Akro Swirl?

[Ric]

Oooh, I didn't see your ad when I posted, Ric. Nice to see something so late. If you ever see something from the 1940's, please post it! (please oh please oh please :))

Do you find it odd that Akro is not mentioned until the end of the ad where it says, "Akro Moss Agates. Made only by Akro"?

[Steph]

Hmmm .... I don't have much to go on to tell how much of a clue that one mention of being made by Akro is. I'll let that simmer.

As dedicated as we know Akro to have been about branding, the general lack of ads in later years could mean they weren't so dedicated about it later. (Or the lack of later ads I've seen could just mean I haven't been looking in the right places.) But maybe it was stressed on the Moss Agate because maybe that was the style which they were most proud of. Moss agates were more expensive than Sparklers on the one ad where I saw a price.

What kind of marbles do you think are in the Hot Shot bag in the ad? To me it looks like corks. Maybe they were vague because they were keeping their options open about what would be in them.

I just noticed the "Special Assortment" bit. Gotta file that away with my other "Special" references.

[lstmmrbls]

Do we have any other pics of different Hot Shot bags?

[Steph]

Bag of boulders:

... and Al's bag. I'm probably the one who made it into the montage. I did that with several pics and then wished I hadn't.

Al's description of the contents: "mainly Akro corkscrews with a few patches and 4 Carnelians"

[Steph]

Do you find it odd that Akro is not mentioned until the end of the ad where it says, "Akro Moss Agates. Made only by Akro"?

I've been going through my treasure trove of items from George Sourlis -- four years worth so I needed refreshing -- and I found two more N. Shure ads which had a similar layout. One had the Hot Shot picture on the left and the Moss Agate picture on the right, and again only mentioned Akro in the Moss Agates section. Uncertain about the date.

The other was from 1936 and had a full page of Akro items. It had the Hot Shot on the top left and the Moss Agate on the top right and the rest of the page was filled with Carnelians, a Popeye box and three gift boxes. And this ad mentioned Akro in the Hot Shots section. Said, "Marbles packed in mesh bags. Any boy getting Akro Agate Mesh Bags glows with pride. Warms with enthusiasm, and becomes a 'hot shot' marble shooter."

Three different versions of text on the Hot Shot side but the same photograph. The 1936 version actually offers the 25-count bag for sale.