As imagined by Microsoft Copilot
Nestled in the quiet rhythm of suburban streets, the Lunt Avenue Marble Club lives on—not in buildings or bylaws, but in the worn curves of concrete and the memory of play. This story traces the outlines of a neighborhood tradition where marbles weren’t just toys, but tokens of imagination, rivalry, and craftsmanship. Beneath the shade of hack berries and silver maples, and the scuff of sneakers, children once gathered to shoot, trade, and marvel at glass spheres that shimmered like treasure. Here, the sidewalk remembers what history nearly forgot.
Busy Sidewalks
Lunt Avenue in Chicago stretches east-west through the Rogers Park neighborhood on the city’s north side. It is a patchwork of early 20th-century apartment buildings, brick two-flats, and modest single-family homes. The sidewalks are broad and slightly uneven, edged by strips of grass and shaded by box elder, mulberry, and various species of oak (especially white oak) whose roots have gently lifted the concrete over the decades. Porch railings lean with age, and faded lawn ornaments and flamingos peek from behind chain-link fences.
There’s a rhythm to the street—buses ”whishing” at corner stops, kids darting between parked cars, and the occasional clatter of a screen door. In summer, the air carries the scent of grilled onions from a nearby taquería and the distant jingle of an ice cream truck.
We can only imagine a corner store sold mesh bags of cat’s-eyes and swirlies, which were tucked between yoyos, bubble gum and baseball cards.
The alleyways behind Lunt are dusty and quiet, perfect for a game of marbles played low to the ground, where the stakes were pride and the prize was a shooter with just the right heft.
We just love these old alleyways and we look for them every time we search for marbles in any town new to us. Jacksonville, Florida, has excellent sandy alleyways. In Bowling Green, Florida, along a sand track we found a pod of marbles slightly embedded in the sand and still in the rough formation of a game of ringer! The actual game had ended long ago. Unfortunately, many towns and cities are adding pea gravel to the alleys, or even pavement!
Fast Forward & Changes in Latitude[1]
Think Sonoran Desert, surrounded by mountain ranges, and think hot! Imagine the Valley of the Sun. We have moved in time and space from Chicago some 1400 miles west and south to Southern Arizona. Lunt Avenue is both in the past and in a totally different latitude.
Now it is the late 1970s and early 1980s and we are visiting four Southern Arizona cities: Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, and, about 100 miles away, Tucson. Phoenix and southern Arizona saw average to slightly above-average temperatures overall in the early 80s.
The Summer highs routinely hit 105–110°F, but there were fewer record-breaking extremes than in later decades. Winters were mild, with average lows in the 40s–50s°F range, though 1985.
There were some notable weather events too: dust storms or haboobs[2] were common in the summer, especially in central Arizona. 1980 and 1981 had notable heat waves, but not record-shattering. 1983–1984 saw slightly cooler spring temperatures, which slightly delayed blooming cycles in desert flowers.
A Great Time & Place For A Beer
Overall, think hot and dry. And sunny. And dusty. In other words, a wonderful time and place for a beer! And there was no better place to wet your whistle than at the Lunt Avenue Marble Club. After all, the Club offered Around the World in 80 beers!
This is the reason that our feature image, imagined by Microsoft Copilot for this story, is the amber color of beer! And did you notice that the letters behind the marble a wee bit fuzzy?
What? How in the world is a kid’s Chicago marble club related to beer in southern Arizona? Well, the Lunt Avenue Marble Club was not a club at all but a number of restaurants in and near Phoenix!
A Big Deal
More information on the Lunt Avenue Marble Club can be found on MarbleConnection which “ is the web’s oldest active vintage marble collecting and identification forum.”[3] Their information on the Club is a bit dated, but much of it is from individuals who ate and drank in the Club and who had many personal connections to the restaurant. And there is a lot of information! We recommend that if you are interested in learning much more about the Club than we tell you in the story then you check out their site.
