We’re providing you with some of the best museum resources that we’ve found along the way. Each of these museums contributed to our book, The Secret Life of Marbles.
The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia
The staff at the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia have been, without exception, extremely supportive of our work. They have cataloged our Everglades marbles and artifacts. See Chapter Ten: Connecting Through Collecting. When in Weston, West Virginia, stop in! It is certainly worth a special visit. Until then, visit the site online and explore the Gallery; check out the photos and archives. It has loads of photographs of West Virginia marbles!
http://magwv.pastperfectonline.com/
http://magwv.com/index.html
The Upson Historical Society
We had as much fun writing Chapter Three: Schlepping Off to Jugtown as we did any other part of the book! Additionally, the people in Thomaston, Georgia, and Upson County were a delight to visit. Kaila Jones is a wonderful resource. We felt right at home with Jimmy and Glenda McKinley. During our two trips while writing the book, we enjoyed the exploring. We also enjoyed the hospitality, and the wonderful home-style cooking! We also have a photograph of some of their fine clay pots on page 60 in the book.
https://upsonhistoricalsociety.webador.com/
upsonhistoricalsociety1968@gmail.com
The History Museum of Mobile
Nick Beeson made a signification contribution to Chapter Four: Pensacola: Canicas para Oficiales Militares? He is a delight to work with. He also has a knack for making something which could be extremely difficult extremely straightforward. Nick also supplied us with the beads and marbles photograph on page 78 in our book.
http://www.historymuseumofmobile.com/
We all three recently enjoyed the 49th Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale sponsored by the Mobile Bottle Collector’s Club. You may say that you are a marble collector and not a bottle digger. But trust us: Bottle Shows are fantastic fun and a great place to add to your collection of glass and non-glass marbles! We have been to Bottle Shows in at least three states now and here are some things to consider: admission and parking are almost always free; you meet some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people; and every show that we have visited has much more than bottles on display and for sale.
https://www.psbca.org/event-4615751 Recent show in Mobile
https://www.facebook.com/groups/350296878500890 More about the Mobile bottle club
Marble Shows
Wanna take a ride in the car? Don’t miss a one of the upcoming marble shows! Just click:
https://www.psbca.org/event-4615751
https://www.facebook.com/groups/350296878500890
Mudlarking Marbles!
We published Mudlarking Marbles! last fall. While we have not asked Simon Bourne for more Thames mudlarking marbles since then, we know that interest remains high in all things London mudlarking. In fact, should you google “mudlarking marbles” you will learn that the rage for Victorian found marbles in all forms remains high.
If you want to get your feet wet again, or want to learn what all the mudlarking fuss is about, and if you like YouTube why not visit Simon Bourne at https://www.youtube.com/c/Sifinds/videos . This is the Si-finds Thames Mudlark YouTube channel which has over 100,000 subscribers.
You can find loads of real mudlark treasures to buy, and you can contact Simon at https://www.etsy.com/shop/SifindsMudlarkShop .
http://www.thamesmuseum.org/home-1.html
You might also want to check out the Thames Museum “where history changes twice a day.” The Thames Museum is relatively new to London, and it is still getting its footing in the community. But there are Tons of photographs in “News” & “Collection” archives.
Just look at this pipe! Good grief! Can’t you just imagine an old sea captain sitting in a smoky Victorian London pub puffing on it? Surely it is one of a kind?
“All artifacts in the Thames Museum collection are found by Mudlarks, mudlarkers and members of the public on the River Thames foreshore in London. The collection is constantly growing as new discoveries are constantly being made. Each artifact reveals a unique story about London’s fascinating history from Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Viking, Medieval, Tudor, Stuart, Georgian, Victorian to Modern times.”
