joemarbles Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 An article from Sports Illustrated on June 20, 1955. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemarbles Posted June 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Here's the 2nd page. Pics with captions. Interesting comments about the marbles -- from a 1955 perspective. It looks like they are referring to Onionskins as the "first American glass marbles" and "poor imitations of imported candy stripes". And check out what they called Cats eyes! Marbles with "colored whirl design" -- are those corks? (Hey Steph -- check out the name of the dyed clays -- "miggles" -- !) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 LOL @ the television mention in the headline. I bet if the article had been written in 1965, they wouldn't have sounded as optimistic that mibs would survive TV. Yup, miggles popping up everywhere! LOL True, the descriptions on the left don't seem to match up exactly with the marbles in the rows. And I imagine that some people would disagree with some of the claims. Like the row labeled peppermint stripes being "semi-mechanically made"? And those onionskins/Joe's coats in the 3rd row being American made ... and the clays being preferred to those? There are some issues there. But as you say this is a 1955 perspective. The average man on the street would have known a lot about marbles, at least the ones he played with. The author or illustrator were definitely giving us insight into the names which were used back then. They might not know how Germans made marbles 75 years earlier, but they would know recognize a lot of marble types on sight, whatever name they used in that period. And these marbles are from the collections of Berry Pink and Sellers Peltier?!! Before they started making cat's eyes themselves? Yeah ... if either of them called an auger-y marble a cat's eye in 1955 ... I find that very interesting. They're calling them scrap glass marbles. And then near the bottom there are some more scrap glass marbles? I think the WWI statement is simply an error. They surely meant WWII, because obviously the writer considered Peltier's marbles and the "moonstones" to be beautiful, and he obviously knew those were made after WWI. I know of companies using scrap glass, but I've only ever heard of it being used for traditional marbles such as WV swirls. This is the first I've I heard of a "cat's eye" version or of marbles such as those on the left of that other row. Hmm, the big marble in that row looks like a marble which was identified as Alox in Amer. Mach.-Made Marbles, and Alox did use scrap glass. This is provocative since Alox marbles are still somewhat of a mystery. What do you think about the name "moonstones"? It sounds like a name used in the 1950's which hasn't survived to the present. And it looks like some of those marbles in that row might be translucent Akro corks. ??? One final LOL @ clearies being called a fad. We recently discussed a highly flawed article which can be found on the net which spoke of clearies as being "prized by collectors". Maybe it was based on info from the 1940's or early 50's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemarbles Posted June 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 Based on the pics, "moonstones" appear to be the opalescent (fire opals) and/or the translucent, milky types that glow a bit with light behind them. Still a favorite, especially those Akro Agates that have oxblood! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 I think some of the earlier marble books used that info as a source(LOL) Peace,Galen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 So do you think these are American? They remind me a little Czech corks but I trust the author wouldn't have pulled the scrap glass idea out of thin air. And what year DID Peltier and Marble King come out with their own lines of what we recognize as cat's eyes? I just read in the Vitro book that theirs were introduced in Sept. 1954. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziggyzora Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Those 'cats eyes' look amazing, they are so different from any group I have seen pictured together and called the same thing. I can't believe these were really so unappreciated. I would love to see any similar ones if anyone has any pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 They actually look like very early contemps. Peace,Galen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemarbles Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 modularforms said: So do you think these are American? They remind me a little Czech corks but I trust the author wouldn't have pulled the scrap glass idea out of thin air. And what year DID Peltier and Marble King come out with their own lines of what we recognize as cat's eyes? I just read in the Vitro book that theirs were introduced in Sept. 1954. According to American Machine-Made Marbles, 2006, (Six, et al), Marble King began producing cats eyes in June 1955 and Peltier in 1955. The MK date comes from an interview with MK's Roger Howdyshell. Pelt year comes from interview with Gino Biffany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 1955 again. a pivotal date. the industry was shaken but trying to regroup. There was enough hope that the article could end on a note of bravado: Whatever the outcome of this crisis one thing is almost certain -- as long as there are spring and room enough to play, mibsters will somewhere be knuckling down to the unchanging game of immies. That still leaves the mystery of the earlier cat's eyes dangling. Whoever made them, by 1955 when the new kind of cat's eyes were coming out, the old kind had been around long enough for them to be given up on ... "not favored by mibsters". That cat eye row also reminded me of contemps. That'd be another interesting question. When did the contemp era begin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 They made beads continuously over the last thousand+ years. Why couldnt the bead makers have turned out some marbles 50 years ago. Marbles were extremely popular in the early 50s. Those really do look handmade. I wonder what the ends look like? Peace,Galen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemarbles Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 We should probably not overlook the fact that these marbles -- and perhaps the comments about them -- came from Sellers Peltier and Berry Pink. See how the "whirled" cats eyes are placed pictorally just below the handmades, almost as if they are saying "these are quite sad by comparison". I