Kingfisher Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Are there any photo's out there of a Vitro Jewel/Ash Tray... I have a couple of questions regarding a tray... I have one, and will take some pic's, just need to see and compare... I will be using the new camera too... Look Out!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 I can get you some pics, Gene... Any specifics?? Front, back? I have this on file.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Had to take the wife to the market, all I have to do is resize my pic's, then I will post them... Back in a little while... Any pic's will do Sue, rear side probably... What kind of marbles are those, in that tray Sue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Here is the tray I picked up a few month back... I didn't get this on eBay... Bought it from someone I have been dealing with... Issue here is my tray is a Vitro not a Fisher... I understand the Fisher is also a Vitro but didn't the Vitro come before the Fisher... Sorry for the lighting, because it is hard to see, but the bottom reads... The VITRO AGATE CO PARKERSBURG W VA PATENTS PENDING Also, I don't recall seeing anything but single color opaque marbles on them... About a week ago there was a Vitro not Fisher Tray on eBay, with the same inscription on the bottom, but it had solid color opaque marbles The guy I got my tray from told me it was in it's original condition he received it in, that he never attempted to shine it up... He also said he had owned it for many years As you can see, this tray has 12 Vitro Helmets, might that be a little rare??? Also, can anyone put a value on the tray... You won't hurt my feelings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARBLEMISER Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 All I can say is WOW!!! That is truley a rare find. The Helmet Patches are VHTF> GREAT SCORE!! marblemiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Hi Gene, yep, both are the real deal... The Vitro trays seem to be a little less common than the Fisher trays... The fisher trays have a "hammered" texture to the front (It doesn't show on the back) The Vitro trays are smooth... I'm not sure which came first. There are a few known variations to the marbles... Helmets are definitely one of them. My feeling is, yours is authentic.... Yep, they do seem to be rare!! I was watching and buying trays for a while, but I haven't been keeping up to date lately... Based on what I saw (And, this may have changed in the interim...) The solid colors seem to go around $20-25.00... There are colors that are very common (Tan-ish) and may be a harder sell... Other colors (Not sure off the top of my head) are harder to find and go a little higher... My guess (and it is just a guess...) would be, the helmets might go in the $50 range?? Depending on whose looking for them at the time?? They also come in a larger size, with 1" marbles... My recollection of these is in the $100 range... I've never seen one with the hammered finish, but I don't remember what's on the back (Vitro or Fisher) There are also NY World's fair trays... The logo is pressed right into the brass and I've only seen solid color marbles in that design... Bev Brule's collection had a FANATASTIC large size tray with alternating red, white and blue 1" solid color marbles, in it's original 1939 World's Fair box!!! I don't remember if it had the logo on the tray... I've never seen any others in the large size, with the logo, so I'm assuming it didn't... But, there's no doubt that it was created with the alternating colors.... I have a helmet tray with a penny type coin, showing the Statue of Liberty, attached to the center of it... Oooo, I DID find a picture of it!!! Other things to watch for... A table clock... Big Ben type... set into a small size tray... I got this lamp for Christmas a few years ago... It matches a patent plan, but it has several features that cause me to believe it isn't as old as it "should" be... So, a line may have been produced later? ... If so, I'm guessing post 1960's... OR, it's just been beautifully restored and wired. It has no markings... I don't care... I love it!! LOL Here's a pic of another... Can't remember whose this is... Al?? When buying any trays... ESPECIALLY on ebay!!! Be sure the back is still on it. If it doesn't have pictures of the back, ask... Bear in mind that the backings can come off and be put back on again... If you see a Vitro back on a smooth surface, odds are, it's married... If you see marbles that are way out of line (like Akro...) odds are, the marbles have been replaced.... I've (casually) collected enough of these to believe I may have all colors available (or, close to it...) I only have the one above with helmets... I have had a few opportunities to buy others... But... All I can say is WOW!!!That is truley a rare find. The Helmet Patches are VHTF> GREAT SCORE!! Yeah!!! I agree!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semdot Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 I have seen a couple trays with helmets but none with these colors. It's at least vhtf if not rare. I think I saw a helmet tray at a show around $120, but I can't say if it sold or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplarhead Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Here is what I wrote and was put in West Va Marbles Club newsletter a few years back, may help you. The Vitro helmet trays come in several color combinations. I don't have my pictures right yet but will try to post later. Don Art Fisher’s Trays of Jewels In the middle of the 1930s as America was coming out of the depression Art Fisher owner of Vitro Agate was looking at another way of marketing his marbles. He came up with the idea of making an ornamental tray for use around the house. It would be a metal tray surrounded by marbles and marketed as a jewelry tray, like a ring and watch holder. According to Greenberg’s Guide to Marbles by Dennis Webb (see reference for this out of print book, this is still in my opinion the best effort to date at documenting marbles of the mainstream books and is a necessity for the beginning collector) Art Fisher was not a smoker and so the trays were discussed around the plant as the “Jewel Trays” although from my observations of tobacco stained trays the majority ended up used as ashtrays and were purchased for that use. Per Webb’s research the patent dates on the trays date these to mid 1930s (First appearing is 99,857which was applied for on October 21, 1935 and granted on June 2, 1936 and second appearing as Patent No. 2,094,529 (applied for September 20,1935 and granted September 28, 1937 with the second patent more concerned about manufacture information). Over the years several varieties of trays were made which make it an interesting collectible for the marbles collector. You can find trays that have the different patent dates and some with none which were probably sold before the patent was granted. There were also some marked Vitro Agate Parkersburg West Virginia Patents Pending. (Figures 1,2,3,4)The Vitro trays and non marked examples are