Steph Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 Another mystery marble reference. These might be interesting because they were expensive! A kid might have to pay a nickel for them! The year was 1892. This is from a Butler Brothers catalog with wholesale prices. 1000 "Common Marbles" sold for 42 cents. 1000 "Common Painted" sold for 48. So those were the clays. Those prices work out to a little more than 20 for a penny for the dealer. So a boy might be able to get 10 for a penny. Then there were the "Painted China Alleys". The "large size", which they also called No. 4, were 29 cents for 100. Then the "Fancy Glass Marbles." The large size was 60 cents for 100. And now the Spangles. "Large size, solid glass, spangled; beautiful ornaments or playthings; retail like hot cakes at 5 cents" The dealer would get one dozen in a wooden box for 33 cents. Or he could get a box of Extra Large Spangles, "big as a hen's egg", for 75 cents. Those must have cost the customer at least a dime! Are we talking about mica now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 I'd have to do some research to be sure, but..... I believe "spangled glass" is glass with mica.... (digging in the deep caverns of my brain.... Finding cobwebs and echos...... LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Muchas gracias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Yep... Basically, I guess we can call it mica... But, according to this Antiques Digest Articles site, it could also be goldstone / Lutz or even just "spatters" like onionskin... But, my guess would be the mica... Spangled glass was achieved by adding flakes of lustrous metal, usually mica but sometimes gold or silver, and gaycolored bits of glass to the batch. They added bright color and sparkle to a dark background glass. Some pastel pieces were made, in which case mica flakes usually were used (mica was most effective in pale green, for example). Again, methods of manufacture differed in New England and the Midwest. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company in Wheeling, West Virginia, made a cased glass lined with opaque white, and usually added mica flakes for spangling. Boston and Sandwich Glass Company made spangled glass without a white lining. The body of their pieces was a solid, and often a dark, color that was covered with a layer of thin glass to which metal flakes and bright-colored glass were added. Some spangled glass pieces had clear glass handles or an applied deco ration such as a bunch of cherries with the fruits in red glass, stems and leave in clear glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Cool. We do know it was being used in marbles by 1892. Micas were called Snow-Flakes about 10 years before that. I loved the description in the ad. Sometimes people ask whether these incredible looking handmades were more for display or play. It was neat to see them being promoted as both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Yeah!!! I can't say I've ever seen that before!! It'll be good leverage in the "Vintage marbles are not art because they were mass produced as toys" argument!! Also, just being called "Spangled Glass" which was acknowledged as an art glass term in it's time, is cool!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Another definition of Spangle Glass starts: "Spangle glass is multicolored glass made from odds and ends of colored glass rods." I think "Spangled" marbles more likely refers to what we call Onionskins (with or without mica). Just plain mica marbles were usually called "Glimmer" (German for mica) or "Brandies". Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Thanks. I guess I can see this. I think I may be a little biased. Maybe I didn't think of onionskins because I don't yet love them. Might learn to love them more if I got the couple of scuffed ones I have polished. LOL ... the kids who had them before me sure loved them! Do you know of any other names onionskins were advertised under? or described by in general? Thanks as always for your insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 The early wholesale catalogs refer to onionskin marbles as “Glass Marbles, Spangled” (Althof, Bergmann, 1882) or “Glass Spangles” (Butler Bros., Spring 1902). The latter catalog offers them in larger sizes, and suggests that they are “beautiful ornaments or playthings”. Early German-language wholesale advertising uses the term “Tippelmarbel”. This has the same origin as the English word “stipple”, meaning painted with small dots or short touches. An interesting question is when did the term “onionskin” originate? I’ve never seen it used in early advertising. Reginald Wells (1955) misidentifies them as the first American poor imitations of German glass marbles. Mel Morrison and Carl Terison (1968) called them all “End of Day” with the incorrect presumption that they were not production items. Paul Bauman (1970) discusses these marbles “…I will refer to as onionskins”, not claiming to have coined the term. Clara Ingram (1972) calls them all “Joseph Swirls”. Mary Louise Stanley (circa 1973) names them, somewhat indiscriminately, “Onion Skin” [two words] or “Cloud”. No wonder we are still confused. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Racer Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Stephanie, please send me your addy and I'll send you an onion. A real nice one! Thanks for all your devotion here at Lou's!! Regards, Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 That quote from Antique Digest seems about as accurate as the early marble articles. It calls mica a metal and says metal flakes are added????Both very inaccurate statements. Someone didn't do their research. Peace,Galen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Thank you Dave for the information! This is so great! p.s. Tippelmarbel, what a neat name. thank you Roger for the offer ... an onion ... you'll make me cry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted July 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Anyone have a dime ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... and a time machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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