can't help but think that these old marble guys -- who had lots of exerience using the media to their advantage -- were laying the ground work for their venture into the cats eye market. Could these have been experimental marbles by Peltier for instance; and might the comment "not favored by mibsters" relate to their own extensive research into what children wanted in a cats eye? All speculation for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziggyzora Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 The 1st in that row reminds me of these which a bought for about 50p each in UK c2003 described as new handmade, the glass is not the quality of usual handmades and they have a single pontil mark which looks different to the usual sort, I guess these are the Czech corks mentioned. The ones I like are the 2nd and last which remind me of old handmade single ribbon but with quite plain ribbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Ziggy, I wouldn't necessarily guess Czech on yours. There are modern handmades being sold by the House of Marbles of England, among others. Some are very inexpensive. Some a little pricier I think. I think China is one of the main sources for less expensive ones. For the others, the name Teign Valley comes to mind but I don't know where those are made ... is it some place called Teign Valley? (LOL) I'll go do some checking on those to get my facts straight. (edit: here are some Teign Valley examples if you'd like to see them, at the HOM website) Here are some Czech corks from the collection of the late Norm Brown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 We should probably not overlook the fact that these marbles -- and perhaps the comments about them -- came from Sellers Peltier and Berry Pink. See how the "whirled" cats eyes are placed pictorally just below the handmades, almost as if they are saying "these are quite sad by comparison". I can't help but think that these old marble guys -- who had lots of exerience using the media to their advantage -- were laying the ground work for their venture into the cats eye market. Could these have been experimental marbles by Peltier for instance; and might the comment "not favored by mibsters" relate to their own extensive research into what children wanted in a cats eye? All speculation for now. Interesting thought! One reason I'd guess something other than 1950's experiments is that it said "first cheap glass marbles made" (emphasis added), and elsewhere it talks about cheap glass being used during the war. More speculation! LOL (especially speculative since I've taken the liberty of interpreting the WWI reference as WWII! LOL) Now that you mention it, it does seem like this whole article could have been part of an advanced marketing campaign by Peltier and Pink trying to gin up some interest about marbles in general and maybe stir up some buy-American patriotic fervor. I'm under the impression that they were not too adversarial as competitors go. Like possibly even friends? Did some trading of stock back and forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziggyzora Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I like those Czech corks, haven't seen that type before. House of Marbles is in the Teign Valley in Devon about 100 miles from me, I really should make the effort to visit one day. I believe there is a guided tour where you can the the glass blowers at work as well as shop and cafe. I know they make some very nice handmades which sell for around £20-£40 but didn't realize they made these cheap versions too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 That's neat you live so close!!! I hope you do make it. I don't think they make the cheap ones. Especially now that you confirm the location of Teign Valley. I'm pretty sure the cheap ones are Asian. Or I'll say most of the cheap ones are Asian. Vacor de Mexico sold the Atmospheres a few years back. Those were handmade. I'm guessing they were made in Mexico ... but you know, I don't really know that. One more thing to check on. The Kansas City Marble Club has some catalogs listing the ones I think are Chinese handmades. Let me go get the link for their catalog pages. Be right back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Here's the KC club's catalog page: New Marble ID Note it says "Chinese Marbles - coming soon". Something to keep an eye out for! On the "House of Marbles - 2005 Catalog" page, they show the Teign Valley marbles at the bottom and the Chinese handmades at the top. This is a clipping from the Chinese page. Maybe yours are less picture perfect versions of these???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemarbles Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Those Czech marbles got me thinking about the transitional Tornado pics (Charley Hix Jr. collection) in Block's "Collecting Early Machine-Made Marbles" (pp22 and 30). -- Maybe the pics from Sport's Illustrated are loosely assembled as a chronology and the whirled cats are transitionals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 What amazes me is that you guys can read that tiny print. I can't make out a word of it. Edna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Steph emailed me that my browser was the problem, not my eyes. She told me how to fix it. Thanks Steph! Edna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Not a problem. I hoped that's all it was. I need to have faith that my eyes will still be able to read magazine print in 20 years, so I trusted there was an answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 LOL Guess what Joe! I gave my copy of that particular Block book away, but Fisherman has taken a pic of that page! (from a tornado core transitional auction he just posted a link to ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spara50 Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 I talked to Cathy Runyan a few years ago about this Sports Illustrated picture and she told me that row of cat eyes were early Vacors. She has been to the factory and they showed her a bunch of history of the company. Makes sense to me, don't know who else it could be? Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Vacor was only making cateyes(and very poor ones) in 1955 besides clearies industrials and solids. They were extremely rough marbles and nothing like the ones pictured. And I do not see in any way how those marbles pictured are machinemade. The Czech corks Are actually made like the bulletmolds. 2 halves put together. Peace,Galen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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