1951 Duck Marble advertisement for domestic market (Side A)

[shiroaiko]

This is again a tri-fold brochure which was issued in 1951 by a marble company in Japan.

The source is Yukoh Morito's "Biidama" 2003, p.29. I asked the author's wife, publisher, and Naoyuki Seike's family for a photo in higher resolution, but it was not available. 

Side A is divided into 3 parts: the titile page, a trade map and a marble photo from Life magazine. 

 

1: The title page, The Origins and Development of the Glass Marble Industry,

features a paper label from Duck Marble, which bears the JIS number Z6206 and the designation "Fine Quality."

[]

JIS Z6206 was assigned to Japanese glass marbles exported between December 1, 1950, and December 1, 1958.

Inside the oval-shaped logo is an image of a duck, likely accompanied by the words "DUCK BRAND."

Beneath the oval trademark, the words "TRADE MARK" are printed.

Below the label, a company address is provided:

Nippon Special Glass Ball Mfg. Co. LTD. 

779-5 Hanaten-cho, Joto ward, Osaka city, 

Telephone: Joto (??) 2801

 

2: The Duck Brand Glass Marble's trade map

If anyone can help me finding the port names on the map, it will be appreciated.

FYI: In 1937 "Kagaku-to-Kogyo" magazine the company's managing director Naoyuki Seike explains his marbles go to most places in the world, except for a few countries like Russia and Germany. 

3: A photograph from Life magazine

"A scene of playing marbles"

"featured from Life magazine July 1947 issue"

Under the photo, "WITH BOOTS OFF: Walter Gowan of Hurts, Minot, takes aim. He played without boots as they scuffed ring."

 

It is an article on a marbles tournament at Wildwood-by-the-Sea, New Jersey. Participants included Walter Gowan, Ophelia Graham, Ralph Brunty, and Benjamin Sklar.

[akroorka]

10 hours ago, shiroaiko said:

He played without boots as they scuffed ring."

Great stuff here shiroaiko!

Thanks for sharing!

Marble--On!!

[shiroaiko]

6 hours ago, akroorka said:

Great stuff here shiroaiko!

Thanks for sharing!

Marble--On!!

You are welcome! I'll post side B of the brochure today! Please take a look!

 

[LevvyPoole]

Regarding the trade ports for UK, Im thinking London Docklands? Definitely not something I know much about though. Other possible contenders would maybe be Felixstowe or Plymouth. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Docklands

[shiroaiko]

Thank you, Levvy Poole! Information on London Docklands is totally new to me! The trading port in the UK would be "London (Docklands)", as Seike himself mentioned the port name in the "Kagaku to Kogyo" magazine in 1937. 

 

"Kagaku to Kogyo" or "Science and Industry" Vol. 12, No. 12, edited by the Science and Industry Editorial Committee, Osaka Industrial Research Association, December 1937

私の方で始めたのは大正十三年で

I began manufacturing marbles in 1924 (Taishō 13),

 

當時はアメリカと濠州へ少し輸出されましたが

and at that time, we exported a small quantity to the United States and Australia.

 

現在ではアメリカ、カナダ、中南米等へ、

Today, our marbles are shipped to the United States, Canada, Central and South America,

 

又一番大量に行くのはロンドンで年々増加しでゐますが

and increasingly to London, which has become our largest export destination,

 

今年は十七萬円位と思ひます。

with annual shipments reaching approximately 170,000 yen this year.

 

次に印度、南洋、濠洲など殆ど全世界に行き

In addition, we now export to nearly every part of the world, including India, Southeast Asia, and Australia,

 

ドイツ、ロシアを除く他至る處へ出てゐます。

everywhere except Germany and Russia.

 

===================

I also find some names of trading companies in London; Cowan de Groot Ltd. for Codeg and Grahams Bros. for Fairylite.

They are thought to be the companies which dealt Seike's marbles. 

 

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs Trade Bureau Daily Report No. 286", Ministry of Foreign Affairs Trade Bureau, 1935.

British Trading Firms Related to Japan.

 

"Directory of Overseas Importers, 1936 Edition" Edited by Osaka Prefectural Trade Hall, 1936.

 

 

[akroorka]

Thanks for the translations here--interesting to say the least. 
When this board was born—many years ago there was much animosity toward Japanese made marbles. It was not the marbles’ fault.
I feel that a new respect for them is on the rise and we should recognize these as they should be—glass marbles.

This info is "Study Hall "stuff imho @Steph--just sayin.
Marble—On!!
 

[shiroaiko]

On 3/19/2025 at 5:28 AM, akroorka said:

Thanks for the translations here--interesting to say the least. 
When this board was born—many years ago there was much animosity toward Japanese made marbles. It was not the marbles’ fault.
I feel that a new respect for them is on the rise and we should recognize these as they should be—glass marbles.

