Teal/Purples

[Jzoook6]

These have to be Jabo, no? They are a pretty purple--doesn't translate well to photograph, alas. 

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

 

[akroorka]

Nice looking Jabo marbles imho.
The pink is cullet from another glassmaker that I cannot remember the name of---nice stuff that pink.
All opinions are appreciated and welcomed.
Marble—On!!

[wvrons]

Jabo classics. The pink was Beremuse(spelling wrong)cullet from the 100 year old Fenton Art Glass Co. Fenton made this glowing glass in white, pink, yellow and green colors. Sometimes it had two of those colors. This scrap glass, broke, odd shaped, rejects, was delivered to Jabo in a dump truck about 1- 2 tons at a time.   Fenton like Jabo is now closed out of business. Fenton was a major supplier along with Vitrolite for all WV machine made marbles companies. The Gabbert cullet company of Williamstown WV, near the Fenton glass factory, was the cullet supplier for three generations. I worked at Fenton Art Glass back in 1971.  Fenton was at Williamstown WV about 15 miles south and across the OH river from Jabo at Reno OH.  

[Jzoook6]

25 minutes ago, wvrons said:

Jabo classics. The pink was Beremuse(spelling wrong)cullet from the 100 year old Fenton Art Glass Co. Fenton made this glowing glass in white, pink, yellow and green colors. Sometimes it had two of those colors. This scrap glass, broke, odd shaped, rejects, was delivered to Jabo in a dump truck about 1- 2 tons at a time.   Fenton like Jabo is now closed out of business. Fenton was a major supplier along with Vitrolite for all WV machine made marbles companies. The Gabbert cullet company of Williamstown WV, near the Fenton glass factory, was the cullet supplier for three generations. I worked at Fenton Art Glass back in 1971.  Fenton was at Williamstown WV about 15 miles south and across the OH river from Jabo at Reno OH.  

WOW!!!! Fenton Burmese!!! I don't have any pieces of it, but know exactly what color you are talking about. Lots of ruffly vases right? That is beyond cool that you worked there. So in 1971 would you have been working with the Colonial colors? Did you make any carnival glass? Thank you for sharing!!! Here is some of my Fenton: 

[wvrons]

Yes they were making Carnival glass when I was there.  The Burmese was used for many different pieces, different size flower vases, baskets, table lamps, animal figures, plates, and more. Fenton made all of their own glass from raw batch.  A few times Jabo ordered a special white glass be made by Fenton and then was sold to Jabo for marbles. MK did it once but Jabo did special ordered glass from Fenton several times. MK made the marbles from Fenton glass and the Fenton Glass name was on the bag header. So many buyers thought Fenton Glass made marbles. Fenton Glass never ever made any marbles.  

[Jzoook6]

21 minutes ago, wvrons said:

Yes they were making Carnival glass when I was there.  The Burmese was used for many different pieces, different size flower vases, baskets, table lamps, animal figures, plates, and more. Fenton made all of their own glass from raw batch.  A few times Jabo ordered a special white glass be made by Fenton and then was sold to Jabo for marbles. MK did it once but Jabo did special ordered glass from Fenton several times. MK made the marbles from Fenton glass and the Fenton Glass name was on the bag header. So many buyers thought Fenton Glass made marbles. Fenton Glass never ever made any marbles.  

Oh wow I would love to see one of those special white Fenton jabos someday. So were there other colors besides just the Burmese and the special white of Fenton's that could have been used in Marbles (by Jabo or anyone?). Also was anyone making marbles in Paden City before Marble King moved there? I have often wondered if any cullet from Paden City Glass ended up in any marbles, but I think they closed down before Marble King moved there. 

[wvrons]

Several of the investor runs at Jabo has the Fenton white glass. Jabo through the years used about every color glass cullet that Fenton made. About, if not all WV marble companies used Fenton cullet in making marbles. I   have found Fenton and Vitrolite glass at probably every marble site that I have dug in WV.  Alley made marbles in Paden City during 1930, long before MK was a company. But in 1930 Alley may have been, making marbles with raw batch glass ? There are almost no known examples of what Alley made at Paden City.  The Alley factory was located right next door, very close to the Wissmach Glass factory, still in business. They make stained glass. It was used for the Champion furnace marbles. I have never heard or know of any Paden City Glass being used for making marbles.  But possible if the glass coefficency was near what their marbles glass would have been.  If it was nearby and they could use it to make marbles they did. Right after WWII cullet or scrap glass was hard to get. Then Edwin Safreed took a dump truck for Ravenswood Novelty to IN for cullet. Not a easy trip then on two lane crooked roads. 

