Guest Author: Christiaan Therry, Roeselare, Flemish Region, Belgium
Fifty years ago, when I got married, I moved in with my parents-in-law. Living with family was normal back then and it still is in Belgium. My father-in-law once asked me: “Christiaan, do you like working in the garden?” My answer was: “Yes, very much so.” No sooner said than done and while digging I found a small brown: one fired clay marble.
Others would have thrown that marble away or simply left it there. Every now and then I found other marbles, and some were made of glass. Every year I found marbles and that gave me the idea to start a marble collection.
Building the Largest Marble Collection in Belgium
At the time I worked in a printing company Roularta Media Group, and as a staff member we were allowed to place classifieds in De Streekkrant,[1] a free advertising newspaper with editions targeted to the Flemish provinces. So I had an “advertisement” placed in the West Flemish editions (province I live in.) I promptly received a lot of responses and was able to go out every weekend to collect marbles (free!).
However, I was embarrassed once. Someone had called me saying he had an entire shoe box of marbles and that I could pick them up at the address he gave me. Once I got there I rang the bell. A woman opened the door and I told her what I came for. She didn’t know anything marbles and she told me she was the pastor’s maid! So I went back home without marbles.
Sewer Marbles?
Another response to my advertisement gave my collection a super boost. Someone who helped to clean sewer drains with a specially equipped pump truck told me he had three washing powder barrels full of marbles. I was allowed to pick them up from him provided I pay a minimum compensation.[2]
His story is worth mentioning here. Once the container was full of mud from the sewage wells, he and other workers were allowed to dump them on some farmers’ fields. That mass also had to be pulled open and distributed over the field. Everything he found then he could keep.
That’s how he found thousands of artifacts during the many years he did that job: marbles, coins and paper money, coffee spoons, forks, spoons, one beautiful gold bracelet and many other things.
So my collection had grown enormously and included many types sort marbles. Even the ancient warriors, like those in this photograph, were stored separately. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge of the names and value of some marbles then.
Berttam Cohen
That changed when, through the Dutch newspaper for collectors De Verzamelkrant,[3] I learned about the beloved Bertram Cohen[4] (Marblebert).
We communicated via correspondence and finally via email. He sent me clippings about himself that were written in magazines and newspapers, a copy of Smithsonian, in which some pages were devoted to his immense collection.[5] He also sent me books about collecting marbles.
I Met Bert Cohen Twice
The first time was in Tinsley Green (London) where the World Marble Championship was held and where Bert was the main sponsor. He was accompanied by his wife Rosalie.
After that I received some books and a number of “art glass marbles”. I was supposed to pay for them and he showed me the bill. That was a lot of US dollars, but then he said: “It’s a gift!”. How grateful I am for that. Probably I’m the only Belgian who owns art glass marbles.
Bertram Cohen; major sponsor of the World Championship, Tinsley Green, London
1980s Photograph: Christiaan Therry
The second time I was able to meet my dear American friend was when he was traveling through Europe. He and his wife visited a museum of curiosities in Ghent, Belgium.
My Collection is Growing!
The large number of marbles that I already had were put into bottles and jars and arranged in plates that I made myself.
With those marbles there were also some handmade glass German marbles. I didn’t pay much attention to them at the time because I knew little about them.
However, once I knew how special they were, they became my favorite marbles. Currently I have about 130. After 50 years of collecting I have finally found my first “sulphide” marble, a standing bear. I’m very proud of it.
Telling Others About My Collection Can Be a Lot of Fun!
I once gave a speech at a retirement home where I volunteer. It was all about my collection. I had my camera, which could also be used for filming, set up on a tripod to record my performance. I didn’t know that filming would stop after 20 minutes. Shame. However, this video can be found at YouTube.
Just some of the books in Christiaan’s collection
Branching Out: Marble-Related Things
Another anecdote. An aunt on my mother’s side had one son. He kept his marbles in it a bag. That bag was made from a dress that his mother had worn during the 2nd world war! I am now the happy owner of it. Unfortunately there were no valuable marbles in it.
Victorian Trading Card[6] These cards were extremely collectible at the time & are even more collectible today
On Television!
In the 1980s there was a program on Belgian television called “Bouquet Flanders”. Various collections were featured. I took a chance and wrote a letter to the editor. It was then early November. I got a quick response and they found my collection interesting enough to come and film it and to interview me.
The reason that they wanted it filmed so soon was that they wanted to broadcast me and my collection on Sint-Niklaas evening, 5th of December. They said it was ideal because it was about children’s toys.
I went with three people and spent six hours on the recordings! The broadcast itself lasted almost eight minutes.
