Davis Swirls ?

[Fire1981]

Was there a WVS Davis marble factory. 

[Chad G.]

(1947-1948)

 

With appreciation given to the MCSA for this next information

[PittsburghMarbles]

None are hardly found in America, you would have to find them in Puerto Rico. They are the only marble co from N America that I have no examples of.  

[Ric]

Although you can get lucky . . .

[Chad G.]

1 hour ago, Ric said:

Although you can get lucky . . .

Nice !!!

[Fire1981]

Thanks you guys. 👍

[PittsburghMarbles]

5 hours ago, Ric said:

Although you can get lucky . . .

How do you know those are Davis? Theres scant info about them, is it because of the box that you knew? They look very similar to some Alox and even Alleys.  

[Ric]

22 minutes ago, PittsburghMarbles said:

How do you know those are Davis?

These boxes have been found with a variety of different marbles. But the determination on these marbles was made by comparing them to dug and known examples. Basically, I just got lucky when I found this box. You can follow this link for some recent discussion.

[wvrons]

I was one of the lucky five who got to dig Davis marbles. Plus we dug every last marble and every scrap of cullet. It took over three years to get permission from Wilson to dig the site. Even he did not remember what they looked like. He had none of the marbles. Wilson Davis passed away last year. I visited with him and his wife in their home a few times.  When we finished we gave Wilson a oak display box 12 x 18 inches filled with marbles he and his father had made. He had tears in his eyes.  Want to hunt a rare marble, find a Davis Marble Works marble.  I find four to a dozen a year, most times nine or ten marble shows a year.  Most of, but not all of the Davis production did go to Puerto Rico. The marbles were in red mesh bags with a red header that said Davis Marbles in black letters. They were a free give away, a premium if you bought a certain doll. Buy the doll and get a free bag of marbles.  Davis only made about ten or twelve different color combinations. Some certain ones glow and some do not. Some were made using Coke bottle cullet. Once they are learned, several Davis marbles can be spotted easy in a group of swirls. 

[PittsburghMarbles]

^
Are you Ron? If you don’t want to answer that’s ok. But either way, can you post your Davis marble digs on here and most of the examples? I’m sure I have a couple but I don’t know what to look for when it comes to them. I have literally 1000 unidentified WV swirls from jar finds and I’m sure some of them have to be Davis. 

[wvrons]

Yes I am Ron. West Virginia Ron Shepherd.  I would like to post pictures of the Davis dig. But as with most of my dig pictures. They were taken on floppy disc which now cannot be opened to view. I have had a few IT computer people try but no luck at all. They are probably lost forever. I do have some prints from the past. Never rely on electronic devices to save pictures or memories for the future. Ask people who have had free service and storage space on the internet for pictures. Or improved and better put them in a cloud and then wait for the storm. I have posted pictures of Davis marbles here and other chat boards probably at least yearly since the dig probably 15 years ago. The marbles are nothing fancy, just rare.  They are pictured in Everett Grist 3rd and 4th edition marble books. 

Here are a few

 

The cream dirty white and orange/red. The cream white glows bright. These are very close Jacksons. The same Vitrolite cream white cullet. But the Davis are more to the orange side and usually more narrow swirls or ribbons than Jacksons. 

The one below is brown Vitrolite cullet and green Coke bottle glass cullet.

 

The one below is a nice lavender purple and slight transparent blue. 

Next is transparent blue base and the glowing cream dirty white Vitrolite cullet. Almost the exact same as some Jacksons.

 

Below is the transparent flesh colored base and white. Like many Ravenswood and some Champions or Alox. But the white is the cream dirty white Vitrlolite. Which the white will glow bright. 

 

Transparent light green, probably thin Coke bottle glass, with lavender purple.

Transparent green with small amount if white more on the inside.

 An

Another blue and lavender purple.

Another glowing cream dirty white and orange/red. Many Davis of this color combo have double orange/red swirls or double ribbons. 

 

 

You will find some of these in Ric's earlier box pictures above.  

 

The clear base and twisted yellow ones glow bright orange. 

Separating WV swirls, sometimes requires a black light. Some can have the same exact looking colors. But a marble from one company may glow and a marble from another company which looks the same will not glow.