richsantaclaus Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 So.... after 4 1/2 years of collecting cat's-eye marbles, I finally got to separate them into categories. Here goes - let me know what you think of them please. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtee0 Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 neat, Santa...got lots of what you got and then some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Those are lovely. The cat's meow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 I don't collect them, but i have a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Those are great - maybe we can deal at the Ft. Worth show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Cat's eyes are so easy to love. Think how intriguing they must have been in the 1950's after years and years of random swirls and simple patches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Oregon Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 You dun good, Rich! You've got a good eye for those. Some of those with more than 3 colors are the scarce ones. I always remember this one of marblealan's - sold for $47 back in 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Al - do you remember me asking you about cat's-eye marbles at my show during room trading 3 years ago? It was you who got me kick-started collecting them! It's YOUR fault...lol!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausman Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Please excuse the DUMBASS...but who is/are the manufacturer of those? They are Aussiesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Most of them are Vitro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Yep - Vitro and none of them are foreign! I am guessing around the early 1970's when the made hybrid cat's-eye marbles in Parkersburg, WV (they were there 1954-1989). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I respectfully disagree, Rich. I think one of yours is foreign (you probably know which one I mean) and one of Edna's is. But we agree almost all are Vitro. That's the key info Ausman needs to know for his search. *big smile* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 As to the dates, my guess would be that most of the hybrids shown were made in the late 50's or maybe early 60's. I THINK they switched to cage style cats earlier than 1970. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausman Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Thankyou Steph....You too, Rich! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 that single marble I posted, several blues, is not Vitro. Probably foreign made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hummmm, I checked the book American Machine Made Marbles (page 162). It was caged cat's-eyes that were made in 1954 not the hybrid types...... maybe I read it wrong...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdale7 Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 I have quite a few Vitro hybrid cats and I find them lovely. Rich, I have the same book and the info there is kind of vague and the way they explain it is not good. The Vitro Hybrids have fatter veins and more typical of cross thrus and are generally up to 5 vanes while the later ones are much narrower vanes up to 8 or so and hug the outside of the glass more. From what I have read and heard, Vitro hybrids are around circa 1955-1965 and the caged cats are circa 1970 and later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 That line on p. 162 of AMMM does sound like the cage was introduced in 1954. Maybe that was a misunderstanding or editing error. I based my opinion mostly on the packaging the different kinds of cat's eyes are found in. And here's an ad from 1957 showing the chubbier vanes. ( : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 One of the reasons it is fun to discuss stuff like this is the knowledge base we have here - wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacyw Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Steph, you just gave a very clear example of why it is important to use "a primary source" when identifying or dating a historical artifact. Books are valuable references but text is only as reliable as the author's source, and that source's source, etc. Printed enough times, misconception or even misprinting can become "fact". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 I am always being told that I need to get marble books and read them. As a general rule, they are helpful but only on a general basis. They fail when one searches for exact specifics - not the book's fault because if the book actually did include everything, it'd be to heavy to pick up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocci Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 sweeeet vitos, Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsantaclaus Posted August 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks - I have 100 more 3 or 4 colored coming in the mail - story is the person bought a barn where a man invented a golf ball picker-upper and wanted to invent a marble picker-upper and bought 2,000 of the hybrid cat's-eye marbles - I bought 100 of them - woo, woo!!!!! Right now, they are in the mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 They look like orchids trapped in glass. Beautiful. So you're the one who keeps winning those ones on eBay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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