Marble Stories

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?

Portion of a Mural, Downtown Wetumpka, Alabama“Native American” or “First American” is too broad a term for meaningful discussion about marbles, gaming, warfare, family and culture and social institutions. There are two approaches to organizing our thoughts: timelines and cultures. You might find that “Beneath the tides of sleep and … [Read more...] about Native American Marbles & Games

  Portion of a Mural, Grand Junction, Colorado[1] Better Times than These? We tip our hat to Winston Groom for this profound question. And to Forrest Gump. In a number of our Posts, such as Repeating Torpedo Marbles, we have taken a long look back at the way we were in America about 100 years ago. To do this we used the … [Read more...] about Grandpa’s Marble Stories

From the Collection of Mitch & Stacey Dunn In our first post about mineral marbles we explained that we have always enjoyed collecting minerals and gemstones as well as glass marbles. Our approach to the topic is geologic rather than metaphysical, and we defined a few scientific terms useful to any gem and mineral … [Read more...] about More Fun With Minerals

A Look Back Over Our Shoulder … Awhile back in the post Rock & Roll: How to Store and Show Your Marbles we talked about our fascination with rocks and minerals. This fascination with rocks, minerals, gemstones, and stone artifacts is much older than our marble collection. In the Rock & Roll: How to Store and Show Your … [Read more...] about Fun With Mineral Marbles