[chicagocyclist]

Really excellent information here!  Thanks, Ron! That is so cool that you work there for sure especially when they were still making Carnival Glass, among my favorite of the art glass!

 

I have created a link to this topic in the archives.

[Jzoook6]

23 minutes ago, wvrons said:

Several of the investor runs at Jabo has the Fenton white glass. Jabo through the years used about every color glass cullet that Fenton made. About, if not all WV marble companies used Fenton cullet in making marbles. I   have found Fenton and Vitrolite glass at probably every marble site that I have dug in WV.  Alley made marbles in Paden City during 1930, long before MK was a company. But in 1930 Alley may have been, making marbles with raw batch glass ? There are almost no known examples of what Alley made at Paden City.  The Alley factory was located right next door, very close to the Wissmach Glass factory, still in business. They make stained glass. It was used for the Champion furnace marbles. I have never heard or know of any Paden City Glass being used for making marbles.  But possible if the glass coefficency was near what their marbles glass would have been.  If it was nearby and they could use it to make marbles they did. Right after WWII cullet or scrap glass was hard to get. Then Edwin Safreed took a dump truck for Ravenswood Novelty to IN for cullet. Not a easy trip then on two lane crooked roads. 

Wow I did not realize how widely used Fenton's cullet was! Thats very interesting also about how there is little information about the Paden City Alleys. Has anyone been able to dig there? I think Wissmach and Paden City Glass were both in operation in 1920s but I can't find any info on the location of their factory. I do know that right before the company went under, they bought out the American Glass Company, which was apparently right next door. Is there any knowledge as to whether Marble King built a new factory when they moved to WV or could they have possibly bought an existing one? Also in regards to cullet being hard to come by after WW2, was that because of shortage of the gas needed to make the glass? Mindblowing information, thank you so much for sharing.  oh heres a pic of the paden city glass factory. IMO some of their colors are just as exceptional as Cambridge's.  

[wvrons]

No one has ever dug a Alley marble at Paden City. Mike Johnson was allowed to pick up four or five from the lawn of the current house that sites on the exact site.  Mike donated those to the Paden City library for display. I stopped a few years later and looked for them. I ask about them and they had no idea what I was talking about. They had no marbles. 

Yes Wissmach was in operation in the 1920's and still is today.  I think todays Marble King is at the old Paden City Glass and or American Glass Co.  They moved to Paden City after the fire at the St. Marys WV location. Which they bought from L.E. Alley.   

 The cullet shortage was from different reasons. Every even small towns in WV had some type of glass factory. Those workers left the glass factories and went to war. Like Vitrolite some were able to switch over and make glass for the war items.  Vitrolite made laminated glass(inches thick)which was bullet proof for the army tank driver and gunner view ports. Plus other glass war items. Sevaral of the WV glass factories closed down. So there was less scrap. Then the men came home from the war and several small marble factories went into business in a two or three year period. Then there was not enough cullet to supply all the marble factories in WV. Just when toy marbles was hitting their peak sales. To many marble factories for the scrap glass supply. This is the same time frame when to many marble companies started up. Then the older companies had to switch to cullet rather than batch glass, due to so much competition. The cullet supply was deleted fast. WV glass companies have been closing steady for fifty years. Not many left today. One of the older ones remaining today is Blenko. Some members here also collect Blenko glass.

Notice : I will give out some info.  Blenko Glass in WV may someday make marbles. Not long ago(weeks)I know they bought a marble machine. That machine made marbles at Jabo for years. It belongs to Blenko Glass now.  Maybe they will only be industrial marbles ? But that market is very slow now.  So maybe it will be toy marbles ?  Maybe fiberglass ? Who knows as of today.

Maybe machine made marbles will keep being made in the US  ????  

[akroorka]

3 minutes ago, wvrons said:

Blenko Glass in WV may someday make marbles

Good news--lets hope!

Marble--On!!