This note is from June 3rd 2010 and it was posted by gandalf073:
“In the late seventies and early eighties Big Four[4] restaurants were big in Phoenix. Started by four friends from Chicago, and led by Lee Cohn, they had many different concepts; Oscar Taylors, Steamers, Willie and Guillermos, American Bar and Grill and, of course, Lunt Avenue Marble Club.” Italics added
These were all flagship venues. Oscar Taylors was known for its fine dining and elegant ambiance. As you can imagine, Steamers was seafood-focused, stylish, and contemporary. We’re not sure, and if anyone wants to tell us more about it please do at “Want To Contact Us?” on the first page of every story, but we think that Willie and Guillermo’s was probably Latin-themed. The American Bar and Grill was all-American food in a lively setting. And, of course, there was the Lunt Avenue Marble Club.
These restaurants weren’t just places to eat—they were part of a vibrant, experimental wave of hospitality that helped define Phoenix’s dining scene. The Salt River Valley has been home to some fascinating restaurants. These historic haunts left their mark[5].
Now back to gandalf073 in MarbleConnection:
“My wife was a manager with the company for about ten years. Any long term restaurant people who live in Phoenix worked with Big Four at one time or another. The Marble Club was the place to go in Phoenix. Great food and a great bar; they were always packed. Had a great club called Around the World in 80 beers. You got a punch card and when you had finished all 80 beers you were a member of the club. Got your name on a plaque in the bar, a t shirt and I believe a pot. They had club meetings every month with drink specials and give always. It was great. I miss that place; great fun. But hanging in my garage is one of the plaques with my name on it from the store at the Metro Center; something I will always cherish.”
Courtesy of The Tempe History Museum[6]
The Infamous “80 Beer” Club
As noted above, The Lunt Avenue Marble Club’s “Around the World in 80 Beers™” was a legendary beer challenge, and while full lists are rare, a few names have surfaced from vintage menus and collector archives. Some of these beers included; Beck’s (Germany), Dos Equis (Mexico), Molson (Canada), Heineken (Netherlands), St. Pauli Girl (Germany),Tsingtao (China), Guinness (Ireland), Sapporo (Japan), Foster’s (Australia), and Red Stripe (Jamaica).
‘I Got Potted’ Glassware” & Other Branded Merchandise
Patrons who ordered certain oversized or novelty drinks received them in vintage glass pots, about 5–6 inches tall and wide. These pots were emblazoned with the phrase “I Got Potted” along with the club’s name and a sketch of kids playing marbles. The pots weren’t clay or ceramic—these were clear glass, often repurposed as marble holders or quirky souvenirs after the fact. One person wrote online that she did use hers for a flower pot, but it certainly didn’t have a hole in the bottom!
Glass pots are just one of a number of takeaways from a visit to the Club. We know that a lot of branded merchandise was leaving the restaurants at the time. These included matchbooks, ashtrays, small linen marble bags with a few marbles, a beer stein, a whiskey shot glass. And yes, they did give out marbles to kids who came to the restaurant! The menus themselves have become collectible items, featuring bold typography and humorous dish names[7].
Christopher Bradley, Matchbook Cover, Personal Collection, The Tucson Club[8].
The Food Was The Real Draw
Think whimsical nostalgia meets comfort food. They served dishes with names like “The Refrigerator Perry”—a one-pound burger, a pound of fries, and a massive soda. We have read that the burger was both delicious and memorable. It was name for William Anthony Perry who weighed in at 335 pounds when he scored a touchdown as a fullback in Superbowl XX. He played in the NFL for ten years, mostly for the Chicago Bears. Mable Club deep fried zucchini, now popular all over the Valley, was both new and legendary at the time.
The Last Dance
The Lunt Avenue Marble Clubs in Phoenix, Tuscon, Tempe, and Mesa were established by four or five friends from Chicago led by Lee Cohn who still lives in Phoenix and who has been in the restaurant business for 50 years. We have no idea why such a popular restaurant, so exciting a place to eat, and with delicious food, would go out of business. To have all four restaurants go out is a real mystery to us. But sadly the magic couldn’t last.
