Steph Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 I'm looking at that super cool 1933 ad posted here, and once again I probably haven't registered everything on it, because once again I got sidetracked by something fun. Here are the Steelies from that ad. The box says "Solid Steel Balls", so this would be ball bearings, right? Check out that size! 11/16". These would break some glass! [edit: the 1933 date has been questioned. Any help clarifying and/or verifying the date would be appreciated. In any case the actual date would be close to 1933. Possibly a little before.] While I'm in the neighborhood, and in case anyone opened this thread in the hopes of finding some of the old hollow steelies with the x's in them, you can find some of those here, Steelies: Handmade Or Machine-made? Yes, it was a silly question! lol. But it's a great thread. Check out the patent John McCormick shows in Post #7 and Craig game set in Post #10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 More solid steelies. Cannonball brand. "Steelee Shooters" and "Steel Marbles": Source of the Steelee Shooters. The 2nd pic is obviously from ebay but I don't know the seller. edit: I've been presuming those were solid Steelies. Maybe someone will correct or confirm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Pachinko balls are peewee sized steelies used for the Japanese game. They come with all sorts of decorations. Here's one example. . (source) Wikipedia entry on Pachinko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 This one inch hollow steelie was attributed to the Wolverine Toy Company. (source) Another eBay seller once said their hollow steelies were made by the Hopkins company of Minnesota. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Here's a neat little "article" about when "steelies" appear to have been a new-ish concept. At least using ball bearings as marbles may have been a new idea. Makes sense 'coz it wasn't long before that when Martin Christensen invented his steel ball machine which made ball bearings affordable for things like bicycles, and for boys. (Martin sold his ball bearing machine patent to investors in January 1900.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted August 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Here is the thread which prompted me to fish out the article above: Go Steelies Check out the list of patents for "jingle bell" style spheres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Oregon Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Besides the two Steelie bags that Steph shows, which I have. Here are two others that I also have. They are all solid ball bearing types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba1 Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 lol....i'm glad this popped to the top! i've got one of those Pachinko balls and have been wondering what the heck it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godown Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 Was just poking around looking to help some one out with there bag and came up with this 🙂 From the Official Gazette of the US patent office 1955 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted May 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 Nice bump! We have a date! P.s., I couldn't remember where I had stashed that 1902 clipping. So double bonus points for bumping this thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godown Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 Thanks Steph 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nickel Guy Posted April 6 Report Share Posted April 6 I have 5 that are about 1/2 inch. When I was a kid, if you had a "Steelie" you had something good in your bag. A Shooter size was even better! These have no real value except for those vague memories. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 On 4/5/2025 at 8:34 PM, The Nickel Guy said: I have 5 that are about 1/2 inch. When I was a kid, if you had a "Steelie" you had something good in your bag. A Shooter size was even better! These have no real value except for those vague memories. Are those Steelies, or ball bearings? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nickel Guy Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 These are ball bearings. I know, we misnamed them way back then. The real steelies almost look like a jingle bell with the X on one side as a seam. I don't have any of those. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 10 hours ago, The Nickel Guy said: The real steelies almost look like a jingle bell with the X on one side as a seam. Not all true here----- There were marbles marketed as marbles called "steelies" that were in fact ball bearings. I get these steelies all of the time in mixed lots that I purchase. They go to the recycle bin post haste😁. @Al Oregon more than likely has a few bags of these to share with us. Marble--On!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad G. Posted Thursday at 02:46 AM Report Share Posted Thursday at 02:46 AM On 4/7/2025 at 1:01 PM, akroorka said: Not all true here----- There were marbles marketed as marbles called "steelies" that were in fact ball bearings. I get these steelies all of the time in mixed lots that I purchase. They go to the recycle bin post haste😁. @Al Oregon more than likely has a few bags of these to share with us. Marble--On!! The solid ball bearings (Marbles) R posted in the original packaging @ the top of this forum by Al Oregon already & a box by Steph. Steph's post : 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted Thursday at 05:18 AM Report Share Posted Thursday at 05:18 AM Ohhhhhh the steelies...how many awesome mibs did they destroy...and keep destroying today in big lots of marbles packed loosely....😤 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad G. Posted yesterday at 03:25 AM Report Share Posted yesterday at 03:25 AM On 4/9/2025 at 10:18 PM, Tommy said: Ohhhhhh the steelies...how many awesome mibs did they destroy...and keep destroying today in big lots of marbles packed loosely....😤 imagine smacking your knuckle up against one of those all day long, talk about torture treatment 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted yesterday at 04:09 AM Report Share Posted yesterday at 04:09 AM 45 minutes ago, Chad G. said: imagine smacking your knuckle up against one of those all day long, talk about torture treatment An agate would be bad enough lol... Those kids were built different.....lol my kids say that about me lol...🤣 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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