[Jzoook6]

1 minute ago, wvrons said:

No one has ever dug a Alley marble at Paden City. Mike Johnson was allowed to pick up four or five from the lawn of the current house that sites on the exact site.  Mike donated those to the Paden City library for display. I stopped a few years later and looked for them. I ask about them and they had no idea what I was talking about. They had no marbles. 

Yes Wissmach was in operation in the 1920's and still is today.  I think todays Marble King is at the old Paden City Glass and or American Glass Co.  They moved to Paden City after the fire at the St. Marys WV location. Which they bought from L.E. Alley.   

 The cullet shortage was from different reasons. Every even small towns in WV had some type of glass factory. Those workers left the glass factories and went to war. Like Vitrolite some were able to switch over and make glass for the war items.  Vitrolite made laminated glass(inches thick)which was bullet proof for the army tank driver and gunner view ports. Plus other glass war items. Sevaral of the WV glass factories closed down. So there was less scrap. Then the men came home from the war and several small marble factories went into business in a two or three year period. Then there was not enough cullet to supply all the marble factories in WV. Just when toy marbles was hitting their peak sales. To many marble factories for the scrap glass supply. This is the same time frame when to many marble companies started up. Then the older companies had to switch to cullet rather than batch glass, due to so much competition. The cullet supply was deleted fast. WV glass companies have been closing steady for fifty years. Not many left today. One of the older ones remaining today is Blenko. Some members here also collect Blenko glass.

Notice : I will give out some info.  Blenko Glass in WV may someday make marbles. Not long ago(weeks)I know they bought a marble machine. That machine made marbles at Jabo for years. It belongs to Blenko Glass now.  Maybe they will only be industrial marbles ? But that market is very slow now.  So maybe it will be toy marbles ?  Maybe fiberglass ? Who knows as of today.

Maybe machine made marbles will keep being made in the US  ????  

WOWWWWWWW Blenko marbles would be AWESOME!!!!! I want to see a giant Blenko fish filled with Blenko marbles!! That is beyond exciting news though, thank you for sharing! You would think that it would be hard to compete as a small shop for industrial marble bids but thats something I know nothing about. Do they currently make glass for industrial purposes or just decorative/houseware things? 

[wvrons]

Most decorative glass can be industrial marbles.  Jabo and Marble Kings largest production were industrial marbles. The toy marbles were made from some of the same glass. The blue in your marbles above is the base glass. Which is Jabo industrial glass and clear with the Burmese glass added to the industrial base glass.  Most of the industrial glass marbles will be blue, next is green, next is dark looking black which is a mix of different colors but it is not opaque black. These may be more purple, brown green or amber, looking black.   The Fenton Burmese glass cost to much for use as base glass.  Clear or white is always the cheapest base glass.  The clear is harder to control as a base glass. I have seen dump trucks dumped of empty whisky bottles. Used for clear base or striping in marbles. A trick is to add some clear in with most striping colors. It will enhance and brighten the marbles. If it does not thin the colors to much ?  The correct amounts can be a problem. 

[Jzoook6]

42 minutes ago, wvrons said:

Most decorative glass can be industrial marbles.  Jabo and Marble Kings largest production were industrial marbles. The toy marbles were made from some of the same glass. The blue in your marbles above is the base glass. Which is Jabo industrial glass and clear with the Burmese glass added to the industrial base glass.  Most of the industrial glass marbles will be blue, next is green, next is dark looking black which is a mix of different colors but it is not opaque black. These may be more purple, brown green or amber, looking black.   The Fenton Burmese glass cost to much for use as base glass.  Clear or white is always the cheapest base glass.  The clear is harder to control as a base glass. I have seen dump trucks dumped of empty whisky bottles. Used for clear base or striping in marbles. A trick is to add some clear in with most striping colors. It will enhance and brighten the marbles. If it does not thin the colors to much ?  The correct amounts can be a problem. 

That makes sense that they would stretch the good cullet out by mixing it in with a cheaper base. Same thing some artists do with paint. Im sure it also why a lot of catseyes are aqua tinted. Did Fenton make a true opaque black? The top dish is Smith glass "Black Amethyst" (PA) and I am pretty sure the bottom candlestick holder is Fenton. Could not detect even a hint of color/light through it. 

