Mikie_T Posted October 18, 2017 Report Share Posted October 18, 2017 Hello everyone.... I recently picked these up at the antique store. When I saw them, I thought they were different looking. Not like the usual cats eye marbles. SO, just so I know, are these hybrid cats and were they made by Vitro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusty56 Posted October 18, 2017 Report Share Posted October 18, 2017 Yes they are hybrid cats by vitro. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 19, 2017 Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 Good deal.... I saw something similar on the net. I wanted to have y'all confirm for me so I could file these in my memory bank. Are these early Vitros? About when did they make these hybrid cats? (And how the heck did they do it?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 19, 2017 Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 How, I could not say. Time: second half of the 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 Thanks Steph.... How they are made must have been a trade secret.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 19, 2017 Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 Someone else might know! I don't feel conversant with marble-making techniques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 Ahhhhhh.... I might have to google this issue to see if anything turns up. The way the colors fade in the vanes is just wild. I have never been much of a cat fan but I like these. I also like the ones with more than 4 vanes and multi colors. Red, white and blue is always a good one to pick up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 Sometimes google can be your friend.......LOL. I found this explanation online.... "Glass, when heated, can be made to behave like taffy or clay: it can be stretched, cut, rolled, and shaped just like a child might stretch, cut, roll, or shape those things.To make balls of clay, you'd first stretch or roll the clay out to the rough diameter of the balls you were trying to make. Then you'd pinch off pieces and roll them between your hands to form balls. The same technique is used to mass-produce glass marbles, but the steps are performed by machines instead of kids.If a marble is to be a solid color, or just clear, the clear or colored glass is heated, stretched, cut, and rolled to produce the marbles. For cat-eyes, clear glass is used, but as the glass is stretched, small streams of colored glass are inserted at the center. As the glass is cut, the colored pieces are cut too, which is why they are 'pinched' at the ends. Once these little chunks of glass, with their colored centers, are cut, they are rolled into balls. That rolling leads to the slightly twisted shape." FUN...FUN....FUN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 More from wiki..... "For example, in the "cat's-eye" style, colored glass veins are injected into a transparent main stream. Applying more expensive colored glass to the surface of cheaper transparent or white glass is also a common technique." I wanna see it happening..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 20, 2017 Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 I don't think Marble King lets people see their cat's eyes being made. You have a chance of seeing swirls being made. The investors who do runs at Dave's Appalachian Swirls would probably let you tag along. Jabo might allow spectators also -- not sure. This line, "colored glass veins are injected into a transparent main stream" ... made more sense than "as the glass is stretched, small streams of colored glass are inserted at the center" ... because "stretching" sounds like handmade. And I'm pretty sure we're talking about "streams" flowing somehow. There actually is at least one person who makes cat's eyes by hand -- Ray Laubs @raynsandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 Got any pics of Ray's Marbles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 20, 2017 Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 hmmmm .... I _have_ had pix .... still haven't imported the pix from my last computer .... lemme see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 20, 2017 Report Share Posted October 20, 2017 Ray just gave me these pix of some of his Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 WOW.... I have never been real big on cats but those are KNOCK OUTs!! I say again........ WOW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Oregon Posted October 23, 2017 Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 There are a lot of colorful foreign cat's-eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 19 hours ago, Al Oregon said: There are a lot of colorful foreign cat's-eyes. Really...? Heck, all I have ever seen (I think) is the 4 vane cats that are like a plague down here. Where can I get some good 'uns? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Oregon Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 The old sailing ships used marbles as ballast or for moving items in the holds. Maybe you can dive an old shipwreck down there. Of course, those would not be cat's-eyes but.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 LOL.... I think that would be as good a reason as any to take scuba lessons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 i have 2, a yellow and a green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jten Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 Started saving these when they were worth almost nothing. Loved the way they look. now have about 2 gallons of them. Seems like they are in about every batch of mibs I buy at estate sales and auctions John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie_T Posted October 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 2 GALLONS..... WOW!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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