We have read on multiple websites that within a four-month stretch, three of the original founders passed away, and the remaining two couldn’t keep the momentum going. The doors closed after about seven years in business. We simply don’t believe this trope.
Rather, we agree with gandalf073[9]: “I don’t believe any of them passed away. They just split up to pursue other interests on their own. Mike owns Iguana Macks[10] and RigaTony’s in Phoenix and I believe Lee is still wheeling and dealing in the restaurant biz.” Remember, this was written in 2010. We think at least one Lunt Avenue lasted about thirteen years, but they did eventually close all four restaurants.
As imagined by Microsoft Copilot
The Last Bounce
Though its marbles clacked in the dust of the Salt River Valley, we believe that the Lunt Avenue Marble Clubs traced their lineage back to Chicago, where four or five men—owners, dreamers, quiet architects of play—first shaped its ethos.
What started as a modest experiment in community and ceremony on a shady avenue named Lunt migrated westward, adapting to the desert’s palette and the rhythms of Arizona childhood.
Yet the club’s essence remained rooted in its founders’ vision: a blend of structure and spontaneity, of ritual and resilience. In every chalk ring and amber swirl, their legacy endures—not just as a game, but as a generational echo of how play can become both tradition and lore.
References
- With a special nod to Jimmy Buffett & his tribute band, Changes In Latitudes, & to Buffett’s 1977 breakthrough album Changes in Latitude. ↑
- A haboob (from the Arabic habūb, meaning “blasting” or “drifting”) is an intense dust storm triggered by thunderstorm downdrafts. When cold air rushes downward from a collapsing storm, it hits the ground and spreads out rapidly, lifting dry, loose dust and sand into the air. The result? A towering wall of airborne sediment that can stretch up to 7,000 feet high and 60 miles wide. We experienced a multi-day haboob while living in Kuwait. These storms are both terrifying and fascinating at the same time. What Is A Haboob? | Weather.com 9/22/2025 ↑
- https://marbleconnection.com/topic/13369-and-now-for-something-completely-different/#comment-117857 9/25/2025 ↑
- The term “Big Four” wasn’t a formal designation, but several restaurants stood out as iconic, upscale, and culturally significant dining destinations. ↑
- If you interested in learning more about the iconic restaurants in the Valley then check out: Lauren Cusimano & trion Boan’s “20 bygone Phoenix restaurants we miss the most,” August 5, 2025, in the digital Phoenix New Times @ 20 bygone Phoenix restaurants we miss the most | Phoenix New Times (9/25/2025) Sadly, the Lunt Avenue Marble Club didn’t make the cut! ↑
- Special thank you to Josh Roffler, Museum Manager, City of Tempe|Tempe History Museum, & Marco Albarran, Senior Currator, City of Tempe|Tempe History Museum ↑
- https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-menu-lunt-ave-marble-club-1846450011 & https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageMenus/comments/vlxib4/1980s_era_lunt_avenue_marble_club_menu_phoenix/ If anyone knows about other Lunt Avenue souvenirs please drop us a note and tell us about it! ↑
- Thank you, Christopher! Also a special thank you to Jennifer Shaffer Merry, Archivist and Historian, Arizona Historical Society, Tempe, AZ
- https://marbleconnection.com/topic/13369-and-now-for-something-completely-different/#comment-117857 9/26/2025 ↑
- Alas, Iguana Mack’s in Chandler, a classic American roadhouse, with grilled steak, prime rib, & a 3-layer chocolate cake, is permanently closed. According to Iguana Mack’s Menu in Chandler, AZ | Order Delivery & Reviews . Iguana-Macks-Menu-Chandler-AZ RigaTony’s is an authentic Italian family restaurant now in Phoenic, Chandler, and the flagship in Tempe. This restaurant opened in 1994. It has a warm vibe and delicious food. ↑
If I had hands I’d play for sure!
