Marble Stories

We enjoy wandering through old historic newspapers from all across the United States. You may have read our stories “Marbles in the Saddle Bag,” “Grandpa’s Marble Stories, ”  and  “A.L. Dyke: Man of Mystery” We found our inspiration for these stories in the online digital newspaper archives of the Library of Congress.[1] The … [Read more...] about The Drum, Tee-to-tum & Other Marble Stories

Most of the time we write about what we know or what we imagine. And most of the time that means we explore marble mysteries, history, and secrets in the parts of the United States east of the Mississippi. And, of course, we sometimes examine marble mysteries without any clear resolution. But just look at this beautiful view of … [Read more...] about Marbles In The Saddlebags

Have you ever seen something similar to this in an antique store, flea market, or yard sale and wondered what it is? And have you seen the same kind of ball in a shop but then heard very different back stories about what they are, how old they are, where they come from, and how they were used? We certainly have. There is no … [Read more...] about “River Balls” & Their Toy Marble Legacy

Most of us marble enthusiasts who have collected for a while, been to some marble shows, read marble posts, and made friends in the community, and who have bought, sold, bartered, and given away marbles for years, have at least a basic knowledge of Akron, Ohio, in the 1890s. This was a time of fevered industrial expansion and … [Read more...] about A.L. Dyke: Man of Mystery

“Moving On”[1] We moved house while we were writing our story about Canadian marbles (https://thesecretlifeofmarbles.com/the-history-of-marbles-in-canada/) and we could not locate these Halifax marbles in our collection. We wanted them for our Canada story. Well, we are in our new home, we have located them, and we decided to share … [Read more...] about American Marbles Hidden in Halifax

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Pellet Crossbow ca. 1550 – 1600, Probably Italian or French[1] Some of you may hunt with crossbows or may use them recreationally. Others may also use stone bows or pellet bows and you may know all about different type pellets, caliber, velocity, and overall firepower. Well, … [Read more...] about Stonebows Using Marbles?

Co-Author: Wendy Leyn, Zonnebeke, Belgium All photos by Dr. Maria Tendryakova Dr. Maria Tendryakova[1] sent our frequent co-author Wendy Leyn an amazing email and photographs after her recent visit to the toys exhibition in the Museum of Archeology of Moscow. Dr. Tendryakova is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and … [Read more...] about Dispatch From A Moscow Museum

Photo: Julie Toupin 2019, Creative Commons 4.0 (by-nc-nd) Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology & History Complex/CeEt-14 > Operation 2134-35 > Catalogue Number 13, Archéolab Quèbec La Collection Archéologique De Référence Du Québec[1] Principle Researchers Wendy Leyn, Zonnebeke, Belgium & Julia McIntosh, Library … [Read more...] about The History of Marbles in Canada

Co-author: Wendy Leyn, Zandvoorde (Zonnebeke), Belgium Around Christmas 2015 Larry was speaking with Dare Hawkins, a marble friend of ours in Weston, West Virginia, about some questions we had about marbles. Dare is semi-retired and volunteers at the American Museum of Glass in West Virginia which is located in Weston … [Read more...] about Funny Money: Playing Marbles on Notes & Coins

  For a very long time children had no role in archaeology. Child’s play, children’s toys, the life and health of children, and children’s roles in society were seldom mentioned in archaeological field dig reports. Children, toys, and games and children’s material cultures were almost never mentioned at learned meetings and … [Read more...] about Invisible Children