At the end of the broadcast they showed a telephone number to which people could respond. This resulted in a few responses and a few marble acquisitions.
A video cassette was shown, and a copy was later delivered to me. Years later I had this transferred to DVD recordings so it was not lost. In the meantime I’ve even had duplicates made.
The Internet and Facebook
Collecting may have been on the back burner for years, but when I recently retired, I picked up the thread again and mainly spent my “marble time” on the Internet hunting for marbles. This way I could further expand my collection little by little. I think I can say that I have the largest marble collection in Belgium.
Since I had so much free time, I came up with the idea of creating a Facebook group for European marble collectors. In Belgium I only knew one person who didcollect marbles. My intention was to get to know several collectors here in Europe. The name of the Facebook group became European Marble Collectors.
Little by little requests were received to become a member. There were collectors from the Netherlands, someone from France, Great Britain, Australia, the United States. In fact the majority were American collectors who wished to become members. But there was nobody from Germany! The group currently consists of 169 members.
Over time many Facebook groups have been created with all of them having specific goals. I mean, for identification, for certain types of marbles like Vacor, for sale, and so on.
I am also happy that I got to know Wendy Leyn and Anthony Verschaeve from café ‘t Lusterke. These two people are very passionate about the game of marbles. I have even been invited to a marble event organized by them. What a beautiful experience that was!
- “Roularta Media Group is an international multimedia group, market leader in Belgium in the field of magazines (Dutch and French) with the weekly news magazines Knack and Le Vif, the business magazines Trends (Dutch/French), women’s magazines and monthly lifestyle and special interest magazines …, medical and other professional magazines, local media in the Dutch-speaking part of the country” https://www.yelp.com/biz/de-weekkrant-de-streekkrant-steps-hasselt (10/24/2024) “ For more than 60 years, De Streekkrant is the most powerful shopping paper in the Dutch speaking regions [of Belgium]. It is a free weekly, packed with local deals and interesting offers. Jobs, … local news, puzzles, recipes, etc. receive ample treatment.” https://www.roularta.be/en/brands/newspapers/deze-week 10/24/2023↑
- Editors: This is just astounding! We don’t know the size of these barrels but we would be astounded to have such an opportunity. Check out our related story You Dug It Up Where? ↑
- Collector’s newspaper. The most versatile magazine for collectors De Verzamelkrant is the magazine for both novice and advanced collectors and lovers of antiques, design, curiosities and all kinds of collectibles. With the latest news, backgrounds and inspiring stories for and by collectors in each issue. Moreover, the Verzamelkrant offers the most complete overview of fairs, markets and auctions at home and abroad….. The Collector’s Newspaper is published six times a year. https://www.verzamelkrant.nu/ 10/24/2023 ↑
- Check Bert’s photograph and 2014 biography and story at https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n53a08.html (10/22/2023). This bio is from the eMagazine The E-Sylim An electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, 17, Number 53, December 28, 2014, Article 8. Facebook post from Christiaan: Christiaan Therry “I’m happy that I had the luck to meet my friend Bert twice. Once in Tinsley Green (London), and once in Gent (Belgium). He was a fantastic man. I have plenty of envelopes with many stamps from his collection. I also have some art glass marbles which were gifts from Bert.. His picture with a marble T-shirt is always on the wall. May Bert rest in peace.” Bert Cohen was born in 1932 in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was previously married to Rosalie Florence Caplan and Henrietta Nina Cohn. He died on 21 December 2014 in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA. https://www.facebook.com/Marblebert/ 10/25/20235
- Editors: The article in the Smithsonian Magazine mentions Bert Cohen. However, the article features David P. Salazar, a glass artist who has his work displayed in galleries and stores throughout the world According to the article, Salazar’s association with Bert Cohen led to him [Salazar] to creating marbles in flower and sea life patterns, as well as traditional swirls. While we cannot locate a digitized Magazine online to refer for you, we do have an interesting follow-up. The cover alone, which Christiaan photographed from his own collection, now sells online for about $9.00 – $20.00. And in 2022 Block’s Marble Auction sold seven of the marbles pictured on that cover, and which Bert Cohen provided for that 1988 marble shoot. The Auction is written up in the Antiques And the Arts Weekly online. Block’s realized a total of $18,479 for the seven marbles. ↑
- Editors: Wikipedia tells us the “’Grande Maison de Blanc’ was a department store founded in 1894 [in Brussels] by Mr. E. Lefebre where the Belgium bourgeoisie procured its articles of lingerie, hosiery and clothing…” The store advertised on this card was located in Anvers, Antwerp, Belgium. The card title is “The Marbles.” ↑