This info is "Study Hall "stuff imho @Steph--just sayin.
Marble—On!!
 

Thank you, akroorka, for your thoughtful comment. People here have already accumulated a lot of research on Japanese marbles. I believe that comes from love and pure interest for marbles. This makes a big encouragement for me to be here. Thank you for the opportunity to share and learn together.

[YasudaCollector]

On 3/18/2025 at 1:28 PM, akroorka said:

Thanks for the translations here--interesting to say the least. 
When this board was born—many years ago there was much animosity toward Japanese made marbles. It was not the marbles’ fault.
I feel that a new respect for them is on the rise and we should recognize these as they should be—glass marbles.

This info is "Study Hall "stuff imho @Steph--just sayin.
Marble—On!!
 

I agree! It seems like interest has been rising in Japanese marbles over the last couple of years. Incidentally, I've even told a few International Studies professors at college about my largely Japanese marble collection, and they seem pretty interested (especially in the history happening while the marbles were being made). 🙂 I still think it's cool to go to any antique shop, pick up a marble, and know that it came all the way from Japan 70, 80, or even 90 years ago. 😎 

[Ric]

On 3/18/2025 at 1:36 AM, shiroaiko said:

I also find some names of trading companies in London; Cowan de Groot Ltd. for Codeg and Grahams Bros. for Fairylite.

They are thought to be the companies which dealt Seike's marbles.

My understanding is that Cowan de Groot and Grahams Bros. were general toy merchants who marketed many imported products, including marbles. Does your reference specifically indicate that marbles were being imported from Japan by these companies? Is there any documentation from Seike that indicates his marbles were being sold to these companies?

[shiroaiko]

@Ric The questions you asked are probably the ones many people here have been wanting to ask too. But I’ve already shared everything I know. I’ve spent quite a bit of time digging through the archives of Japan’s National Diet Library and Japan Patent Office. The documents I’ve mentioned are all I’ve been able to find so far. 

I suppose your question is related to wirepulls, because you are one of the owners of "foreign" Codeg boxes. Please let me explain. 

First, here are the clues I’ve got:

① Seike filed a utility model for a swirl-making device in 1936.（https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-S12-013819/22/ja  I would do line-to-line translation in a near future. Please remind me and request if I forget to do so. I have many things to be talked.  ）

② The Bolitas Japonesas boxes hold wirepulls.

③ In a 1937 glass industry conference, he stated that the UK was his largest customer. (Dec 1937 “Science and Industry / Kagaku-to-Kogyo” https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ja/pid/3334881/1/33 )

④ Seike’s Duck Brand Trade Map includes London, Amsterdam and another port in Europe. (“ 1951 Duck Marble advertisement for domestic market (Side A)" https://marbleconnection.com/topic/39400-1951-duck-marble-advertisement-for-domestic-market-side-a/#comment-335643)

⑤ Fairylite was a trade name used by Graham Bros., a London-based toy importer (1887 to 1970). They dealt mainly in the import and wholesale of items made in the Far East / Hong Kong. (A post by slagqueen Sep 27 2019 at AAM. https://www.allaboutmarbles.com/viewtopic.php?p=321847&hilit=Fairylite#p321847)

⑥ We see names of Graham Bros and Cowan de Groot in Japanese trading documents in 1935 and 1936 ("Ministry of Foreign Affairs Trade Bureau Daily Report No. 286", Ministry of Foreign Affairs Trade Bureau, 1935. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ja/pid/1893946/1/360?keyword=Cown+de+Groot  & "Directory of Overseas Importers, 1936 Edition" Edited by Osaka Prefectural Trade Hall, 1936. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ja/pid/1228204/1/35?keyword=Coran+de+Groot)

⑦ Fairylite imported toys from Japan, as seen on boxes like the “Moon Explorer,” marked “Made in Japan” with the Fairylite logo. ( A post by Alan Dec 31 2007 in Steph's "Fairylite ... German? American?" https://marbleconnection.com/topic/7707-fairylite-german-american/#comment-68004)

⑧ A Fairylite marble box marked “Foreign” includes green marbles with dark green bits—a trait found in Seike’s glass. (You can see the dark green bits in all 3 marbles from wvron's photographs ”Interesting vintage box of marbles” by wvrons Sep 27 2019 at AAM. https://www.allaboutmarbles.com/viewtopic.php?t=43695&hilit=Interesting+vintage+box+of+marbles)