scarcer . In 1939 in an attempt to market a souvenir for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair a special tray was made that has stamped inside the tray the classic perisphere and trylon symbols of this “World of Tomorrow “ themed fair. (Figure 5) This tray brings the most interest due to crossover collecting from both marbles collectors and Worlds Fair collectors. All of the preceding trays contain 12 marbles of 5/8 th inch size and are approximately 3 inches wide. An additional tray was marketed that is about 5 inches wide and contains 14 marbles that are 7/8 th inch size. This tray is marked as the Fisher Master -Jewel-Tray with the first patent date. (Figure 6) These trays are the scarcest of the regular trays and seldom show up for sale. While I am not sure how long these trays were continued to be made , I would imagine the war metal shortages dampened sales and that the majority of these trays were made from 1935 to 1941. The trays surfaces are different and some have a hammered bronze surface, some have a smooth surface, and some are chromed. The smaller chromed examples are very hard to find and I have seen only a couple examples . Most of the Vitro Trays have a smooth surface so I suspect the hammered finish came later. The Master Trays come mainly in a bronze finish although there are also chrome surfaced examples. Some books state that some of these trays were sold without backs. Personally I have not seen ones that did not originally have a back other than those that had lost the back or were soldered later to hold the marbles inside the tray. My personal belief is they all contained backs. The trays appear to have been sold as singles and as sets of four (Figure 7). The interesting thing to a marble collector though is the marbles inside the trays. In the early Vitro Agate trays are found some of the most interesting marbles including “Akro “ helmets ( I believe Vitro Agate actually made these) and Vitro Agate multicolored patches. The majority of the trays have Vitro Agate opaque marbles, however a few have opaque marbles with interior designs that look like Peltier rainbows. (Figures 8,9) Some of the colored opaque inside are also interesting and contain many different colors which makes these trays interesting to collect, but beware as the trays can be altered to add marbles that did not originally come with the trays. While I have seen interesting varieties such as red, white and blues and alternating colors which are original I have also seen some that were “created”. As with any collectible study before you leap. There are also some trays that come with clearies of different colors (Figure 10). These often have smooth surfaces and are not marked with a patent date and or marked as Vitro Agate which may mean they were earlier trays. The Master Trays came with opaque large marbles, although we have in our collection a salmon one with swirls that look like a newer day Jabo Vitro swirl but are not and we have one with alternating colors of turquoise and white. There are definitely enough styles, colors and types of these trays to keep a collector busy! In addition to the regular trays I have seen one of the Master Trays with a clock inserted inside, I am sure it came from the factory this way. I had a person write me about one they got from their aunt’s estate . I have also seen a few customized trays like this U.S. Marine Corps tray in our collection (Figure 11) and a few were used to advertise businesses. I am sure Vitro Agate also made other items from marbles over the years (like this lamp Figure 12) but Fisher’s Jewel Tray captured the most sales in the 1930s and 1940s and interest from collectors . Thanks to West Virginia makers of a neat marbles collectible! Don Miller (Poplarhead.com) Here is the tray I picked up a few month back... I didn't get this on eBay... Bought it from someone I have been dealing with... Issue here is my tray is a Vitro not a Fisher... I understand the Fisher is also a Vitro but didn't the Vitro come before the Fisher... Sorry for the lighting, because it is hard to see, but the bottom reads... The VITRO AGATE CO PARKERSBURG W VA PATENTS PENDING Also, I don't recall seeing anything but single color opaque marbles on them... About a week ago there was a Vitro not Fisher Tray on eBay, with the same inscription on the bottom, but it had solid color opaque marbles The guy I got my tray from told me it was in it's original condition he received it in, that he never attempted to shine it up... He also said he had owned it for many years As you can see, this tray has 12 Vitro Helmets, might that be a little rare??? Also, can anyone put a value on the tray... You won't hurt my feelings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigafoose Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 This is usless info nut I sold one in Columbus at the last show (with helmets)but I cant remember what I sold it for!?!?!???? I always felt it was authentic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmuehlba Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I have a few trays and the one I can never get is the clock I would always stop at $200. may be now is a better time to search again ?? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 From memory the clocks go for about $300.00 to $500.00. The lamps go for about $700.00 to $1000.00 or more. That is if you can find either one. The Worlds Fair small trays usually go for about $50.00 to $125.00 . The larger trays usually go for about $100.00 to $150.00 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 All these Vitro Collectibles are totally awesome... Had no idea there were so many of them... Thank everyone for your posts... I do have one more Vitro Collectible, but have to take some pic's first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popculturizm Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 It's funny that your on this topic , just got my first one in the mail today. no biggie (was under 25.00 bux) but nice and early has Vitro Gate on back, so guess I'll have some catching up to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texustwo Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 I have over 40 Different trays, but i'm having problems loading the pictures. If you would like to see them E-Mail me and I will send pictures to you. Thanks Gary [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Oregon Posted July 7, 2010 Report Share Posted July 7, 2010 Here are some of Don's tray pics (poplarhead) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr.trj Posted July 7, 2010 Report Share Posted July 7, 2010 Great looking pics! Any opinions as to which of the solid colors are more or less common? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted July 7, 2010 Report Share Posted July 7, 2010 It seems to me, the salmon color is most common.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m!b$ Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 Here's a unique one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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