Marble Stories

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 … [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

In July 2021 we ordered some glass marbles, which we had seen online, from the Heisey Museum (https://heiseymuseum.org/). They still have some stock left. Gorgeous, aren’t they? And small at about 9/16” to 17/32”. Each has a crystal base and some of the most unusual ribbons that we have ever seen. And they are from one unique and … [Read more...] about Heisey Glass Marbles

Every collector has a particular way of going about it. Some collect only Peltier Glass Company (“Pelts”) and some are even more specific than that: they only collect National Line Rainbos (NLRs) or Comics. Others are crazy about sulfides and German swirls and they spend their time and money searching high and low for for these. … [Read more...] about Why Not Dirt and Rocks?

New Haven, Connecticut The Daily Morning Journal and Courier July 1, 1901[1] They Put What on a marble? This is the same heading we used to start our story Marshmallow Marbles?  In that post we explained how incredulous we were to learn that a company made and sold marshmallow candy. It was unbelievable to us that any company would … [Read more...] about Repeating Torpedo Marbles