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 singular run.
The marbles are in a 25-marble Collector’s Set and are made from broken Heisey glassware. They come with a Certificate of Authenticity and with a sticker explaining which number set you have. Two hundred sets were made and we have set number 58.
Jabo-Vitro, Reno, Ohio
We spoke with a curator at the Heisey Museum and he told us that the marbles were run at Jabo-Vitro, Inc. in Reno, Ohio, in 2016. It is only about an hour and a half away, some 100 miles from Newark to Reno, Ohio.
How and Why Heisey Marbles?
The Museum explains:
“What to do with broken and damaged beyond repair vintage Heisey glassware? A dilemma every collector faces at some point.
The Heisey Museum has been collecting damaged glass for more than two years with dedicated and generous members donating their unfortunate accidents. Even badly chipped or broken it is still beautiful and valuable.
The … Museum has made a special marble run from damaged beyond repair Heisey glass! [The marbles] are all different, but all of our marbles are hand selected for premium swirls and coloring for the collectors’ edition sets. Lovely, fun and made from 100% authentic damaged beyond repair Heisey glass.”
We certainly know about broken glassware since we lost about 100 pieces of Akro Agate glass in a shelving accident. We sent shards to Dave McCullough at Dave’s Appalachian Swirls in Pennsboro, West Virginia, to run marbles for us.
The Run
The curator told us that he was there the day the marbles were run and said that he helped feed glass shards into the furnace. He added that it was fascinating to watch the hot glass marbles drop onto the rollers.
We had the same experience with the broken Akro glass and with some beer and wine bottles that Dave McCullough ran for us in 2015.
But the crystal Heisey run is unique, hand selected, and truly a collector’s set not only for Heisey glass enthusiasts but all of us who love such one-of-a-kind art!
The Heisey Company
“Augustus H. Heisey, an immigrant from Germany, began his career in the glass industry in 1861…. He started his own glass production facility, The Heisey Company, which opened in 1896.” Heisey initially made pressed glassware. “The glassware had such a fine quality that the glassware appeared to be cut.”
“Around 1914, Heisey started producing blown glassware with fancy, pressed stems (because he was not satisfied with the look of pulled stemware). Heisey called these pieces Heisey’s American Crystal. A.H. Heisey died in 1922 and was succeeded by his son, E. Wilson Heisey. The younger Heisey chose to start following conventions of other glassware companies of the time and began producing colored glass. While the colored glass produced was profitable, Heisey’s most popular line was crystolite, a clear glass it introduced in 1938. Crystolite was produced until Heisey closed its doors twenty years later.
In 1958, the company was sold to Imperial Glass Corporation which continued to use some of the Heisey molds, naming the pieces “Heisey by Imperial.” This line continued until 1968, when Imperial Glass shut down its operations.[1]”
What’s Out There?
Unfortunately, we don’t own any Heisey glass, other than marbles. We would love to, and we have collected glass from a number of other companies. If you have some Heisey would you send us a photo or two? We will come back to this topic and publish the photographs with your attribution. Thanks.
- https://thehourshop.com/collections/heisey-glass-company 4/16/2023 Mark: https://www.glassencyclopedia.com/heiseyglass.html 4/16/2023 ↑
Comments:
“Another marble type that I know very little about! Thanks for sharing this!” by email: Brangie Clawson, Moderator, Marble Collectors: buy, sell, identify page.
“Great story & interesting marbles! thank you!” by email: Lance Lading
“We all love your article and have posted a link to it!!!” by email: Jack Burris, Curator, National Heisey Glass Museum, Newark, Ohio https://heiseymuseum.org/about-heisey-glass/
