Marble Stories

  Senior Author: Wendy Leyn, Zonnebeke, Belgium Deceased, 2024   In our October 2023 post “Circles, Triangles, & Holes” we described how children in different countries tend to draw different patterns on the ground, or in chalk or on cobbles, in which to set up their marble games.  In the Americas, for example, … [Read more...] about French Marble Triangles

Remember James Harvey Leighton?  Marble collectors everywhere and those who just have a love of marble history remember Leighton for his 1891 patent for the "manufacture of glass spheres".  This was the first U.S. patent issued to make toy glass marbles by machine instead of by hand. Double Dipping? As described in our recent post … [Read more...] about Mid-Western American Hot Glass

Smithsonian Open Access|Smithsonian Institution[1] Have you ever heard a story or read an anecdote in a book, magazine, or online which you then could not get off of your mind? Hopefully, that happened with one of our stories! While later searching or just browsing online or while working on a project with your marbles, have you … [Read more...] about Sand: Another Four Letter Word?

Joueur de Billes (Marble Player)[1] Co-Author: Wendy Leyn, Zandvoorde (Zonnebeke), West Flanders, Belgium Editors: It is with deep sadness that we tell you that our dear friend Wendy Leyn has died due to heart failure.  Wendy was a friend, a colleague, and one of the most dedicated and tenacious researchers that it has been our … [Read more...] about Marble Snippets From Afar

Wait a minute!  We have shared marble stories with you about playing in circles and with holes, but "triangles"? Did you play marbles as a child or do you still play?   Bet you played in circles.  Have you ever considered how children in different countries (or even on different continents) set up for a game of marbles? Look at our … [Read more...] about Circles, Triangles & Holes

Co-Author: Wendy Leyn, Zandvoorde (Zonnebeke), West Flanders, Belgium   This story is a companion to “Has Nikolai Lost His Marbles?”. In that first story we started a review of the literature about Russian marbles and we collected reports from a number of experts and university-based academicians in the fields of phonetics, … [Read more...] about Searching For Nikolai’s Marbles

Courtesy of Bart Hendrickx, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy – Ghent University,Ghent, Belgium Co-Author: Wendy Leyn, Zandvoorde (Zonnebeke), West Flanders, Belgium Editors: It is with deep sadness that we tell you that our dear friend Wendy Leyn has died due to heart failure.  Wendy was a friend, a colleague, and one of the most … [Read more...] about Has Nikolai Lost His Marbles?

Book image courtesy of the Library of Congress Note:  This post was revised September 17th to include new photos and research.  New material is at end. You’re Looking for the Wrong War! There is a long back story [1] to how we came to study marbles and marble gaming in the American Colonies and then on into the eventual … [Read more...] about Time Rolls Like a Marble: Marbles in Colonial America & the Revolution

In our recent story “Dimple Shooting in Belgium” we lamented the fact that we could not locate a picture of either children or adults playing marbles in Belgium. Well, we never did find one. However, Ellen Ryckx at Het Huis van Alijn (Aline's House) in Ghent did! Ellen is a dedicated, resourceful, and researcher and we thank her … [Read more...] about Dimple Shooting in Belgium: A Photo

While we always like to hear from readers, an email we recently received was special. The sender lives in Zandvoorde (West Flemish: Zanvôorde) which is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The rural village is a part of the municipality of Zonnebeke. We have been to this part of Belgium and we know that the area is … [Read more...] about Dimple Shooting in Belgium

Think About It Do you have any brand new machine-made marbles from either Ilmenau or Laschau glass houses in Germany? Neither do we. But why not? Why can’t we buy new German machine-made marbles? Did you ever think about this? “This is the end of a story that even people who are not usually amazed at anything may refuse to believe. … [Read more...] about Lauscha and Ilmenau Marbles

Character, comic, and advertising marbles are hotly debated in the collecting world. There is often a search for relevance: Is the marble real or is it a fake? While the answer to this question determines the monetary value for any of these marbles, it is less important in determining its relevance. Oh, No! It’s A Fake! So what if … [Read more...] about What Can Character Marbles Teach Us?