pattern says old Alley to me. All the hooks, color turning on its side(looks thin), most of the swirl on or near the surface, two tone red, nice base glass.

I think 80% are foreign to the US. Asian and Vacor. Vitro made cage cats with many numbers of vanes 4-5-6-7-8-9. Different colored nine vane Asian cat eyes are nice looking. But hard to find any longer.

Many of the blue and white powder jars and lids also have silver or swirls of metallic. Current Akroware prices are the lowest that I have ever seen them. Time to buy. The last picture has a vintage box set with a Ladies hair brush and mirror. vanity or dresser set. Years ago Bill McCaleb and myself dug these clear ornate glass pieces at Akro off and on for a year. We had no idea and never knew what they were. We threw them back in the dirt and discarded them once again. Later I found out they were the handles used for the brush and mirror in these box sets.

Conditon may hurt it. But it still will not be cheap. If it was nm+ to mint bank account look out.

Those Akro Lunch Box marbles are rare and few. Maybe more rare than the Akro Buckskin. One and 1/8 inch Buckskin corkscrew.

Very hard to grade marbles from pictures. To grade proper, need in hand with a 10X loupe is correct. From the pictures I would say near mint or maybe high near mint. which is good for a handmade. I see some small shallow chips, glass missing. Depends on how many chips, hits, pinpricks. Mint old handmades because of age are hard to find. Most collectors are a little less forgiving with old handmades because of age, availability and price. Price jumps for a mint one. The type or style old handmade plays a big role in value of all old handmades. Solid core is more than Divided core, Onionskin and Joseph coats are higher than sold cores, blue or red Latticino is triple or four times more than the same white one. etc. The size comes into the value big with old handmades. At 1 1/2 inch, 2 inch and above the value jumps high for each type. A normal two inch onionskin can be from $400.00 to $1000.00 easy. Add mica and it jumps again. add more numbers of panels and it jumps again. Not sure what size you have ? Size is important with any marble for identification and values. A 1/16 of one inch can make a difference. Some collectors get down to 1/64 of a inch. Some collectors backfilling box sets want certain exact sizes. Some collectors may want a(example)white and red corkscrew of each different size they can find.

I was wrong not every WV swirl company made them this large. At this size Jabo is also possible.

I agree totally 100% with Alan. They are cane made marbles. Unless you were present at the time when it was made. There is no way to know if it was the end of the work day. Many different things as Alan listed can affect the final look of cane made marbles. Sometimes the colors may run thin or out near the end of the cane and sometimes the colors extend well to the very end of the marble. Words and names are major tools for sales and values. But so many beliefs are not all correct. More of those are being debunked every year. When many of these thoughts names and beliefs came about. They may have been the best assumptions, guess or information available at the time. Some no doubt were for nothing but sales and profit. Just live and learn, new, more and better information comes out about marbles every year. We just have to stay updated and be willing to change. Let's see if I get this right ? If the cane is originally one inch and they then stretch it to 1/2 inch size. Yes the colors would be thinner and less vibrant. Most people making cane cut marbles make the cane into the size marbles they want. The stretch usually happens after the cane is made to the size they goal for. They usually build the cane then a slight stretch or twist can be made on the end of the cane to make a twist in the colors of the cane. This very tightly twisted end is cut off and discarded. The cane is reheated again and then the separate marbles cut off of the cane. Sometimes near the rod end of the cane, there can be enough glass for one smaller marble. The cane is reheated then the smaller marble cut off. A one inch or inch and a half diameter cane maybe six or eight inches long can be stretched into six or ten feet long. Then the final cane might be one quarter or one half inch or less diameter. Now it is to long to cut marbles from. So that smaller diameter long cane is broke into pieces and used later on a new marble cane for inside of larger marbles. I am sure there are several videos on the internet You Tube and other places that show cane cut marbles being made. If there is end of day or end of cane marble ? Which is possible. Then why is there not a first off of cane or beginning of day marble ? Which is possible. Six marbles made from one cane may all look very much alike in detail. But two of the six may look different in detail. The first off of the cane and the end of the cane. How many times have you seen, first off of cane marbles mentioned in a book or listed as such for sale ? That has had me scratching my head for over twenty five years. But I was lucky, the very first year that I was interested in marbles. Many full days, I watched Sammy Hogue make cane cut marbles from a twenty ton furnace. All the time he was explaining each step. Then after reading a couple marble books, I ask Sammy what "end of day marble" was. He said it is the last marble that I make today. I felt dumb so I ask again, what "end of cane marble" was ? Again he said it is the last marble I make from each cane. I ask if they were different or the same. He said, if I make all of them the same they would all be the same. He said if, I change the cane or do something different each cane will be different and each end of cane would be different. So there are less numbers of, first off of cane and end of cane than the marbles from the middle of the cane. But there are always exceptions. The larger size marbles over two inch to four inch diameter. may only have one or two marbles per cane. If only two marbles per cane, one is first off of cane and the other is end of cane. But end of day is only possibly known, if you were there at the end of the day. Alan or someone else can clean this up and or add to if needed.

I wish now that I had collected many more marble beads. New or old there some nice looking ones.