⑨ “Foreign” was used to label Japanese goods in the UK due to anti-Japanese sentiment after the Manchurian massacure and during the war. (Nobuo Kumagai "The Japanese Tin Toys from 1880's to 2010's" I talked about this topic in Steph's "Fairylite ... German? American?" )

⑩ This labeling continued into the postwar years. (Nobuo Kumagai )

11   Before 1954, Hong Kong imported marbles mainly from Japan and re-exported them to Commonwealth countries. (“The Glass Marble Industry of Hong Kong” in Steph’s “New Cat’s Eye Historical Data” Apr. 29. 2009. https://marbleconnection.com/topic/11272-new-cats-eye-historical-data/#comment-95175)

 

Then a story based on my research:

When Seike began producing machine-made swirls, the type described in his 1936 patent, he also started exporting them. Many of his marbles were shipped to the UK, which had become his number one customer. To take advantage of favorable tax treatment under the Most Favored Nation status, British importers routed Japanese marbles through Hong Kong.

However, after the Manchurian Massacre in December 1937, anti-Japanese sentiment surged in Britain. Boycotts of Japanese goods began, and the labeling on products was changed from “Japan” to “Foreign.”

By the summer of 1941, exports of Japanese goods to the UK had ceased. That situation continued until the end of the war. During wartime, the Japanese government, anticipating future export potential, allowed the marble industry to survive as part of wartime industrial restructuring. Seike’s joint company continued marble production throughout the war. ( "The Industrial Readjustment for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in Osaka; The Fact-Finding Report on the Industrial Readjustment for Small and Medium-sized Businesses Under Osaka Prefecture", The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 1943.  https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ja/pid/1058348. I talked about this in Steph's "Fairylite ... German? American?")

This is why, immediately after the war ended, Seike was able to supply his marbles to the global market.

Here’s what the postwar European marble scene looked like:

“Since the war, the German marble manufacturing disappeared and the Netherlands only has one marble factory.
Also France still has a marble factory, but that’s all there is in Europe.
The largest marble producer is Japan.”
(From the post “Dutch Marbles Roll Over the Globe” by Winnie, May 18, 2016 https://marbleconnection.com/topic/22077-french-marbles/?do=findComment&comment=196685)

Even after the war, anti-Japanese sentiment remained. Some distributors who had handled Japanese marbles before the war began to seek alternatives, or inexpensive marbles made in other countries.

Cowan de Groot, although based in Britain, is thought to have Dutch roots by its name. After the war, he approached a glassworks in his homeland, the Netherlands. He asked if they could produce swirl-type marbles similar to the popular Japanese ones from before the war. As a result, Veiligglas began making marbles in 1949.

I believe that for them, it was crucial to emphasize that these marbles were “Made in Holland.” That phrase was printed on the boxes to differentiate their marbles from the Japanese “foreign”.

From this point, Seike's marble exports to the UK declined. I’m sure Cowan de Groot and others would not have done anything so foolish as to pack Dutch marbles into boxes labeled “foreign”—that would’ve ruined the purpose entirely.

In 1954, new tax regulations were enacted that disadvantaged Japanese marble imports. The use of “Foreign” labeling was completely banned. This change greatly reduced the appeal of importing Japanese goods via Hong Kong. Hong Kong started producing marbles, both clay and glass from this year too. Trade volume dropped, and for Seike, this must have been a serious blow. 

=============

I believe that by gathering information from many sources, we can deepen our understanding and increase the reliability of what we know.

In fact, I’d be more interested in asking the reverse questions. Do you have any documentation that shows exactly which manufacturers these distributors imported marbles from? Are there any records that clearly connect other marble makers to these toy merchants? That kind of information will be important as much as the documentation I have found out. I’d like to know what’s out there from the UK side.

[Ric]

@shiroaiko This is very interesting to me and I really appreciate you assembling all of this information! Much of what you say makes very good sense to me, and there is no reason to think that Seike's marbles were not marketed as CODEG or Fairylite. But I wonder what other marbles they might have marketed. I would be surprised if they were only Seike's. And I wonder if any of these other marbles were also labeled "Foreign", with no specific country of origin listed. I wonder if CODEG ever marketed Veiligglas. Many questions remain for me.

But I must say that I had three of the 10 count CODEG boxes at one time. I got them out of Ireland years ago, which makes me think even more that they may be Seike's. The marbles are very nice. I had thought they were Veiligglas and I was not aware of any discussion to the contrary. Now I need to catch up and reevaluate. Thank you for bringing all of this to my attention!

[shiroaiko]

@Ric  I think Euro swirls/wirepulls were made by Veiligglas, Hopf and Seike.　

I cannot think of any other names, since I don't have any proof. 

Do you happen to know any other possibilities?

It would be great if we could keep exploring these things together.😃🫧✨