[wvrons]

Yes Fenton made true opaque black. Dave at Jabo tried many times for me to make true black. He never could do it.   Akro, CAC and Peltier had true black in marbles. A very few Alleys have true black. But as you see it is older companies before 1940's that they had true black. Before the use of cullet. True black Akroware pieces are expensive and hard to find.  Akro had some nice large dishware which was gray and swirled with true black. They are on the high side of prices in Akroware. I bought two pieces a few years back, at the same place, and have never found any more for sale.  A black Akro candlestick holder is high priced. A set of two is real high. 

 Smith glass made some true black small glass animals like the Alley animals.. I think Smith got some of the original Alley animal molds. 

[Jzoook6]

2 minutes ago, wvrons said:

Yes Fenton made true opaque black. Dave at Jabo tried many times for me to make true black. He never could do it.   Akro, CAC and Peltier had true black in marbles. A very few Alleys have true black. But as you see it is older companies before 1940's that they had true black. Before the use of cullet. True black Akroware pieces are expensive and hard to find.  Akro had some nice large dishware which was gray and swirled with true black. They are on the high side of prices in Akroware. I bought two pieces a few years back, at the same place, and have never found any more for sale.  A black Akro candlestick holder is high priced. A set of two is real high. 

 Smith glass made some true black small glass animals like the Alley animals.. I think Smith got some of the original Alley animal molds. 

I thought they looked familiar when someone posted a picture of their Alley animals! I think Morgantown made some black glass using india black ink? Do you still have the Akro pieces? What are they? Are they solid black or white/black slag? I did not know they existed and I need to find some immediately! I did get a white and dark red akro slag flower pot last weekend but thats not nearly as cool as a black one. 

[akroorka]

Here is a Black Akro Ashtray, part of another company’s line of popup cigarettes novelties.

I have had this one for some time, the cigs were more like a buck 50 back then---yuck.

You can backlight this glass and it will shine through—as black—only black.

Akro—On!!

[wormie]

6 hours ago, wvrons said:

Yes they were making Carnival glass when I was there.  The Burmese was used for many different pieces, different size flower vases, baskets, table lamps, animal figures, plates, and more. Fenton made all of their own glass from raw batch.  A few times Jabo ordered a special white glass be made by Fenton and then was sold to Jabo for marbles. MK did it once but Jabo did special ordered glass from Fenton several times. MK made the marbles from Fenton glass and the Fenton Glass name was on the bag header. So many buyers thought Fenton Glass made marbles. Fenton Glass never ever made any marbles.  

Fantastic information thank you for the history

[DINDO]

Nice reading.

Would like to see a pic of those marble bags with Fenton name on it,if possible.

[William]

Very Informative thread. Enjoyed it 👍😊

[chicagocyclist]

Here is my absolute black pressed glass ashtray. It was purchased from the Goldblatts Executive Offices on South State Street, Chicago clearance sale when they closed that store.

[chicagocyclist]

I realized they closed that store in 1981, which means I've had this ashtray for 41 years!!!  ...and is it has spent every day out in the open where we can easily see it!

[Jzoook6]

59 minutes ago, chicagocyclist said:

I realized they closed that store in 1981, which means I've had this ashtray for 41 years!!!  ...and is it has spent every day out in the open where we can easily see it!

Wow that ashtray is older than me! I will have to keep my eyes peeled for one. Hard to find slag out in the wild, at least around here.

[chicagocyclist]

1 hour ago, Jzoook6 said:

Wow that ashtray is older than me! I will have to keep my eyes peeled for one. Hard to find slag out in the wild, at least around here.

Haha!! I have a house full of things that I have owned longer than you're alive!!  It's actually from the 1930s so it's even older than me!!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it and it was all of 50 cents for crying out loud!!  Yes, it was exceedingly rare and nowadays almost impossible.

[Jzoook6]

1 hour ago, chicagocyclist said:

Haha!! I have a house full of things that I have owned longer than you're alive!!  It's actually from the 1930s so it's even older than me!!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it and it was all of 50 cents for crying out loud!!  Yes, it was exceedingly rare and nowadays almost impossible.

Wow what a find! I would say the majority of stuff in my house is older than me too 😂  I have always thought there was something very very cool/awesome about holding something that was made a long time ago 🤷‍♀️  I am trying to think of the oldest treasure in my house right now, do you know what yours is?